The Motorcycle
Diaries
Starring:
Gael
Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna, Mercedes Moran, Jean Pierre Noher
Running
time: 126 minutes
Year:
2004
Directed
By: Walter
Salles
Written
By: Jose
Rivera
The
Motorcycle Diaries is a road movie, a road movie based on the
life of a man who managed to change a large proportion of political discrepancies
in South America. This man was Che Guevara, the leader of a revolution in Cuba in
order to make all people equal. This decision of his came after this road trip
which is the story of The Motorcycle
Diaries.
The film starts with Ernesto (later Che) and Alberto
heading on a road trip across South America to explore countries they have only
read about. The plan is to travel 8,000 miles in a record 5 months, and arrive
at their final destination on Alberto's thirtieth birthday. This doesn't happen
however due to their unreliable motorcycle and their abundance of money. At
first we see the pair as child like, attempting to see out the remainder of
their youth. They bicker, they laugh, and they act on impulse in order to get
by. At first we witness Ernesto as an upper class boy in his final semester at
college in order to become a doctor. He has the world at his feet and this trip
is his last chance to enjoy his surroundings. Alberto is a biochemist and wants
to witness South America before he finds a girl and settles down. The trip
begins with them enjoying themselves by flirting with women, conning the locals
into giving them money and fighting with entire villages. That is until their
motorcycle finally breaks completely and they find themselves trekking their
way to Peru.
Now having to hitchhike they begin to meet all the
people that society hasn't been good too. Communists who must hide from the
government, farmers forced off fields by capitalists, and builders moved from
their homes in order to build capitol cities. Once they reach Peru the duo are
beginning to hate the society they are witnessing and begin to talk about
forming a way to create a revolution and help all those in need. A doctor
friend of Alberto understands how they feel and sends them to an island where
they cater for patients with leprosy. The two men spend three weeks there and
are appalled to see that the sick are treated like animals. They are made to
live on the island whilst the doctors live on land, they have to use a smaller
more cramped boat to travel back and forth compared to the doctors having a much
spacious boat, and the doctors insist that they must when gloves when treating
these patients. The duo are angered at this do all they can to help the
patients feel like people. On Ernesto's birthday he chooses to swim to the
island to spend it with the patients, despite being thrown a party by the
doctors. He is slowly beginning to realise that everyone should be treated
equally. At the end of the film the road trip ends and each go their separate
ways, but we all know that Ernesto is heading home in preparation to become a
leader of a revolution and transform into Che, a man that changed the world.
I will begin with the positives with the film. The
acting is top notch. Bernal and De la Serna are on good form and are utterly
believable as the people they are portraying. The rest of the actors could be
mistaken for real life residents, but as far as I am aware they could have
been. The story comes with a little humour which is always a bonus, and it is
intriguing to see the beginnings of a man who is plastered all over t-shirts in
South America.
My problem with the movie is that I don't really
know much about Che. I am aware another movie has been made on him starring
Benicio Del Torro, but that is all I know. I looked him up when the film was
finished and I have to say all I really found was that he was a murderer and a
terrorist. He helped people gain the freedom of speech but then persecuted them
if they didn't follow his beliefs. He was a full blown communist by the sounds
of it, and a man who ended up doing more harm than good. He was eventually
tracked down by the CIA and killed; so I wander why there is a film documenting
his rise, especially since the film paints him as good. In the film he is a gentle, kind man but in
reality it seems that he wasn't. The film doesn't really hint at a man who
turned to killing in order to stamp his beliefs. If the film showed him as a
man with a tendency to become evil it may have worked better. Maybe others will
see him as good, but from what I have read it seems to be the opposite.
Also the film at times becomes a little boring. Nothing
really happens throughout other than them travelling, meeting people,
motorcycle breaking, and then leaving town. It does repeat, especially for the
first half. In the second half the tone seems to change, which takes away some
of the fun with the first half. Could this highlight a change in him?
All in all it was an average film. After reading up
a bit about it I am shocked to see such a bad man shone in a good light. For
those who are aware of Che's life, may be disappointed to see how his image is
shown. For those of you, like me, who know nothing, may enjoy it more.
3
/ 5
Next film to review: CHILDREN OF MEN
No comments:
Post a Comment