Review of The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Hello all! For my last review of the day (and week), I'll be reviewing "The Motorcycle Diaries," starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna.

"The Motorcycle Diaries" is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the forerunner of the Cuban revolution in the 1950's and 1960's. The film follows Guevara's journey with his best friend Alberto Grenado across the whole of South America between January and July of 1952. The journey started in Buenos Aires, Argentina and ended in Caracas, Venezuela. During the trip, they struggle with standard perils of travel, as well as introspective trials that each have to face. They start out as young, innocent and curious boys and end as more mature, hardened adults who are forced to see the injustices that have been going on around them for years, but never knew about. This whole trip eventually leads Guevara to abandon his promising career in medicine to become the political leader that he's become famous for being.

Pros:

1. Gael Garcia Bernal is superb in this film. He went through six months of research to play the role of Che Guevara, and it shows in his performance. He gives an absolutely exciting and enlightening performance as a young man who travels and experiences things that change him from an innocent boy to an educated, knowledgeable and frustrated man. Every actor's dream is to play a role like this; the role of an inspiring figure who fought for the good of his/her country. Whether or not they were successful, getting to play someone going through the journey of enlightenment is a treat for any actor, myself included. I only hope that someday I can pull off a performance that's even half the caliber of Bernal's. I'm looking forward to seeing more work from this amazing actor.

2. The relationship change between Guevara and his friend Grenado is also something to mention. Grenado was older than Guevara by seven years, so the first half of the movie shows Grenado as kind of an older brother figure, vowing to protect and guide Guevara while they're on their journey. However, as Guevara matures and sees what's actually going on in his own world, the audience sees a shift in roles between them. Guevara becomes the older brother figure, convincing Grenado to stray off their planned path and help those in need of their assistance. Guevara was so affected by the things that he saw: leper colonies, poor, indigenous peoples, and other types of underprivileged people that he essentially became the well known political figure we all know him to be because of this journey and his experiences that made him realize that his country needed a change. When an actor can make that much change in a character, but still feel like the same person, it's a great accomplishment, and they both did it superbly.  

3. This film was shot on location, and used real indigenous people, as well as actors. They filmed in Argentina, Venezuela, Machu Pichu and other parts of Peru, they filmed at the Amazon River where the REAL leper colony is (there's even a scene where Bernal swims across the Amazon at night to get to the leper colony to spend his birthday with them on their isolated island, and he ACTUALLY swam in the Amazon River at night). Every location was rich, lush and beautiful, and an astounding place to film. It was a truly beautiful piece of artwork of a film, and you can only really appreciate it by watching it.

Machu Pichu. Awesome.

The Amazon River. Awesome.

This place. Also awesome.

Motorcycle in a field. Awesome.

Let's face it, there are no cons for this movie. There were a couple of times that they used "shaky cam," and I got a little annoyed by it, but not enough to make it worth writing a "cons" section for this movie. This film was stupendous; it's lush, real, passionate, and has more heart of any movie I've probably ever seen. If you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to experience this movie. Five stars for you, "The Motorcycle Diaries"! If I could add more stars, I would. Thanks for reading!