The Motorcycle Diaries Film Review: A Quiet Masterpiece of Cinematic Beauty

Screenshot taken from my copy of the film fair use

Why you Should Watch The Motorcycle Diaries

In an era of blockbuster franchise filmmaking, it's easy to forget there's an entire world of cinema that doesn't focus on special effects and action sequences. For every superhero franchise and James Cameron's Avatar, there are countless other independent films and gems of cinematic history that deserve to be recognized. One of the best examples of this is the Oscar-winning film "The Motorcycle Diaries.

Using a nonlinear narrative structure, "The Motorcycle Diaries" captures the experience of a young doctor named Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Gael García Bernal) who travels the length of South America on a motorcycle with his friend and fellow scientist Alberto Granado.

As Ernesto becomes involved in the lives of the people they meet on their journey, he witnesses the effects of poverty, political corruption, and the brutal cost of war. "The Motorcycle Diaries" is a quiet masterwork of cinematic beauty, and is a must-see for fans of great storytelling and foreign titles.

Screenshot taken from my copy of the film fair use

The Motorcycle Diaries is one of the most beautiful films ever made that you must see!

Is no small statement, but it holds true. Their journey through Chile, the Atacama Desert, and into the Peruvian Amazon, all set against the backdrop of the Andes, is a large part of what gives this film its charm and majesty.

The Motorcycle Diaries is a coming-of-age story. The main character Ernesto Guevara is due to complete his medical degree in 1952, but he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires to travel across South America with the final goal at the end of their journey to work in a leper colony in Peru.

Gael García Bernal who played Che Guevara gives a career-defining performance. As the story progresses we see him gradually influenced by the massive discrepancies in wealth and deprivations of poverty that were later to lead to the revolutionary's ideas and ethos.

This film is a deeply human story about the true cost of division and exploitation. For example, in Chile, they encounter a penniless and persecuted couple forced onto the road, living huddled under a single coat due to their communist beliefs. Guevara and Alberto ashamedly confess to the couple that they are not looking for work, explaining that they are traveling to Peru to work in a leper colony. Guevara becomes upset at the treatment that they receive after taking the pair to Chuquicamata copper mine to look for work.

This scene highlights the disparity between the "haves" (to whom they belong) and the exploited "have-nots"(who make up the majority of those they encounter).

Citation from the plot description on Wikipedia.

Screenshot taken from my copy of the film fair use

The film is a masterclass in pathos, as once they reach their destination in Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. Guevara observes both literally and metaphorically the division of society, as the staff lives on the north side of a river, separated from the deprived lepers living across the river to the south.

Guevara refuses to wear rubber gloves during his visit as the head nun requires, choosing instead to shake bare hands and interact with leper patients in an ordinary way. Guevara makes his symbolic "final journey" one night when despite his severe asthma, he swims across the river that separates the two societies of the leper colony, spending the night with one of the lepers in his shack rather than in one of the doctor's huts on the north side of the river.

Screenshot taken from my copy of the film fair use

This final act of Guevara underpins this quiet masterpiece of cinematic beauty, both from a storytelling perspective and an ideological one. It matters not your political opinion, to be honest, the film's genius lies in showing the journey that led to an ideology.

In an earlier scene at the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu Guevara speaks his musings on how an indigenous civilization capable of building such beauty could be destroyed by the creators of the eventually polluted urban decay of nearby Lima.
Alberto interrupts him with a dream of a peaceful revolution, a redistribution of wealth, and the transformation of modern South America.
To which Guevo promptly answers: *"A revolution without guns?" It will never work."*

Citation from the plot description on Wikipedia.

Which says it all to me. This film is a story of political awakening told through the internal monologue of Guevara exploring his thoughts, observations, and sensations showing how his political understanding of the world was formed.

Image by moonykim from Pixabay

What are the strengths of "The Motorcycle Diaries":

• Stunning scenery throughout that reflects the changing environments of various South American countries. For a nature enthusiast like myself, half of the magic of this film is the many scenes where they are simply driving through the Andean mountains, navigating the mud-choked roads near the amazon, or driving the dust-choked moonscape of the Atacama Desert.

• Although the main character does interact a lot with his friend Guevara, and at one point they are chased out of a village due to Guevara's flirtation with the willing wife of one of the local men, the dialogue is fleeting, and scenes of action few.

Screenshot taken from my copy of the film fair use

What are the weaknesses of "The Motorcycle Diaries":

• Although the main character does interact a lot with his friend Guevara, and they are chased out of a village at one point due to Guevo's flirtation with the willing wife of one of the local men, the dialogue is fleeting. I personally don't see this as a weakness, but for those people who enjoy their films with more action, snappy quick-witted dialogue, and less introspection this aspect of the movie's structure will jar or bore them.

• I'm at a loss to find anything else I find as a weakness in The Motorcycle Diaries. But the film critic working at the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph in 2004 had this to say about the film:

The Motorcycle Diaries may not provide any satisfactory answers as to how a 23-year-old medical student went on to become arguably the most famous revolutionary of the latter half of the 20th Century, but it has an undeniable charm in that it imbues the memories of youth with a sense of altruism and purity – which are complemented by the scenery. It's an incomplete portrait to be sure, but it's a gorgeous depiction of two best friends riding unknowingly into the history books."Source Wikipedia— The Daily Telegraph

Which to me proves only one thing for sure... those who can write great thought-provoking stories that document how the ideology of the man with one of the most well-known faces in the world grew from a certain time and place will become successful writers. Those who lack the talent and ability will get a job writing as a critic 😂

Final Thoughts: A Quiet Masterpiece of Cinematic Beauty

The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie of quiet beauty. At least 60% of the film is set in the head of the character of Ernesto "Che" Guevara as he documents his thoughts and reflections in his journal. He does often share his insights with his friend Alberto and much of the dialogue is framed around two subjects; the politics of separation that was endemic in South America at the time and more often from Alberto's side of the conversation women.

The Motorcycle Diaries is definitely a thinkers film, lovers of subtext and having their beliefs challenged through clever juxtapositions will love this film. Similarly, those of an introverted nature will find great satisfaction in this film because the main character of Ernesto "Che" Guevara is very much portrayed as an introvert in his early life.

There is a scene right near the end of the film where Ernesto makes an alcohol-fueled speech while making a birthday toast, which could be portrayed as his first political speech.

In this speech, he invokes a Latin American identity transcending the boundaries of nation and race. The encounters with social injustice he has seen on his journey have transformed the way Guevara sees his purpose in the world, planting the seeds of his later Marxist revolutionary ideology.

Citation from the plot description on Wikipedia.

Thanks for reading.

All image sources in this post are either CC license (linked under pic), or Screenshots taken from my copy of the film, fair use.

If you have enjoyed this movie review, please check out my homepage @raj808 for similar content.

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