The Motorcycle Diaries [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Gael García Bernal plays a believable Ernesto Guevara, the person that would later be known as "Che". Rodrigo de la Serna is just as convincing as Alberto Granado, and he makes us laugh from time to time with his antics. However, the main characters aren't them, but the people they encounter in their travels, and that add up to represent people of all South America who suffered from differents kinds of injustice. We aren't shown the people that were well-off, although we get a glimpse of their lives when Ernesto visits his girlfriend before he starts his journey. Rather, we are faced with the problems of those who lived in less fortunate circumstances, for example aborigines that had been expelled of their lands, or poor people that couldn't find a job and had to travel looking for one. The spectator is also shown people who helped those in need, for example in the hospital for leprosy patients that Ernesto and Alberto visited with the purpose of learning more about the disease...

"The Motorcycle Diaries" is based on the two books that Guevara and Granados wrote about their travel: "The Motorcycle Diaries" by Guevara and "With Che Through Latin America" by Alberto Granado. It is highly likely that those books helped Brazilian director Walter Salles to make a film that sounds so true, but he obviously also contributed, and a lot, to make a film that is far from the banal, and that appeals to those who watch it. I think that it is also worthwhile to point out that the director avoided any kind of ideological preaching, something that could have been tiresome. Salles stresses, instead, that the journey was an occasion for self-discovery...

All in all, I think that you won't regret watching "The Motorcycle Diaries". It isn't an eulogy about "Che" Guevara but rather a film that gives us the chance of learning what kind of experiences molded the way in which he viewed things. If you aren't interested in that, you can just consider this movie an opportunity to appreciate the scenery of some really beautiful places in South America, and to enjoy the adventures of two young men that embarked on the journey of a lifetime...

Belen Alcat

Gael Garcia Bernal is Ernesto Guevara, who, with one year of med school remaining, is off with Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) on a 12,000+ kilometer lark through Argentina, Chile, Peru and points north on the latter's decrepit motorcycle in search of adventure, self discovery, and babes. As the bike gives up it's ghost at about the film's midpoint, the title THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES may be misleading. But, you get the picture. In any case, whether they're walking or riding, Granado is the bon vivant, while Guevara is the serious, upper middle class, young man, whose conscience is troubled by the amount of social stratification and capitalist oppression of the masses that he observes along the way. By the film's conclusion, Ernesto is beginning to evolve into the "Che" that ultimately entered history as Fidel Castro's lieutenant in the Cuban Revolution.

The film is notable for the lush scenery and spectacular locations of South America, and which include the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu and a riverside leper colony, where the boys donate their volunteer services. Machu Picchu was real; I can't vouch for the authenticity of the leprosarium. (Indeed, I was impressed with the apparent authenticity of the lepers' afflictions. Were they actually people stricken with Mycobacterium leprae, or just actors with strategically applied body make-up?) The movie also has it's humorous moments, especially during the first half when our heroes stuttering progression across the landscape comprises a series of road mishaps on the motorcycle. Here, that's what constitutes male bonding.

During the ending credits, Guevara's death is attributed to the evil Central Intelligence Agency, which had Che murdered when he sought to export The Glorious Revolution to the South American mainland. Oooh, there's the Machiavellian CIA, again! However, since Che's efforts helped make Cuba into a Third World armpit for these past five decades, perhaps the American taxpayer, since unable to buy his Havanas at the corner cigar shop, got his money's worth in the end.

I would've liked THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES more without the political message that's been long since discredited. But, that's just me, an unreconstructed Cold War Neanderthal. As is, it's a good road story that reminds the viewer of the exuberance of youth and the adventures to be found if one has the stamina for it.