The Motorcycle Diaries (Film Review)

I highly recommend The Motorcycle Diaries. Just don't expect to see the guy on the poster. This is pre-revolutionary Guevara. This is about how Guevara transforms from a college kid on a road trip to someone achieving political consciousness. I especially like the subtlely of the director. When Che and his friend meets a couple that mention they are communist, I was expecting a long diatribe about injustice and how the revolution would change everything. Instead, you just see a bunch of people sitting by the fire talking. Or in another scene when he's reading the letter from his girlfriend. Since we can tell from his body language that it's a "Dear John" (or in this case a Dear Juan) letter, time isn't wasted by explaining what's in the letter. Even though it wasn't subtle, I even liked the scene when he swims across the river (i.e. crossing the Rubicon) and gives up his relatively privilaged life to join the poor on the other side of the river. I was expecting Che to say something hokey like "I'm one of you now", but the director and writer were too good to do that. Yet at the same time, the speech at the party gives you a glimpse of why people would follow him into the mountains to fight for a cause. This movie should win an Oscar for "Best Foreign Film"