The Motorcycle Diaries

The Motorcycle Diaries directed by Walter Salles starring Gael García Bernal as Ernesto Guevara de la Serna and Rodrigo De la Serna as Alberto Granado was released in 2004. Walter Salles's film addresses the historical journey of Che Guevara's travels from 1951-1952. This event is present in an amazing journey on a motorcycle! If you were a medical student and very close to graduating, would you just put that on hold to travel the country of South America? This is exactly what Ernesto "Che" Guevara, initially motivated by curiosity and a desire to travel, and his close friend Alberto Granado did. They set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Starting out in Buenos Aires, Argentina and visiting among other places, the Atacama Desert, Cuzco (the former Inca capital), Machu Picchu, Lima, and a leper colony at San Pablo, Peru. After saying goodbye to Ernesto's family, the two embark on "The Mighty One", Alberto's old Morton 500 motorcycle.

Ernesto

Alberto

The Map of Their ADVENTURE!!!

Ernesto and Alberto arrive at their first stop at Ernesto's girlfriend's, Chichina, house and her upper-class family are living in Miramar, Argentina. Alberto asks upon their arrival; "Where the heck are we? Switzerland?" In San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina the two lose their tent during a storm and are forced to sleep in a barn, which at first they are highly opposed to. I mean hello they are doctors. Doctors don't sleep in barns. Not to mention, their host isn't the kindest or most welcoming. When Ernesto and Alberto make it to Bariloche they set up an idealistic clinic. Honest to a fault Ernesto reveals to a potential host that he has a tumor, which could cost the two a place to stay.

Off to Chile we go! Here is where "The Mighty One" breaks down, and considering neither Ernesto nor Alberto have any money they have to devise a plan to get the motorcycle fixed. They agree to give an interview at the local paper to attract good favor with the locals. In Temuco, Chile is where the fun starts! The owner of the local shop agrees to fix the bike. After all, he is helping out heroes! Little did he know that Alberto was going to make a move on his wife at that party that night. These actions resulted in a mob trying to attack our main characters, an attack which they barely escaped. After a good run, "The Mighty One" finally is put to rest in Valparaiso, Chile. Okay, we would love to say that it was due to mechanical error, but oh no. It was cows. YES! I said COWS! MOOOOO! No worries the two continue their adventure by hitchhiking.

A key moment in the journey is when they meet a couple of miners who are persecuted for their communist beliefs. This shows a change in the journey for Ernesto and he realizes how he and Alberto are wealthy and don't have to worry about the troubles of the world. Guevara sought to distance himself from the tourist masses, consciously opting for practice of travel that marked him as a non-tourist. This option, Elena suggests, reflected a distinctive position vis-a-vis the nationalism that Peronism south to champion. Like other Argentines of social class, including members of his own family , Guevara was skeptical of Juan Perón, however, he recognized more readily than most that Peronism brought real material and symbolic benefits to the Argentine poor. But in choosing to travel beyond the borders of his native country, Guevara tacitly rejected Perón's narrow nationalism in favor of a more expansive motion that reflected an embrace of pan-Americanism as the basis of his awakening anti-imperialism. The following day Ernesto and Alberto follow the miners to the Chuquicamata Mine where they hope to be picked for work. Seeing the mine workers treated like livestock puts Ernesto into a rage like no other. This causes him to act against Anacond, the mine foreman.

On their final stop of the journey Ernesto and Alberto arrive in San Pablo, Peru at a leper colony. Here it is clear to see a separation of society. The doctors reside on the north side of the Amazon while the lepers reside on the south side of the Amazon. Forming bonds with the lepers Ernesto refuses to wear gloves and touches their hands with his bare hands. He takes the occasion of a birthday party to make his first political speech and and here he shares his pan-American ideas. In the most amazing scene of the movie he braves his asthma and the currents of the river and swims across to spend the evening with lepers. I believe this solidifies the success of the film.