The Motorcycle Diaries Movie Review (2004)
Focusing on the days before Che Guevara became a historic revolutionary, The Motorcycle Diaries is an earnest and touching exploration of what led him to fight against injustice.
When I first thought about watching this movie, I was both curious and a little embarrassed. I know a few things about Che Guevara, but if I’m being completely honest with myself and you, most of it is as the narrator in Evita and what I’ve heard about him from anyone wearing a T-shirt with his face on it. So I was glad that this would give me some new insights.
The Motorcycle Diaries is about the trip that Ernesto “Fuser” Guevara took with his friend Alberto Granado across South America during several months in 1952. Fuser is about to graduate from medical school and Alberto is a biochemist, so they take this trip both for fun and to eventually assist at a leper colony in Peru. Leaving from Argentina, and eventually having to abandon their motorcycle, they are slowly exposed to the injustices of the locals along the way.
The first hour of this drama is about the fun that the boys have, gallivanting with women and sleeping with as many as possible. It’s enjoyable and the actors are great, but that’s about it.
Then you get to the second half of the film, where Fuser and Alberto begin to meet the locals. This is where the meat of the film begins. There are many indigenous people who are poor and unable to rebel against larger forces. One local woman makes things to sell and shares leaves with them to eat, and another man explains that he had readied land for crops successfully, only to be forced to leave and have to start over.
When they reach the leper colony is when everything really comes together. To help separate patients from staff, all staff are required to wear medical gloves. The men refuse to do this. They have had enough separation between the privileged and the struggling, and if they can’t catch leprosy (it is not contagious), then they won’t participate. That was the first time I got choked up.
Gael García Bernal is spectacular as Fuser (who would later become the famous revolutionary, Che Guevara). Beginning as a young man, there are many scenes where he is silent, but his eyes tell a story. He becomes a different person over these months and Bernal burns with the new passion and understanding.
There are a few standout scenes, and one that I can’t stop thinking about. When the two men leave the leper colony on a small boat, the residents of the colony all wave goodbye to them as they drift off into the water to the sound of single notes on a stringed instrument. All of the love and separation, the acceptance and understanding exists in the space between them. It’s a remarkably emotional moment that is seared into my mind. And if that isn’t special enough, at the end of the film, you see the real Alberto Granado, who was still alive during the filming of this movie.
According to Wikipedia, “85% of the people suffering leprosy in the film were actual lepers, with some of them having lived there when Che and Granado worked at the colony.” Go into the film knowing that. It’s extraordinary.
Runtime: 126 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: Spanish with English subtitles
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Yes, several times
My Rating: 4.25/5 Stars
Available: Free on Peacock, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
