DVD REVIEW: MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, THE
- By David Chen
- Published 03/17/2005
- DVD
BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Universal
MSRP: $29.98 RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 127 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Available subtitles: English, French
• Available Audio Tracks: Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Deleted scenes
• "A Moment with Alberto Granado"
• Making-of featurette
• "Take One with Gael García Bernal" Telemundo interview
• "A Moment with Gael García Bernal"
• Interview with the composer
Gael García Bernal is hot. Or so I've been told by my female friends. I loved his work in Amores Perros. His face has a boyish charm and yet a radiant intensity that allows him so much range and versatility in any role (apparently he was one of the better things about El Crimen del Padre Amaro). He will no doubt be one of the best actors of our age. And also, he's apparently really hot.
So how does he fare playing the legendary Che Guevara?
"Damnit, Gene! Cow's heart again?! Next time I'm packing the frickin' meals for these trips..."
The Flick
Based on Alberto Granado’s book Traveling with Che Guevara and Che Guevara’s own The Motorcycle Diaries, this film by Walter Salles chronicles and dramatizes the real-life 5000-mile journey of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and his good friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna) around South America. Their purpose? To explore countries they’d only read about in books and to satiate the adventurous spirit borne from the bottomless depths of youth.
At this point in their lives, a young, asthmatic Guevara is months away from getting his medical degree while Granado is already a biochemist. With only a tiny bit of cash, the clothes on their backs, and some simple camping supplies, the two set off on a rickety motorcycle they proudly dub “The Mighty One,” a moving death trap with the tendency to suddenly become uncontrollable and/or throw off its riders unexpectedly.
Their journey takes them through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and finally Venezuela. On the way, they must panhandle and con their way for shelter, food, and rides (after “The Mighty One” breaks down). They encounter the oppressed working class and their ruthless oppressors. They encounter a colony of disenfranchised lepers and the ultra-strict Catholics that treat them. They encounter beautiful women, rich and powerful men, and embrace the unencumbered beauty of nature.
Despite millions of taxpayer dollars and dozens of obese volunteers, the Government's televised anti-obesity campaign failed to put a dent in the nationwide epidemic.
Several things keep this from becoming a standard “buddy-on-the-road” flick, though it does share many of the same elements. For one thing, the chemistry between Bernal and De la Serna is palpable and drives the emotional impact of the film. There are many things that you learn about someone when you’ve been on the road with them for several weeks and for thousands of miles. Every idiosyncrasy, every irritation, but also every redeeming quality is brought to light. These two actors bring the perfect balance of love and irritation that makes their friendship believable and just REAL.
But is there anything that sets The Motorcycle Diaries apart and makes it worthy of all the critical acclaim it has received? The film mixes pathos with comedy, and gravity with light-heartedness in many of the situations the two find themselves in, and it does so very masterfully. When Guevara is believed to be hitting on a local mechanic’s wife at a party, you’re horrified when the music stops, the yelling begins, and the drunk mechanic lunges after him, but you can’t help but crack a smile at the ridiculousness of the situation as Granado and Guevara flee on “The Mighty One” from the dozens of pursuing townsmen. Later, when Granado cries over the ruined husk of “The Mighty One”, you can’t help but feel sad, as though a friend has been lost. And when the two journey to scenic vistas and breathtaking sights, you can’t help but also be taken away to the film’s exotic locales.
Unfortunately, against the wishes of his friends and family, Blindy McNocansee often went out for trips on his motorcycle, the last one of which ultimately cost him his life.
Salles filmed most of this on location and it shows. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and really gives the film a great feel and an intangible authenticity. The camera almost makes the locales come alive and almost become characters themselves, from the stark rocky backdrop of a mining quarry to the endless roads that carry the two on their journey. A particularly powerful cutaway from an untainted Macchu Pichyu to the sprawling urban landscape of Lima, Peru demonstrates the power that the film’s images can have. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla has also done a fantastic job with making music that fits the film’s setting and events perfectly. I wanted to go out and buy the soundtrack after watching the flick.
