The Motorcycle Diaries (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'The Motorcycle Diaries', a foreign biodrama directed by Walter Salles, is based on the journal entries of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara de la Serna (Gael Garcia Bernal), leader of the Cuban Revolution. This film recounts the adventures that he & his best buddy, Alberto Granado, go on while driving across South America on a motorcycle in the 1950s. It's a revolutionary, inspiring journey of self-discovery. But it wasn't always as exhilarating to watch for me.
Right before 'Che' is about to attain his medical degree, he jumps on his barely-functional motorbike (named 'The Mighty One') with Alberto, a biochemist, & sets-out from Argentine on an innocent search for fun -- 'fun' meaning girls, primarily. Their journey takes them from Argentina, to Chile, to Peru, Colombia, and up through Venezuela. What they didn't expect was to find so much poverty and suffering in countries outside of their homeland. They're unhappy to witness, simultaneously, that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. It's a universal happening.
Che & Alberto help a couple out whose land was taken away from them in Chile. Peru is where they volunteer for several weeks at a leper colony. It is here where the revolutionary bug gets inside of Che. He doesn't like to see a separation of the classes; and he's angry with the Catholic Church. As an act of good will, doing what he thinks is right, Che swims across the river that separates the lepers from the higher classes and chooses to sleep in a leper shack, rather than a comfy cabin. It is these injustices & wrongdoings which pave the way for Che's eventual political drive and revolutionary flare. He may have been privileged in Argentine, but he fights for equality for all human beings. Che then aims to help the underprivileged. Alberto has different goals in mind.
The strength of this film is in the acting. Gael Garcia Bernal is a great 'Che' Guevara. And Rodrigo de la Serna does well to compliment Garcia Bernal. Their friendship appears very genuine onscreen. Their 'roadside' journey provides plenty of familiar, comfortable, typical best buddy happenings and discussions. You'll chuckle, grimace, & witness the same beauty that they do on their adventure. But for a nice as the film is, it's not very potent. All the movie does is set-up 'why' Che Guevara does what he eventually does. It's nice to see, but not particularly meaningful, really. 'Motorcycle Diaries' is a purposeless, yet pleasant, insightful ride. Insipid is a word I'd 'lightly' use; it lacks complexity. That said, I certainly didn't dislike it. Fine film, great landscapes, good acting, & then it is over.
Right before 'Che' is about to attain his medical degree, he jumps on his barely-functional motorbike (named 'The Mighty One') with Alberto, a biochemist, & sets-out from Argentine on an innocent search for fun -- 'fun' meaning girls, primarily. Their journey takes them from Argentina, to Chile, to Peru, Colombia, and up through Venezuela. What they didn't expect was to find so much poverty and suffering in countries outside of their homeland. They're unhappy to witness, simultaneously, that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. It's a universal happening.
Che & Alberto help a couple out whose land was taken away from them in Chile. Peru is where they volunteer for several weeks at a leper colony. It is here where the revolutionary bug gets inside of Che. He doesn't like to see a separation of the classes; and he's angry with the Catholic Church. As an act of good will, doing what he thinks is right, Che swims across the river that separates the lepers from the higher classes and chooses to sleep in a leper shack, rather than a comfy cabin. It is these injustices & wrongdoings which pave the way for Che's eventual political drive and revolutionary flare. He may have been privileged in Argentine, but he fights for equality for all human beings. Che then aims to help the underprivileged. Alberto has different goals in mind.
The strength of this film is in the acting. Gael Garcia Bernal is a great 'Che' Guevara. And Rodrigo de la Serna does well to compliment Garcia Bernal. Their friendship appears very genuine onscreen. Their 'roadside' journey provides plenty of familiar, comfortable, typical best buddy happenings and discussions. You'll chuckle, grimace, & witness the same beauty that they do on their adventure. But for a nice as the film is, it's not very potent. All the movie does is set-up 'why' Che Guevara does what he eventually does. It's nice to see, but not particularly meaningful, really. 'Motorcycle Diaries' is a purposeless, yet pleasant, insightful ride. Insipid is a word I'd 'lightly' use; it lacks complexity. That said, I certainly didn't dislike it. Fine film, great landscapes, good acting, & then it is over.