Last Sunday I caught up with some good cinema at home. I had been hearing of Motorcycle Diaries since sometime and pounced on the first given opportunity to catch it on TV, having no clue as to what it was all about.
The poignant story is basically an excerpt from the real experiences of Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna on his life-changing journey across the South American continent in the early 1950s. Yes, the man… the cult… the Marxist Revolutionary… that led the Cuban revolution. As the movie byline aptly puts it - Before he changed the world the world changed him.
The movie tracks the adventures of Ernesto and best friend Alberto Granado who set-out on a motorcycle to travel across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela looking for fun and new experiences beyond their uninspiring and predictable existence. It’s the people, circumstances and incidents they encounter on the road on their way to a medical residency at a leper colony at Venezuela that shapes the movie.
Everything about the movie – performances, characters, direction - is about cinematic brilliance. It entertains at times and at others leaves a lump in your throat. In the end, it leaves you feeling numb – if that isn’t a mark of a good movie then what is!
The best thing about the movie is the fact that it does not tell a hero’s tale. As Che himself puts it ‘This isn't a tale of heroic feats. It's about two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams. What we had in common - our restlessness, our impassioned spirits, and a love for the open road.’
It tells you how experiences make a man. Check out Motorcycle diaries for the joy of good cinema!
No comments:
Post a Comment