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THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES Send This Review to a Friend
Even if “The Motorcycle Diaries,” a highlight of the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, were not about revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara, the story told would be a charming road and coming-of-age movie. But the fact that one of the young men depicted is Che gives added meaning and poignancy as we examine the formative years of this important figure in Latin American history. What director Walter Salles ("Central Station") has done is follow two young Argentine friends on their journey from their home country through Peru, Chile and ultimately Venezuela. For Che, the experience made a deep impression as he saw the injustice faced by the have-nots.
The screenplay by José Rivera is based on Guevara’s memoir “The Motorcycle Diaries” and on his friend Alberto Granado’s “Traveling with Che Guevara.” Che was eventually killed in Bolivia, allegedly with CIA help, and the real Granado, pictured at the end in his 80s, became the founder of a medical center in Cuba. We meet their screen versions when Granado is a young biologist and Che has interrupted his study of leprosy. They take off together on an old motorcycle for a journey with the goal of reaching a leper colony where they are to spend three weeks assisting.
Mexico’s hottest star, Gael García Bernal, is appealing and sexy as 23-year-old Guevara. The actor projects sensitivity as Guevara becomes
impressed by aspects of life that he encounters, and we can see the gathering concerns that subsequently turned him into a revolutionary hero. Rodrigo de La Serna excels as his 29-year-old buddy, and their adventures make for easy viewing. They travel with hardly any money, getting along as best they can and running into situations that range from amusing to poignant.
The movie is also somewhat of a travelogue, with camera work lavished on striking locations. Emphasis is also on the various types of people shown along the way in their habitats, and Salles gives us a feeling for Latin America, as well as for Che’s developing dream of uniting the countries into a unifying whole. This is a film as profound as it is enjoyable. A Focus Features release.
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