But what of Guevara’s revolutionary tendencies and their portrayal in the film? In my opinion this is where the film suffers, not as a film, but as a potentially illuminating look into Guevara’s pre-revolutionary days. To be sure, you witness how Guevara is touched by the plight of his people, from the suffering of a sickly old woman to the nomadic couple whose house has been repossessed (though the voice-over, is sometimes a bit cheesy, with shades of Max Payne-style writing). This is what makes the film a successful coming of age story that deftly shows how witnessing traumatic events, interacting with a gaggle of diverse people, and just shooting the breeze with your best friend can shape the way you look at things, and change your very outlook on life. But what the film does not do is offer a hint at the incredible violence that Guevara would later be responsible for in the Cuban revolution. You see Guevara’s passion developing, and you see his compassion for his people growing stronger (especially in the last portion of the film, where Guevara and Granado find themselves treating patients at a leper colony), but a passing blink-and-you-missed it reference to using weapons during revolution is the only indication we get that Guevara will one day become the icon of upheaval and violence he embodies today.
"...And if you don't prefer the benefits of full room service, a working bathroom, and all the amenities, Rancho Relaxo also offers an extremely unpopular 'tent service', where you can rough it in the brutal outdoors."
The film tries to humanize Guevara in other ways as well, giving him a rich-girlfriend/poor-boyfriend subplot that’s over very early into the film, as well as a quasi-serious asthma problem. Humanizing the man behind the drawing on the T-shirt is not a bad thing, but the one thought that lingered in my mind (and I can feel the hate mail coming now) is that in this film, Bernal is essentially the Jake-Lloyd-Phantom-Menace version of Guevara (“Mommy, mommy! Can I please be Jedi?! PLEASE?!”). We see a childlike simplicity and idealism, but no hint of the thousands of murders/killings that would later come as a result of that idealism. But let me re-iterate, this is not a weakness of The Motorcycle Diaries as a film in and of itself, just as a work of historical fiction that could provide accurate insights into the man.
However, there are other weaknesses that, in my mind, keep this from becoming a perfect film. For a movie of this scope, its running time of 2 hours and 7 minutes is not long by any stretch of the imagination, but the film’s pace still felt like it dragged during certain portions. I also felt like the political message of the film got pretty heavy-handed at times (the oppressed are intermittently shown in morose black and white photo-like tableaus, reminiscent of third-world photographer Sebastiao Salgado) to the point where it’s palpable, and the last few scenes with Guevara on the river, though moving, are a bit over the top in their symbolic nature.
Quibbles aside, if you were to view the flick from a context-less perspective, it is a great film in its own right. The performances are fantastic all around. Bernal is great as the strong, quiet, and super-honest Guevara, whose horrifying asthma attacks are frighteningly believable. De la Serna is amazing as Granado; his passion for life, medicine, and sex is obvious every frame he’s on the screen, and his frenetic banter and carefree attitude give their road trip an air of fun and amusement that might otherwise be lost without his performance.
All told, you should see this film. The images and the performances will surely move you and stay with you long after it’s over.
8.8 out of 10
"Lloyd! I need to go!"
"Just go, Harry!...Mmm...feels warm..."
The Look
I thought that the image was soft throughout, and there were some traces of graininess as well (though barely noticeable, even in the night scenes). Nonetheless, I have no complaints about the transfer at all, and found it perfectly fitting for the film’s style and feel. The cinematography is captured beautifully in this transfer.
Something that is very irritating is the fact that you can’t deactivate the subtitles (They are a part of the film itself). This means that you can never choose to watch this beautiful film unencumbered by that constant white text at the bottom.
9.0 out of 10
The Noise
Presented in Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, there’s some good separation in this mix. From the bustling streets of Peru to a claustrophobic party in Chile, the surround channels get significant use, but not so much that I’d recommend this as a demo disc. The low end is also nice during some of the movie’s music cues. However, most of the film is dialogue-driven, which the disc also pulls off quite well. A solid mix.
8.0 out of 10
Morty was often despondent later in life, despite consistently winning the town's annual "Guys That Look Like Their Pets" contest.
