I don't know if it was my love for history or my love for musicals that drew me to The Motorcycle Diaries. For those who are not as into musicals as I am, Che Guevara, historically known as the leader of the Cuban Revolution, is the main character of this film but also plays a big part in the musical Evita. No matter what drew me into this story I was still very much captured by it. The Motorcycle Diaries is the story of Che when he decided to have some last moments of fun on a road trip before graduating and becoming a doctor. The script is actually based on the diary that Che wrote in throughout the trip.Che (Gael García Bernal) and his friend Alberto (Rodrigo De La Serna)set off on a trip to travel from Argentina to Venezuela. At the beginning of the journey, they have somewhat similar hopes for the trip, but as they continue on their journey they realize that they need to grow up and each decides what the path of his life is going to be. García Bernal does an amazing job of turning subtlety into art. His performance is not enhanced by any kind of special effects and the only thing available to him is his ability to act, which he certainly proves he has in this film. De La Serna provides levity as Che's fun-loving and woman-loving friend.
This is a very simple story. Two friends decide to go on an adventure to see what else is out there in the world and they are never the same afterward. It is an exceedingly emotionally gripping story that has laughs thrown in for good measure. In fact I would say that the amount of laughs that are in this film was just the right amount. In many films, too many laughs are put in to ease the tension, but this film actually lets the audience feel other things. The scenery from the film was amazing. There were many shots of the landscape of the countries that just added to the simplistic beauty of this movie.
Everything in this movie seemed to work for me. The acting was as beautiful and compelling as the scenery and the plot. I was absolutely blown away by this film and I was not expecting it. This film also had a lingering effect of the emotion in the film. I was amazed at the story that it portrayed and feel it fully deserves the 18 I'm giving it.
10 comments:
splendid review, SP, but i can't get over one thing: Che Guevara was a violent, anti-American revolutionary who perpetrated uncountable acts of evil and tyranny throughout his life. now, i imagine the movie doesn't go into that segment of his life. as i understand, it just deals with a period in his young adulthood when he goes on this trip. but Che Guevara spent most of the time after this movie inciting violent overthrows (sometimes just for the sake of them), and executed, in just a few years, anywhere from 150 to 600 people (mostly people from the government he just overthrew). clearly, this is not a very nice person. it just seems to me that The Motorcycle Diaries (which i haven't seen) only tells one fifth of the story, when the most important parts are in the other four fifths, and are defeating of the content of the first fifth. that seems kinda irresponsible, don't you think?
The movie did not set out to explain his WHOLE LIFE, Just the effect this trip had on him. I don't think it is irresponsible at all. If we change people's background stories because they turned out to be violent when they are older, that completely robs that person of their history. Che was who he was, does that mean he has to have a horrible backstory?
It is also REALLY bad history to change the backstory of someone's life merely because you know what they'll become. It is not objective and also adds things to the individuals mind that might not have been there became they might not have known what they would become. It would be irresponsible not to tell the story.
no, it doesn't. i don't believe a person should be judged on one action. but the thing with Che is it was more than one. i think of Che Guevara as "not one of the good guys," and here comes The Motorcycle Diaries, presenting him as a wanderer on a bike, going on a very appealing journey of self-discovery. he's the hero of the movie, and it (probably) glorifies him a little.
i just think this movie might give people who are unfamiliar with Che Guevara an inaccurate picture of him. someone might come out of this movie thinking "i'd like to do what Che did; he was a good guy." it's kinda crushing to find out later that someone you admire was actually a great big dirt bag. you know what i mean?
Yeah, you raise a good point, PM. If we saw a movie about Hitler that only dealt with his youthful dabblings in art, we'd decry it as Nazi propaganda.
But Che wasn't Hitler. I can't position myself as a Che expert, but it seems that, unlike Hitler (who killed and sought power for only himself), Che Guevara incited revolutions to free those trapped in the bondage of dictatorships.
Guevara's a tricky case, because he's equally derided (as communist and terrorist) and celebrated (as a hero and a freedom fighter); it's hard to find an even-handed account of his life. And an assessment of his violent acts brings us back to the discussion thread we had about V for Vendetta; namely, what's the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter?
But getting back to your "is it responsible?" question: No, it's probably not. I think the movie assumes that the viewer is familiar with Che's life, which isn't always the case. And it does lean heavily on the rosy picture of Che Guevara as a man who fights for the little guy. But I don't think the movie was trying to be responsible; I think it wanted to send a very particular message about this man.
Does that still make it laudatory? Well, I'll leave that to you.
as to whether it's laudatory or not, i can't say, because i haven't seen the film. but knowing what i know about this movie, it just seems to me that it's spinning Che's story quite a lot, almost to the point of being propaganda. as to where the line is between freedom fighter and terrorist, i don't think we'll come any closer to a conclusion that we did with V for Vendetta. but Che's story is pretty easy for me to figure out, since he fought to depose the benevolent dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in favor of the oppressive communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
feel free to correct me if i've got any facts wrong, SP.
I'd say this is a very important film because it focuses on the moments in Guevara's life that were formative for him. You can almost see the wheels turning in his mind as the film plays out. It explains who he is. I don't think it praises him, it's based primarily (from what I was led to believe) on his diaries (hence the name) and the account of his friend Alberto. Clearly it wasn't 100% fact, but I believe that the gist is accurate.
I think that almost any account of a story like this can look like it's spun into propaganda because like DW said, he is both praised and condemned for what he stood for. You, PM, are only choosing to look at it from the condemning standpoint. Therefore making him appear human looks like praise.
I'm with WLC on this one. I think the movie shows you Che's initial development stages and leaves you just at a point in which you, the viewer who knows what Che ended up doing, can ponder how Che got to where he ended up from this humble beginning.
Given that Hitler was mentioned in the above comments, I have to say I wouldn't mind a similar analysis done on Hitler.
Anyway, my point is this: the film does not pretend to give you answers, it wants to make you think. That said, I wouldn't give it as high a score as SP did.
Another point I'd like to make is regarding the point PM has made on Che being anti American. As far as I know, being anti American is not a crime, not even in the USA. It might make you unpopular within the USA, but in many parts of the world it would make you very popular.
Now look at the time in which the film was made: The USA's popularity is at an all time low for a collection of reasons (say, Iraq), a lot of which can be attributed to the USA voter voting for Bush.
My point is this: the film was made in an era where being anti American, wearing a Che shirt even if you have no idea what Che did, or just saying that the USA is the mother of all that is wrong in the world is quite popular. This is a Spanish speaking film, and the notion is indeed very popular in Spanish speaking countries: Don't you think South Americans are annoyed with the people of the USA calling their country America, as if the rest of it doesn't exist?
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the filmmakers probably tried to capitalize on the wave of anti Americanism that is currently washing the world.
"Given that Hitler was mentioned in the above comments, I have to say I wouldn't mind a similar analysis done on Hitler." Moshe I was thinking the same exact thing!
well, there's just one thing to do now... i'll have to see The Motorcycle Diaries.
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