Revving up (The Motorcycle Diaries (DVD))

Member Name: cswann

Product:	The Motorcycle Diaries (DVD)
Date:	27/08/05 (575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A historic, moral tale made watchable

Disadvantages: Perhaps errs on the side of rose-tinted glasses, as far as the view it gives

"Motorcycle Diaries" is one of those highly-respected movies, and it was nominated for many awards (and won the BAFTA for best foreign language film, as well as prizes at Cannes), though finally only won an Oscar for the music. It's one of those movies that has a bit of history, a bit of politics, and also plenty of emotion - humour/pathos/romance - without being too sentimental.
Walter Salles is the director - responsible for this year's "Dark Water", quite a different genre and a different thing altogether.

Che Guevara - whose name and whose image everyone knows - his face appears on many a bedsit wall, many a T-shirt. Even today, when the idea of "the revolution" has faded away, and even those who went on marches in their younger days probably see it as mostly nostalgia. No doubt about it, Che Guevara is one of the most enduring icons of twentieth century politics.
But do we really know that much about him? About his life and what motivated him?

In a nutshell, he was born in Argentina in 1928, and in the late 50s fought alongside Fidel Castro in Cuba, then attempted to spread the idea of revolution across South America. He was executed in Bolivia, and whether people believe he was a freedom fighter, or a terrorist, depends on their political leanings.
Not that "The Motorcycle Diaries" is going to provide any information on the latter part of Guevara’s life.
The movie is about his early days, when he was called Ernesto Guevara (the Che came later). It’s source material on the diaries of Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado. Both young medical students, go on a road trip across the length of South America – from Argentina to Peru, and taking in Cuba.
The journey was across 10,000 kilometres.
Some of the movie is about how they travel with next to no money, blagging a meal, or somewhere to stay, and trying to get off with the local women. There are certainly moments of humour, many revolving around the unreliability of their motorcyles, and the way they each very different personalities (Alberto always chatting up the ladies).
The two of them end up in a leper colony, which was their aim - and most of the second half of the movie revolves around the scenes there, as they decided to stay there, treating patients. As medical students they can provide valuable assistance there

Although there are elements of the buddy movie, and the road movie, there is much more to it than that - in many ways it almost feels like we are seeing documentary footage of real events. In a sense it almost feels like it's important history that is being recorded, and that's more important than any plot or story.
Walter Salles’, the director, is himself Argentinian-born. The crew travelled much of the country themselves during filming, and in some respects found that not much had changes – social and political. They also found that people’s memories of the motorcycle journey helped them in telling the story.

Granado himself is still alive, living in Cuba, aged 83.

Is it worth seeing?
Yes, I thought it was a very rewarding (but without feeling "worthy") movie - in the sense that it made me feel the kind of emotions that must have motivated the young Che, the disgust at injustice and poverty poor, and the realisation that even if we as individuals only take minor action, at least we have taken action to improve things, in however small a way.
Actors Gael Garcia Bernai and Rodrigo de la Serna are excellent
Bernai is by now familiar to Western audiences from his roles in “Amores Perros”,“Y Tu Mama Tambien” and “Bad Education”. He had already played the role of Guevara in a mini series produced in 2002, “Fidel”.
Del la Serna is apparently a distant relative of Guevara.
Excellent camera work is from Eric Gautier. The scenery is a big, big part of the movie - and it is important that the crew carried out a similar journey to the two young men, for the reason that the scenery is stunningly real, quite apart from the added value it helped to give to their telling of the tale.
The script from Jose Rivera is another reason for the movie's success - it manages to be political in a very quiet kind of way. Ultimately it's about ethics, idealism, and human issues, as much as it is about politics.

I can only think that there are two groups of movie-veiwers who would not like "The Motorcycle Diaries"
- subtitle-haters - OK, I know that some poeple just don't like foreign films
- anyone who needs a gripping thrills and spills action story - if you're that narrow-minded, this one isn't going to keep you happy, mate. Sorry.
But as a historical movie with added meaning, it's one of the best.

The movie is 128 minutes long

The video is £15.99 (amazon)
The DVD is £14.99 (amazon)

Well worth seeing due to the completely successful depiction of an era when so much political change was needed, and a few individuals could make it possible.

Summary: Authentic, stuning scenes of South America, great acting, and a good true story.