Find similar movies

Motorcycle Diaries 2004

type: Movie

language: Spanish

duration: 120 min

genre: adventure

theme: road movie

director: Walter Salles

Score: 7 / 10

The Motorcycle Diaries is a 2004 biopic about the journey and written memoir of the 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara, who would several years later become internationally known as the Marxist guerrilla leader and revolutionary leader Che Guevara. The film recounts the 1952 expedition, initially by motorcycle, across South America by Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado. As well as being a road movie, the film is a coming-of-age film; as the adventure, initially centered on youthful hedonism, unfolds, Guevara discovers himself transformed by his observations on the life of the impoverished indigenous peasantry. Through the characters they encounter on their continental trek, Guevara and Granado witness first hand the injustices that the destitute face and are exposed to people and social classes they would have never encountered otherwise. To their surprise, the road presents to them both a genuine and captivating picture of Latin American identity. As a result, the trip also plants the initial seed of radicalization within Guevara, who would later challenge the continent's endemic economic inequalities and political repression.

Plot

In 1952, a semester before Ernesto "Fuser" Guevara is due to complete his medical degree, he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires to travel across South America. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is initially fun and adventure. They desire to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than in just four and a half months, while Granado's purpose is also to bed as many women as will fall for his pickup lines. Their initial method of transport is Granado's dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle christened La Poderosa ("The Mighty One").

Awards

Cast

More details

author	José Rivera
award	Academy Award for Best Original Song British Academy Film Awards Cannes Film Festival François Chalais Prize Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Independent Spirit Awards San Sebastián International Film Festival
contentLocation	Amazonas Argentina Buenos Aires Chile Machu Picchu Peru Venezuela
director	Walter Salles
editor	Daniel Rezende
events	Che Guevara Latin America self-discovery social inequality social injustice
genre	adventure drama political social
keywords	andes asthma atacama desert biochemist bolivia build caracas chuquicamata cia communist egalitarian end ernesto fuser guevara executive producer force inca empire incan jack kerouac karl marx lenin leper leper colony leprosy lima make up marx neal cassady norton 500 motorcycle persecute peruvian amazon river south america urban decay vladimir lenin walk
musicBy	Gustavo Santaolalla Jorge Drexler
nomination	Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay European Film Award for Best Non-European Film
producer	Michael Nozik
productionCompany	BD Cine Film4 Productions Wildwood Enterprises, Inc
publisher	Buena Vista International Constantin Film Focus Features Pathé Distribution
recordedAt	Buenos Aires Chile Peru
theme	biographical drama coming-of-age independent road movie