The Goodies
Deleted Scenes (8:23) are three deleted scenes that must be played all at once: One with Granado and Guevara trying to pull one of their patented con games, another with Granado, Guevara, and a truck driver who picks them up on the road, and one last one with Guevara speaking with some people from the leper colony. The scenes are good, and the second one with the truck driver is very funny; it seems as though these were cut for pacing reasons, and not because the scenes themselves weren’t up to snuff.
A Moment with Alberto Granado (3:18) is an interview with the real-life Alberto Granado, who talks about taking the trip with Guevara. Very cool stuff. A Moment with Gael García Bernal (2:51) and “Toma Uno” with Gael García Bernal (2:08) are two nice but very short interviews with Bernal, who reflects on his acting and on the film. These were apparently first broadcast on Telemundo and mun2 television some time back.
The Making of The Motorcycle Diaries (22:01) is a mostly useless featurette with TONS of footage from the film itself and some talking-head interviews that give very little insight into the film. Many of the people interviewed (e.g. Walter Salles) focus their discussions about how awesome Gael García Bernal is, but there’s also a lot of talk about the real-life Guevara himself, which is somewhat interesting. Additionally, there’s a tiny bit of behind-the-scenes footage. Guevara’s daughter is interviewed as well, which is pretty cool.
The movie version of Road Rash had the film's protagonist encountering a variety of obstacles never encounted in the game.
Music of the Road: An Interview with Composer Gustavo Santaolalla (3:10) is an interview with the film’s composer. He discusses a little bit of how he scored certain scenes, and discusses the film’s final scene with the river crossing in particular. I’m really into orchestra film scores so I enjoyed this featurette quite a bit, despite its shortness.
Short biographies of the cast and filmmakers round out this set of special features.
The one word that accurately describes all of these featurettes: Brevity. What’s there is good, but there’s very very little there. Commentaries on the film by anyone would have been a great addition.
6.5 out of 10
The Artwork
I’m a big fan of the colors, the collage-style design, and the fonts used all around. Not too crazy about the unflattering picture of Gael García Bernal, though, which occupies most of the cover.
7.5 out of 10
STUDIO: UniversalMSRP: $29.98 RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 127 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Available subtitles: English, French
• Available Audio Tracks: Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Deleted scenes
• "A Moment with Alberto Granado"
• Making-of featurette
• "Take One with Gael García Bernal" Telemundo interview
• "A Moment with Gael García Bernal"
• Interview with the composer
Gael García Bernal is hot. Or so I've been told by my female friends. I loved his work in Amores Perros. His face has a boyish charm and yet a radiant intensity that allows him so much range and versatility in any role (apparently he was one of the better things about El Crimen del Padre Amaro). He will no doubt be one of the best actors of our age. And also, he's apparently really hot.
So how does he fare playing the legendary Che Guevara?
"Damnit, Gene! Cow's heart again?! Next time I'm packing the frickin' meals for these trips..."
The Flick
Based on Alberto Granado’s book Traveling with Che Guevara and Che Guevara’s own The Motorcycle Diaries, this film by Walter Salles chronicles and dramatizes the real-life 5000-mile journey of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Gael García Bernal) and his good friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De la Serna) around South America. Their purpose? To explore countries they’d only read about in books and to satiate the adventurous spirit borne from the bottomless depths of youth.
At this point in their lives, a young, asthmatic Guevara is months away from getting his medical degree while Granado is already a biochemist. With only a tiny bit of cash, the clothes on their backs, and some simple camping supplies, the two set off on a rickety motorcycle they proudly dub “The Mighty One,” a moving death trap with the tendency to suddenly become uncontrollable and/or throw off its riders unexpectedly.
Their journey takes them through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and finally Venezuela. On the way, they must panhandle and con their way for shelter, food, and rides (after “The Mighty One” breaks down). They encounter the oppressed working class and their ruthless oppressors. They encounter a colony of disenfranchised lepers and the ultra-strict Catholics that treat them. They encounter beautiful women, rich and powerful men, and embrace the unencumbered beauty of nature.
Despite millions of taxpayer dollars and dozens of obese volunteers, the Government's televised anti-obesity campaign failed to put a dent in the nationwide epidemic.
