Film/Video/TV Annotations
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The Motorcycle Diaries |
| Medium | Film |
| Keywords | Abandonment, Acculturation, Caregivers, Catastrophe, Children, Chronic Illness/Chronic Disease, Colonialism, Death and Dying, Developing Countries, Disability, Disease and Health, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Empathy, Family Relationships, Freedom, Grief, Human Worth, Illness and the Family, Infectious Disease, Institutionalization, Latina/Latino Experience, Loneliness, Love, Medical Ethics, Ordinary Life, Patient Experience, Physical Examination, Physician Experience, Poverty, Psycho-social Medicine, Public Health, Rebellion, Religion, Society, Suffering, Survival, Trauma |
| Summary | The story is based on an actual 1950's trip by two university friends, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna). Guevara is studying medicine, Granado biochemistry. They plan to travel from Buenos Aires across the Andes Mountains to Chile, Peru, and, then, to Venezuela. Before too many miles their derelict 1939 motorcycle fails, and the two young men continue by whatever means is available. The journey intent is one of adventure--drinking, meeting women, seeing the world. The young men do discover South America's impressive natural beauty but more strikingly, their eyes and sensibilities are directed to abject poverty and shocking injustices. These blatant inequities, as well as an extended period of time in a leper colony, contribute to the reframing of their original happy-go-lucky adventure and explain, in part, the impulses that eventually would shape Guevara's role in the Cuban Revolution. |
| Commentary | Everything about this film, especially the acting and the photography, is first-rate. In the beginning the audience is delighted by the adventure taken by two young men on an already impaired motorcycle. It is lightheartedly playful and engaging. Later, when the 7500-mile road trip exposes the two idealistic men to economic disparities and the harsh plight of indigenous people, it is clear that Guevara, especially, has been deeply affected by the up-close insights. |
| Director | Walter Salles |
| Leading Actors | Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna |
| Studio | 8 different production companies from the U.S., South America, and Europe; distributed in the U.S. b |
| Year | 2004 |
| Color/BW | Color |
| Running Time | 128 minutes |
| Video Source | South Fork |
| Miscellaneous | Based on books by Guevara and Granado; screenplay by Jose Rivera. In Spanish, with English subtitles. |
| Annotated by | Nixon, Lois LaCivita |
| Date of Entry | 08/15/05 |
| Last Revised | 02/22/10 |