In 1952, a young medical student and a biochemist from Argentina set off on a road trip across South America. As they straddled their beaten up motorcycle, the men talked in awed tones of the sights they were about to experience. The record of their trip may have disappeared into the ether if one of the riders departing on that fateful day hadn't been the future insurrectionary figurehead of the Cuban revolution, Ernesto "Che" Guevara (played here by Gael Garcia Bernal). The young Che's companion on the trip was his best friend, Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), with their simple goals being to enjoy themselves, and meet some girls along the way. As the trip unfolds at the behest of their spluttering motorcycle, the boys discover more about themselves than they ever imagined possible. Ernesto clings tightly to his ideals throughout, and delights in the opportunity to put them into practice. His refusal to spend the $20 provided by his girlfriend, Chichina Ferreyra (Mia Maestro), constantly angers his travelling companion as the two succumb to pangs of hunger. Ernesto's charitable nature comes to the fore when he reveals that he gave the money to a pair of out-of-work illegal immigrants. The trip winds down as the friends offer their medical expertise to a leper colony in Peru, with the duo's youthful folly acquiescing to adulthood, and the dawning realization of where they should head in life.
The Motorcycle Diaries
Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Jorge Chiarella, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mia Maestro, Mercedes Moran
Director: Walter Salles
Rating: R (MPAA)
Run time: 127 min.
Genre: Drama, Foreign (subtitled)
