The Motorcycle Diaries

(2004, Walter Salles, Argentina/Germany/USA)

rating = 46

For being about the early life of a fascinating, exciting real-life future revolutionary like Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, and directed by a young rebel Filmmaker from Brazil, The Motorcycle Diaries sure is a surprisingly pedestrian offer from Walter Salles.

A truly internationally-made film (Salles is Brazilian, star Gael Gaercia Bernal is Mexican, set in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia and funded by US studio money), Motorcycle, taken from the actual diaries of Guevara, concerns his first adventure outside of his hometown.   Along with his best friend, Alberto (played in a fearless, if not rather hackneyed way by Rodrigo De la Serna), Guevara sets out to explore the South American continent on, what else, a motorcycle - and not a very reliable one at that.   On their travels, they come across abject poverty wherever they go, and we do see the beginning stirrings of Guevara's revolutionary spirit - what would eventually lead him to give up his own life to help his people - but it is shown in such a bland banal way, that it loses most of its impact.

Never a fan of Bio-Pics to begin with (how can you squeeze a life into two hours?), I do have to give credit to Bernal (star of Y Tu Mama, Tambien and the upcoming Almadovar film, Bad Education), who gives a performance that, although cliche'd and riddled with a shitload of those ever-important "life-changing" moments, still has some fire bubbling under its dry exterior.

Beautifully shot - the scenery of South America is awe-inspiring as they say - with moments of clarity inside the muddle (the closing sequence is by far the best thing in this film, and is reminiscent of the ending of Von Trier's Dogville in its audacious Socialist Manifesto way).   Salles has created a film that is neither good nor bad - just sadly shopworn in its lack of originality - and because of that I can't quite recommend it - but I wouldn't want to dismiss it altogether either.   A valiant, but musty effort.