Several things keep this from becoming a standard “buddy-on-the-road” flick, though it does share many of the same elements. For one thing, the chemistry between Bernal and De la Serna is palpable and drives the emotional impact of the film. There are many things that you learn about someone when you’ve been on the road with them for several weeks and for thousands of miles. Every idiosyncrasy, every irritation, but also every redeeming quality is brought to light. These two actors bring the perfect balance of love and irritation that makes their friendship believable and just REAL.
But is there anything that sets The Motorcycle Diaries apart and makes it worthy of all the critical acclaim it has received? The film mixes pathos with comedy, and gravity with light-heartedness in many of the situations the two find themselves in, and it does so very masterfully. When Guevara is believed to be hitting on a local mechanic’s wife at a party, you’re horrified when the music stops, the yelling begins, and the drunk mechanic lunges after him, but you can’t help but crack a smile at the ridiculousness of the situation as Granado and Guevara flee on “The Mighty One” from the dozens of pursuing townsmen. Later, when Granado cries over the ruined husk of “The Mighty One”, you can’t help but feel sad, as though a friend has been lost. And when the two journey to scenic vistas and breathtaking sights, you can’t help but also be taken away to the film’s exotic locales.
Unfortunately, against the wishes of his friends and family, Blindy McNocansee often went out for trips on his motorcycle, the last one of which ultimately cost him his life.
Salles filmed most of this on location and it shows. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and really gives the film a great feel and an intangible authenticity. The camera almost makes the locales come alive and almost become characters themselves, from the stark rocky backdrop of a mining quarry to the endless roads that carry the two on their journey. A particularly powerful cutaway from an untainted Macchu Pichyu to the sprawling urban landscape of Lima, Peru demonstrates the power that the film’s images can have. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla has also done a fantastic job with making music that fits the film’s setting and events perfectly. I wanted to go out and buy the soundtrack after watching the flick.
But what of Guevara’s revolutionary tendencies and their portrayal in the film? In my opinion this is where the film suffers, not as a film, but as a potentially illuminating look into Guevara’s pre-revolutionary days. To be sure, you witness how Guevara is touched by the plight of his people, from the suffering of a sickly old woman to the nomadic couple whose house has been repossessed (though the voice-over, is sometimes a bit cheesy, with shades of Max Payne-style writing). This is what makes the film a successful coming of age story that deftly shows how witnessing traumatic events, interacting with a gaggle of diverse people, and just shooting the breeze with your best friend can shape the way you look at things, and change your very outlook on life. But what the film does not do is offer a hint at the incredible violence that Guevara would later be responsible for in the Cuban revolution. You see Guevara’s passion developing, and you see his compassion for his people growing stronger (especially in the last portion of the film, where Guevara and Granado find themselves treating patients at a leper colony), but a passing blink-and-you-missed it reference to using weapons during revolution is the only indication we get that Guevara will one day become the icon of upheaval and violence he embodies today.
"...And if you don't prefer the benefits of full room service, a working bathroom, and all the amenities, Rancho Relaxo also offers an extremely unpopular 'tent service', where you can rough it in the brutal outdoors."
The film tries to humanize Guevara in other ways as well, giving him a rich-girlfriend/poor-boyfriend subplot that’s over very early into the film, as well as a quasi-serious asthma problem. Humanizing the man behind the drawing on the T-shirt is not a bad thing, but the one thought that lingered in my mind (and I can feel the hate mail coming now) is that in this film, Bernal is essentially the Jake-Lloyd-Phantom-Menace version of Guevara (“Mommy, mommy! Can I please be Jedi?! PLEASE?!”). We see a childlike simplicity and idealism, but no hint of the thousands of murders/killings that would later come as a result of that idealism. But let me re-iterate, this is not a weakness of The Motorcycle Diaries as a film in and of itself, just as a work of historical fiction that could provide accurate insights into the man.
