DVD: Feature: Motorcycle Diaries (The) - film by Walter Salles

DVD

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The Motorcycle Diaries is the compelling biopic based on the memoirs of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. The film recounts Che’s 1952 expedition across Latin America with his friend Alberto Granado as Guevara is transformed and politicised by the injustices he witnesses.

During their travels, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of indigenous peasants: they witness a penniless couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs in Chile; the maltreatment of workers at a Chuquicamata copper mine; the segregation of dark-skinned peasants; and observe the division of society whilst volunteering on a leper colony in Peru. These encounters with social injustice help crystallise Guevara’s belief in egalitarianism and a pan-Latin American identity.

The film expertly captures the adventure and humour of Che’s diary and Gael Garcia Bernal’s portrayal of Guevara’s political awakening – as he journeys from adolescent adventurer to Marxist revolutionary – is truly captivating.

In 2005 the Motorcycle Diaries won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Film not in the English Language.