Variety
This intelligently made picture is artful but not arty, political without being didactic.
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The Motorcycle Diaries
True story recounts the formative experiences of iconic revolutionary Che Guevara, based on his memoir about crossing South America by motorcycle in his early 20s.
In 1952 young Ernesto Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna) set off from Buenos Aires on a clapped-out dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle they call La Poderosa ("The Mighty One"). Aiming to traverse 14,000 kilometres of Latin America in just four and a half months, what begins as adventure turns into an eye-opening awareness of poverty and inequality that would later inform Guevara's struggle to overturn capitalist exploitation.
Less2004Rating: M, Offensive language126 minsArgentina, USA, Chile, Peru, Brazil, UK, Germany, FranceSpanish, Quechua and Mapudungun with English subtitles
DramaTrue Story & BiographyWorld Cinema
- Director:
- Walter Salles ('On the Road, 'Central Station')
- Writer:
- Jose Rivera
- Cast:
- Gael García BernalRodrigo De la SernaMía MaestroMercedes MoránJean Pierre NoherLucas Oro
The Motorcycle Diaries | Awards
Best Original Song ("Al Otro Lado Del Río"), Academy Awards 2005; Best Film not in the English Language, BAFTA 2005
The Motorcycle Diaries | Reviews
83%158 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
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The New York Times
Mr. Bernal's soulful, magnetic performance notwithstanding, the real star of the film is South America itself, revealed in the cinematographer Eric Gautier's misty green images as a land of jarring and enigmatic beauty.
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