However, there are other weaknesses that, in my mind, keep this from becoming a perfect film. For a movie of this scope, its running time of 2 hours and 7 minutes is not long by any stretch of the imagination, but the film’s pace still felt like it dragged during certain portions. I also felt like the political message of the film got pretty heavy-handed at times (the oppressed are intermittently shown in morose black and white photo-like tableaus, reminiscent of third-world photographer Sebastiao Salgado) to the point where it’s palpable, and the last few scenes with Guevara on the river, though moving, are a bit over the top in their symbolic nature.
Quibbles aside, if you were to view the flick from a context-less perspective, it is a great film in its own right. The performances are fantastic all around. Bernal is great as the strong, quiet, and super-honest Guevara, whose horrifying asthma attacks are frighteningly believable. De la Serna is amazing as Granado; his passion for life, medicine, and sex is obvious every frame he’s on the screen, and his frenetic banter and carefree attitude give their road trip an air of fun and amusement that might otherwise be lost without his performance.
All told, you should see this film. The images and the performances will surely move you and stay with you long after it’s over.
8.8 out of 10
"Lloyd! I need to go!"
"Just go, Harry!...Mmm...feels warm..."
The Look
I thought that the image was soft throughout, and there were some traces of graininess as well (though barely noticeable, even in the night scenes). Nonetheless, I have no complaints about the transfer at all, and found it perfectly fitting for the film’s style and feel. The cinematography is captured beautifully in this transfer.
Something that is very irritating is the fact that you can’t deactivate the subtitles (They are a part of the film itself). This means that you can never choose to watch this beautiful film unencumbered by that constant white text at the bottom.
9.0 out of 10
The Noise
Presented in Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, there’s some good separation in this mix. From the bustling streets of Peru to a claustrophobic party in Chile, the surround channels get significant use, but not so much that I’d recommend this as a demo disc. The low end is also nice during some of the movie’s music cues. However, most of the film is dialogue-driven, which the disc also pulls off quite well. A solid mix.
8.0 out of 10
Morty was often despondent later in life, despite consistently winning the town's annual "Guys That Look Like Their Pets" contest.
The Goodies
Deleted Scenes (8:23) are three deleted scenes that must be played all at once: One with Granado and Guevara trying to pull one of their patented con games, another with Granado, Guevara, and a truck driver who picks them up on the road, and one last one with Guevara speaking with some people from the leper colony. The scenes are good, and the second one with the truck driver is very funny; it seems as though these were cut for pacing reasons, and not because the scenes themselves weren’t up to snuff.
A Moment with Alberto Granado (3:18) is an interview with the real-life Alberto Granado, who talks about taking the trip with Guevara. Very cool stuff. A Moment with Gael García Bernal (2:51) and “Toma Uno” with Gael García Bernal (2:08) are two nice but very short interviews with Bernal, who reflects on his acting and on the film. These were apparently first broadcast on Telemundo and mun2 television some time back.
The Making of The Motorcycle Diaries (22:01) is a mostly useless featurette with TONS of footage from the film itself and some talking-head interviews that give very little insight into the film. Many of the people interviewed (e.g. Walter Salles) focus their discussions about how awesome Gael García Bernal is, but there’s also a lot of talk about the real-life Guevara himself, which is somewhat interesting. Additionally, there’s a tiny bit of behind-the-scenes footage. Guevara’s daughter is interviewed as well, which is pretty cool.
The movie version of Road Rash had the film's protagonist encountering a variety of obstacles never encounted in the game.
Music of the Road: An Interview with Composer Gustavo Santaolalla (3:10) is an interview with the film’s composer. He discusses a little bit of how he scored certain scenes, and discusses the film’s final scene with the river crossing in particular. I’m really into orchestra film scores so I enjoyed this featurette quite a bit, despite its shortness.
Short biographies of the cast and filmmakers round out this set of special features.
The one word that accurately describes all of these featurettes: Brevity. What’s there is good, but there’s very very little there. Commentaries on the film by anyone would have been a great addition.
6.5 out of 10
The Artwork
I’m a big fan of the colors, the collage-style design, and the fonts used all around. Not too crazy about the unflattering picture of Gael García Bernal, though, which occupies most of the cover.
7.5 out of 10
Overall: 8.5 out of 10
