The Motorcycle Diaries

Sunday, December 16, 2012

35mm print “Salles’ exhilaratingly relaxed re-creation of the epic voyage that young medical student Ernesto Guevara (Gael Garcia-Bernal) took around South America in 1952 together with the biochemist Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) is both a light-touched examination of the kind of experiences that began turning the former into ‘Che’, and — thanks to the way the film crew welcomed the locals they encountered into the movie itself — a subtle reminder that the social and political problems facing Latin Americans back then are far from resolved. Often improvising along with his able and extremely charismatic actors, Salles concentrates on character and milieu rather than plot or ‘message’, so that even the duo’s life-changing stay in an Amazonian leper colony is mercifully bereft of rhetoric and melodrama. Gautier’s camera is adept at catching the telling glance or gesture, while Gustavo Santaolalla’s music contributes to the overall freshness of the approach. Very fine indeed.” – Time Out (London)

• Country Argentina/USA/Chile/Peru/Brazil/UK/Germany/France
• Language In Spanish, Quechua, and Mapudungun with English subtitles
• Rating R
• Year 2004
• Running Time 126 minutes
• Director Walter Salles

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.