Diarios de Motocicleta (2004)

Film: Diarios de Motocicleta

Director: Walter Salles

Country: Brazil / Latin America

Released: January 2004

Runtime: 126 minutes

Genre: Biopic

Studio: FilmFour, Tu Vas Voir, South Fork

Influenced: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Pablo Larraín, Lucrecia Martel, Ciro Guerra

Latin American cinema went through an extraordinary period of international recognition in the first decade of the 21st century, on the back of the success of Fabián Bielinsky's Nine Queens (2000), Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Cidade de Deus (2002) and Walter Salles' Diarios de Motocicleta. Salles had found success before with the excellent and moving Central Do Brasil (1998), but his biopic of legendary Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara would raise his profile to another level. Based on Che's own travel diaries, the screenplay was adapted by Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera and recounts the journey of the young Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado across South America on a motorcycle in the early 1950s. Robert Redford served as Executive Producer on the movie, which may explain why the Che character in the film has something of the American beat poet about him. 

As well as providing an intimate look into Guevara's early life, the film also outlines his observations about social inequality and the experiences that played a crucial role in shaping his political ideology. We see Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) travel from Buenos Aires to Chile, Peru, Colombia and eventually Venezuela, a journey that exposes them to the beauty of the continent, but also the harsh realities of its poverty and social injustice. Rather than just portraying him as a revolutionary figure, the film humanises Guevara by showcasing his personal growth during this Latin American odyssey. Mexican actor Bernal is excellent in the lead role, which he secured on the back of his performances in Y Tu Mamá También and Amores Perros (2000). Bernal had already played Che in TV film Fidel (2002) and had spent a long time perfecting an Argentinean accent and reading some of Guevara's favourite writers such as Karl Marx and Pablo Neruda. Granado is played by Argentinean actor Rodrigo de la Serna, while another Argentinean, Mia Maestro, plays Che's love interest Chichina.

The film's production faced challenges, most notably having to shoot in various locations across South America to authentically capture the landscapes and cultural diversity of the continent. Several key moments stand out in the film, including Guevara and Granado's interactions with local people, witnessing the plight of lepers in a Peruvian sanatorium, where Guevara's compassion and growing political awareness become most evident. To transport them on their epic journey, Che and Granado are reliant on La Poderosa ("The Mighty One"), a Norton 500 motorcycle. Salles used an actual Norton 500 for many of the scenes, but due to availability issues, a number of different motorcycles also had to be used in the film. So evocative is the movie's depiction of Latin America that watching the film in 2004 was one of the inspirations for me to travel the continent a year later, attempting to mirror Che's route from Argentina across the border to Chile and then up the length of the country to Peru and Machu Picchu. We cheated and did it by bus, not motorbike, though.

Diarios de Motocicleta received critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including the François Chalais Prize at Cannes and the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. It also won an Oscar for Best Original Song for Al Otro Lado del Río by Jorge Drexler, a stunning and emotional track that perfectly complements the score by Argentinean musician Gustavo Santaolalla. As well as the cinematography, one of the things I love most about the movie how Salles makes the shift from coming-of-age road trip in the first half to a more serious, political tone in the second half feel natural and seamless. This is also down to the fine acting of Bernal in particular, who is superb at capturing the Ernesto-into-Che transformation, especially the way his unflinching honesty morphs into a radical political outlook. Other films about Che would follow, notably Soderbergh's two-part 2008 biopic, but none would capture as well the humanity and vulnerability of this beautiful young soul who threw in his lot not just with "les misérables" of the San Pablo leper colony, but with all the marginalised people of Latin America.

"Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me any more. At least I'm not the same me I was" – Ernesto "Che" Guevara