The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life's calling.

Director:

Walter Salles

Writers:

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (book) (as Ernesto Guevara), Alberto Granado (book)

Stars:

Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo De la Serna, Mía Maestro

Won 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 47 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gael García Bernal	...	Ernesto Guevara de la Serna
Rodrigo De la Serna	...	Alberto Granado
Mía Maestro	...	Chichina Ferreyra
Mercedes Morán	...	Celia de la Serna (Argentina)
Jean Pierre Noher	...	Ernesto Guevara Lynch (Argentina) (as Jean-Pierre Noher)
Lucas Oro	...	Roberto Guevara (Argentina)
Marina Glezer	...	Celita Guevara (Argentina)
Sofia Bertolotto	...	Ana María Guevara (Argentina) (as Sofía Bertolotto)
Franco Solazzi	...	Juan Martín Guevara (Argentina)
Ricardo Díaz Mourelle	...	Uncle Jorge (Argentina) (as Ricardo Diaz Mourelle)
Sergio Boris	...	Young Traveler (Argentina)
Daniel Kargieman	...	Young Traveler (Argentina)
Diego Giorzi	...	Rodolfo (Argentina)
Facundo Espinosa	...	Tomás Granado (Argentina)
Matias Gomez	...	Kid (Argentina) (as Matías Gómez)

Storyline

In 1952, twenty-three year old medical student Ernesto Guevara de la Serna - Fuser to his friends and later better known as 'Ernesto Che Guevara' - one semester away from graduation, decides to postpone his last semester to accompany his twenty-nine year old biochemist friend 'Alberto Granado' - Mial to his friends - on his four month, 8,000 km long dream motorcycle trip throughout South America starting from their home in Buenos Aires. Their quest is to see things they've only read about in books about the continent on which they live, and to finish that quest on Alberto's thirtieth birthday on the other side of the continent in the Guajira Peninsula in Venezuela. Not all on this trip goes according to their rough plan due to a broken down motorbike, a continual lack of money (they often stretching the truth to gain the favor of a variety of strangers to help them), arguments between the two in their frequent isolation solely with each other, their raging libidos which sometimes get ...

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Plot Keywords:

travel | motorcycle | 20th century | year 1952 | woman | 

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Taglines:

Let the world change you... and you can change the world

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site Pandasia Entertainment [Taiwan]

Country:

Argentina USA Chile Peru Brazil UK Germany France

Language:

Spanish Quechua Mapudungun

Release Date:

15 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Motorcycle Diaries

Filming Locations:

Venezuela

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$375,461 (Brazil), 7 May 2004, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$159,819, 26 September 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$16,756,372, 13 February 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmFour, Wildwood Enterprises, Tu Vas Voir Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Al otro lado del río", by Uruguayan composer Jorge Drexler became the second song in a language other than English to win an Oscar. (The first was "Ta paidia toy Peiraia" (Children of Piraeus) by Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis from the film Never on Sunday (1960)). Producers asked Drexler, who wrote and recorded the song for the film, not to perform it during the Oscar ceremony, citing "commercial reasons" (he's not famous). Antonio Banderas and Carlos Santana performed the song instead. When Drexler went to the podium to accept his Oscar, he sang about 30 seconds of the song a capella, instead of giving a speech.

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Goofs

At Macchu Pichu, a piece is broken off of the sundial at the Inti Huatana (Hitching Post of the Sun). The damage occurred in 2000, when a crane fell on it. In the 1950s, it was still in perfect condition.

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Quotes

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: [voice over] What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.

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Crazy Credits

The real Alberto appears at the very end of the film just before the credits.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of 'The Motorcycle Diaries' (2004)

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Soundtracks

Adiós Muchachos
Written by César Felipe Veldani & Julio César Sander
Interpreted by Rodrigo de la Serna
Interpreted by Alberto Granado
Editorial SADAIC

User Reviews

A Song In Spanish......

Jay Leno, perhaps the most famous comedian on American television 12 years ago, in his monologue the night after the 2005 Oscars, said: "I was so happy this morning that I sang that really wonderful Oscar winning song while driving , ... "La-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la ... EL RIO! .....God, What GREAT Lyrics, eh?"

Be that as it may, Mr. Leno was right about one thing: "Al Otro Lado Del Rio", that song from Motorcycle Diaries really does have some exquisite lyrics! Obviously, Mr. Leno was also right about the focus of his joke. At least 98% of Gringos and non-Hispanics in the U.S.A. probably cannot appreciate nor understand much of these poetic lyrics. However, on the Richter scale of cultural impact, I would rate this event as something like an "8"!

There are almost six thousand actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, etc., who are members of The Academy of Arts and Sciences with the right to vote in all categories with nominations. The other Best Song Options available to them in 2005 were, "Accidentally in Love" from Shrek 2, "Believe" appearing in The Polar Express, "Learn to Be Lonely" from The Phantom of the Opera, and "Vois Sur Ton Chemin" a song in French from "Les Choristes".

Before the 2005 Oscars, I quite honestly did not have high hopes that "Rio" was going to win. Songs in English are always sure winners! Even throughout the entire history of the Oscars, there had never been a winning song in another language, except only once, and that happened sixty years ago: The very beautiful and romantic "Un Homme Et Une Femme" (1966) Which turned out to be the very First and ONLY time that the Golden Statuette was awarded to a song in French, or any other foreign language, for that matter! But between 1966 and 2005, there certainly was a lot of change!

Sure, for many people, the Oscar for a song in Spanish does not seem so important in and of itself, but taken in conjunction with a recent series of related events, there is a real feeling that there is a change in the trajectory of the American cultural river. Also, interestingly enough, for the first time, a Spanish-speaking actress, Colombian Catalina Sandino Moreno, was nominated in the category of Best Actress. Some years ago, the film SPANGLISH attempted to show us just how difficult it is to try to assimilate into mainstream culture, without losing much of their own Hispanic identity.

Fifty years ago, it would have been almost impossible for many Americans to name more than 2, 3 or 4 Latinos. Now we have Jennifer Lopez, Sophia Vergara, Shakira, Antonio Banderas, Marc Anthony, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, Carlos Santana, Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz, Elizabeth Peña, Andy Garcia and John Leguizamo, among many others. With the selecting of "Al Otro Lado Del Rio", Hollywood seems to be telling the world, "The Spanish language also has an important place in the United States!"

9* ….ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Spanish, are welcome!