Taking a page from "The Motorcycle Diairies"
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Two weeks ago, CineVerse gathered to investigate "The Motorcycle Diaries," which resulted in an absorbing discussion. Here are some of the highlights of that discourse:
WHAT IS SURPRISING ABOUT THIS MOVIE, ESPECIALLY
CONSIDERING THE MAIN PROTAGONIST, WHO WOULD LATER BECOME THE REVOLUTIONARY ICON
CHE GUEVARA?
·
It’s not a polemic or politically themed film;
it doesn’t attempt to take sides, draw you into any political debate or depict
any of the events involving the Cuban revolution or Che’s involvement with
Castro
·
Instead, it’s a simple, sweet, coming-of-age picture
that has a universality to it that almost any viewer can relate to or enjoy
·
It starts out as a road picture or a buddy
movie, but transforms into something else by the conclusion: a spiritual
awakening spurred by a series of epiphanies
·
The cinematography and natural South American
landscapes are stunningly beautiful, which serve as striking contrasts to the
squalid, insufferable conditions of many of the natives the boys encounter
·
This is the ultimate “shot on location” film, as
the filmmakers chose to shoot along the exact route that Guevara and Granado
took 50 years earlier
HOW IS THIS FILM DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BIOPICS THAT
ATTEMPT TO RECREATE THE LIFE OF AN HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT FIGURE?
·
It doesn’t announce in any titles or voiceover
that this is based on a true story or actual events
·
Hence, it can be enjoyed by audiences simply as
a road picture, a buddy movie, a coming-of-age story, etc. In other words, you
don’t need to know that the main character becomes Che Guevara the
revolutionary poster boy to appreciate it
·
It actually plays less like a biopic based on
historically accurate events than as a travelogue journey
·
The director doesn’t rely on swelling emotional
music or tug-on-your-heartstrings cues to manipulate you into feeling that
“this is the moment when Ernesto became Che.”
·
The filmmaker’s also aren’t trying to hit you
over the head with a particular message or moral to the story
·
The movie also doesn’t attempt to summarize all
of Ernesto’s life (before and after the events of the film) so that you have to
draw some grand conclusion
WHAT THEMES ARE TACKLED IN THIS FILM?
·
The loss of innocence
·
How a person makes the maturity jump from
childhood to adulthood: the arc of the film depicts hedonism and idealisms
initially, but later the characters progress to humanism and compassion
·
Spiritual awakening provoked by an urge to help
others
WHAT OTHER MOVIES DOES THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES BRING TO
MIND?
·
Y Tu Mama Tambien, also a hedonistic road movie about
2 boys starring Gael Garcia Bernal
·
Easy Rider: another road film, also using a
motorcycle as the means of travel
OTHER FILMS BY WALTER SALLES
·
Central Station (screened by CineVerse a few
years ago)
·
Behind the Sun
·
Dark Water (a horror film starring Jennifer
Connelly)
·
On the Road (2012 movie based on Jack Kerouac’s
famous book)