The Motorcycle Diaries

After watching los diarios de la motocicleta, i am at a loss for words. It tells about two lives, running parallel if only for a while, having common aspirations and shared dreams. Let the world change you, then you can change the world. I'll leave you now, with myself, the man I used to be...

I don't presume to be the foremost movie critic or reviewer in the world but i believe that i should recommend to everybody the motorcycle diaries. It stars Gael Garcia Bernal of Y tu Mama Tambien fame and Rodrigo De la Serna, second cousin to Che Guevara himself. They play Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado respectively in the film. A whole host of poetry from Neruda is reflected in this film which makes it ever so poetical.

The show is beautiful in its depiction of South America and the gorgeous scenery. From the rolling, neverending plains of the Pampas to the violent ascending peaks of the Andes, the harshness of the landscape brings out the humanity in the movie. The european, mediterraenean feel of Valparaiso and Buenos Aires contrasts strongly with the ancient Incan feel of Macchu Picchu and Cuzco. As the Amazon cuts a swath through the dense virgin jungle, the starkness of the Atacama desert and the Patagonian wilderness is nothing short of breathtaking. Resembling a National Geographic Travelogue, it is a must see.

Before he commits to life as an M.D., however, the 23-year-old doomed radical-to-be decides to revel in the last gasp of youth and embark on a road trip from Buenos Aries to the upper reaches of Peru. Some 8,000 miles later, the seeds of radical politics have been planted. The desperate poverty he has witnessed turns Guevara's attention away from his medical studies towards society's ills.

Similar to Jack Kerouac's On the road, it is no doubt a biographical memoir of the transformation of the asthmatic medical student into the revolutionary that is Che Guevara. The show depicts the friendship between Ernesto and Rodrigo. Best pals that would embark on a journey that takes them into the heart of humanity and embrace the bosom of nature. It is about brotherhood and humanity, suffering and generosity. It is about sympathy and justice, as the fervent call for freedom beckons

It starts of as a fun seeking adventure that one takes before graduation but by the end of the movie, it is an odyssey of humanity that one feels the insurgent fire burning within. Puctuated with horny adventures and many rituals of fire, the awakening consciousness that surrounds the film symbolises the loss of innocence and the coming of age. It is a movie of self-discovery and exploration, about the political and emotional elections we all have to make in life. It is about friendship and solidarity and finally, it is about finding one's place in the world.

It is a typically guy movie. A male romance of sorts. A slow but sure fall from the pedestal of innocence, the naivete of the characters is contrasted by the harsh reality and landscape that surrounds them. It is the rebellion that dogs every single male specimen on earth. To get out of his comfort zone and finds the very visceral and primal meaning that defines himself as a man. It signifies the independence and the free spiritedness that testosterone brings. The drive to prove onself worthy of being called a man. It symbolises the fire of youth and the passion of idealistic justice.

The film reaches back to the past to suggest that life is full of turning points, some of which we recognize and some we don't, and that, in a dangerous world, youth and friendship are to be treasured because, like life, they can pass so quickly. The boys are sniffing out adventure, not an odyssey that will change their lives, but by the time the film is over, it's clear what each man's destiny has become. They grow further away from each other yet more towards each other.

The film romanticises the myth of Che Guevara but it does not sentimentalise it. It is a movie that calls out to all boys, the primal calling of the wild. It is a definitive movie that strikes us all. Are we really being what we want to be? Are we doing what we feel like doing? Are the luxuries of modern living seducing us away from our calling? Ultimately this movie is a journey to the centre of the earth. And this lies in the heart of man.



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