‘Diaries' explores beginnings of a revolutionary
In 1952, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna and his friend Alberto Granado hopped on a beat-up 1939 Norton 500 in Argentina. Several months and 8,000 miles later, having traveled by bike, truck, raft and foot, the duo wound up in Peru.
The story of their trip is "The Motorcycle Diaries."
The reason it is a movie is simple. Ernesto Guevara is better known as Che, the South American revolutionary folk hero who joined Fidel Castro in Cuba before dying in Bolivia an effort to export the revolution to the rest of the world.
"The Motorcycle Diaries" is based on books by Guevara and Granado and reflects, to some degree, the conversion of uptight medical student Guevara into a social/political activist. But it is also a buddy movie of the more serious variety.
Guevara is played by Gael Garcia Bernal, best known for his work in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," and he portrays him as a sweet, decent young man who wants to reach beyond his confining world but needs some encouragement to do so. That encouragement comes from Granado (Rodrigo De La Serna), a biochemist whose goal on the trip is to bed as many women in as many different countries as possible.
The first stop on the journey is at the farm of Guevara's girlfriend. Chichina (Mia Maestro) clearly loves him, but he's so shy he doesn't know what to do with her. Plus her rich father hates him, apparently the first of the turning points in his move to the left.
Careening around the rutted roads and paths of Argentina and Chile, the duo are not experienced bikers, or travelers for that matter. They run out of money, the Norton gives up the ghost and their grand plans turn into something else. That's typical road movie fare and, as such, "The Motorcycle Diaries" is far from novel.
But Granado, a scam artist who would just as soon con people they meet, and the earnest Guevara make for a good contrast. And the people they meet — from a mechanic's wife who wants to have a fling with Che, only to be found out, to a homeless couple willing to work in horrible mines and the lepers of an Amazon colony — have a huge impact on their lives and thinking.
The boys get into some tight spots and, of course, quarrel and bond, quarrel and bond. That, too, is typical. But director Walter Salles and writer Jose Rivera, who boiled the two books down into a screenplay, have managed to transcend the formula by maintaining a solid sense of realism.
That said, "The Motorcycle Diaries" isn't an especially dramatic movie. It's more travelogue than gripping story. But that's probably a reflection of what really happened when the duo headed off on the Norton, and the South American locales are beautifully captured by cinematographer Eric Gautier.
Given what we know about Guevara and Granado, who went on to work in medicine in Cuba, it's easy to read socio-political elements into their encounters on their journey.
hat might be a bit of a stretch in places, and there's no real examination of Guevara's philosophy that may have resulted from the trip, just a statement from him that he thinks differently about the world.
Such a look is probably asking too much from any movie, and "The Motorcycle Diaries" doesn't pretend to be a political treatise.
Rather, it is a slice of the life of one of the 20th century's most romanticized political figures before he became Che. As such, it is an illuminating addition to popular history.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
The Motorcycle Diaries
***
Director: Walter Salles
Stars: Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo De La Serna, Mia Maestro, Mercedes Moran
Rated: Unrated; in Spanish with English subtitles
Now Showing: Douglas
The Reel Story: Bernal plays Che Guevara in this road picture about a trip around South America that helped form his revolutionary philosophy.
The story of their trip is "The Motorcycle Diaries."
The reason it is a movie is simple. Ernesto Guevara is better known as Che, the South American revolutionary folk hero who joined Fidel Castro in Cuba before dying in Bolivia an effort to export the revolution to the rest of the world.
"The Motorcycle Diaries" is based on books by Guevara and Granado and reflects, to some degree, the conversion of uptight medical student Guevara into a social/political activist. But it is also a buddy movie of the more serious variety.
Guevara is played by Gael Garcia Bernal, best known for his work in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," and he portrays him as a sweet, decent young man who wants to reach beyond his confining world but needs some encouragement to do so. That encouragement comes from Granado (Rodrigo De La Serna), a biochemist whose goal on the trip is to bed as many women in as many different countries as possible.
The first stop on the journey is at the farm of Guevara's girlfriend. Chichina (Mia Maestro) clearly loves him, but he's so shy he doesn't know what to do with her. Plus her rich father hates him, apparently the first of the turning points in his move to the left.
Careening around the rutted roads and paths of Argentina and Chile, the duo are not experienced bikers, or travelers for that matter. They run out of money, the Norton gives up the ghost and their grand plans turn into something else. That's typical road movie fare and, as such, "The Motorcycle Diaries" is far from novel.
But Granado, a scam artist who would just as soon con people they meet, and the earnest Guevara make for a good contrast. And the people they meet — from a mechanic's wife who wants to have a fling with Che, only to be found out, to a homeless couple willing to work in horrible mines and the lepers of an Amazon colony — have a huge impact on their lives and thinking.
The boys get into some tight spots and, of course, quarrel and bond, quarrel and bond. That, too, is typical. But director Walter Salles and writer Jose Rivera, who boiled the two books down into a screenplay, have managed to transcend the formula by maintaining a solid sense of realism.
That said, "The Motorcycle Diaries" isn't an especially dramatic movie. It's more travelogue than gripping story. But that's probably a reflection of what really happened when the duo headed off on the Norton, and the South American locales are beautifully captured by cinematographer Eric Gautier.
Given what we know about Guevara and Granado, who went on to work in medicine in Cuba, it's easy to read socio-political elements into their encounters on their journey.
hat might be a bit of a stretch in places, and there's no real examination of Guevara's philosophy that may have resulted from the trip, just a statement from him that he thinks differently about the world.
Such a look is probably asking too much from any movie, and "The Motorcycle Diaries" doesn't pretend to be a political treatise.
Rather, it is a slice of the life of one of the 20th century's most romanticized political figures before he became Che. As such, it is an illuminating addition to popular history.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
The Motorcycle Diaries
***
Director: Walter Salles
Stars: Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo De La Serna, Mia Maestro, Mercedes Moran
Rated: Unrated; in Spanish with English subtitles
Now Showing: Douglas
The Reel Story: Bernal plays Che Guevara in this road picture about a trip around South America that helped form his revolutionary philosophy.
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