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6/21/2005: Views: The Motorcycle Diaries

The Motorcycle Diaries 2004, dir. Walter Salles

Download my Google Earth tour to follow along with the stops in this film.

This is simply an outstanding film. It follows Ernesto (Che) Guevara and Alberto Granada on their 1952 motorcycle trip through South America to explore and discover their own continent, and was based on books by each of them about the trip.

Politics take a back seat to incredible scenery in this movie. Ernesto is a young, idealistic medical student - his future as a revolutionary/household name/t-shirt icon is years away, although his awakening to that future was born on this trip. At heart this is really a stunning travelogue and a roadtrip/buddy movie.

I've made a Keyhole tour of their stops in the film that also has mini-recaps of what happens where. It contains some spoilers, but the movie's more about the unfolding of the journey and the effects it has on the two young men than the usual plot-driven "what happens next" scenario.

Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo De la Serna play Guevara and Granada respectively, and both are outstanding. As actors, they are perfect complements to each other, as are their characters. The entire supporting cast is excellent as well, and includes a lot of local and indigenous people in the various places they go. The movie is in Spanish with subtitles and there's so much to look at all the time that it's easy to miss some dialogue, so this one is probably better on home video with rewind than in a theater.

Walter Salles, Alberto Granado, Gael García Bernal

DVD extras include some deleted & extended scenes, short interviews with Bernal (whose parents are both actors) and director Walter Salles, as well as a wonderful gem with the real Alberto Granado who is now 83 and was involved in filming. There's also a "Making Of" that's not much more than an extended trailer with some light background. It does include a fun piece about the two actors learning to ride "The Mighty One" - the crusty 1939 Norton bike that died along the way (and none too soon) - and also some interview clips with Che's daughter that are interesting and thought-provoking. But sadly there's not much about the various location shoots along the 7,000+ miles of the journey. The scenery is simply stunning throughout and I'm sure there were some serious logistics involved in filming it, not to mention the interaction of cast and crew with the locals (especially those who appeared in the film).. those are the kinds of things that can make a "Making Of" special for a movie like this.

Setting out for a grand adventure on "The Mighty One"

Crossing Lago Frias from Argentina into Chile

Crossing Chile's Atacama Desert (the world's most barren)

They are overwhelmed by Machu Picchu (which alone makes this movie worth seeing - it's spectacular)

Leaving the San Pablo leper colony in Peru, and Guevara symbolically leaving medicine (a few patients from the original colony they visited appear in the film)