MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Country: USA
Director: Walter Salles
Lead Actors: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán, Jorge Chiarella
Running time: 128 min.
English Subtitles
Rating: 14A (Coarse language)

Let the world change you... and you can change the world

MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, the highly anticipated film by Walter Salles (CENTRAL STATION), was showcased at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Partly based in the diaries of the legendary Che Guevara, the film chronicles his early years by way of exploring the youthful idealism of a man who would become a revolutionary and cult hero.

MOTORCYCLE DIARIES is a nostalgic, beatnik-era road movie, set in the sixties (Che’s actual trip took place in 1952). Che’s later years are well documented, but MOTORCYCLE DIARIES represents not so much a political film as a story of personal growth and transformation. The young, serious Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, (Gael García Bernal, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and his more playful friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna) set out to see some of the world in their battered Norton 500. Though different personalities, they share an intent desire to make the world a better place – and they want to do this before they turn thirty. To this end, they take to the open road with gusto, winding up at a leper colony, where they feel their medical backgrounds can enable them to be of service. They bring this same charitable sensibility to the rest of their journey, which has them covering much of the South American continent. They don’t opt for the easy, touristy mode of travel, but rather place themselves in challenging situations that test their strength as would-be public figures.

Walter Salles focuses on the personal rather than the explicitly historical, and to this end he lovingly explores both the vast landscapes and the more uncharted territories of the gorgeous South American terrain. The film maintains an energetic pace throughout, and Gael García Bernal does a superb job of filling such big shoes and offering a rewarding psychological portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most inspiring personalities.

"A beautifully wrought account of the dawning of the social conscience of one of the 20th century’s most romanticized revolutionaries." – Variety