The Motorcycle DiariesThe Motorcycle DiariesIn the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, a young Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) goes on a cross-continent trip on a beaten-down motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) to see the sights and be one with the land before settling down. Over the course of the film, Ernesto and Granado learn a great deal about themselves and the rest of South America, including some of the economic and social inequalities that would eventually spur Ernesto into action as one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution. The film is a poignant, reflective and joyful piece, with powerful acting from Bernal and wonderful cinematography from Eric Gautier – these elements and more all combine to create the narrative climax of the film, occurring during Ernestos birthday party at the leper colony in San Pablo that they end up in.
The scene takes place in the rural setting of the leper colony, in the modest yet spacious main lobby of the clinic from where Ernesto and Granado have been working to help the lepers. At the beginning of the scene, raucous mambo music is playing diegetically, and the camera pans over everyone joyously dancing along; this takes place on the north end of the river in the colony, where everyone who is well off and takes care of the lepers get to live. Everyone is dressed in white and pastels, to indicate their health and overall happiness, and the whole room has a warm orange glow from the lights above them. The lighting is low contrast, with few shadows, to indicate the brightness of the event that they are celebrating. This bright lighting reflects off the white clothes of everyone to create a cheery and festive atmosphere, despite the fact that the scene takes place in night, the stars occasionally peeking through the windows of the room. The cinematography has a very shallow depth of field, keeping most everything in relative focus compared to each other; this helps to create an inclusive atmosphere where everyone can be seen, and everyone is a part of the celebration.
The scene, as with the film, takes the point of view of Ernesto, demonstrating his lack of comfort with the excitement and revelry of the crowd, foreshadowing his eventual comfort as a leader and inspirer of men rather than one of them. Ernesto, all throughout this party, is merely sitting and chatting, while Granado is reveling along with everyone else. Ernestos seated position indicates that he is dissatisfied with the experiences he had seen so far, and is almost disturbed by the revelry that is happening while people are segregated and suffering on the other side of the camp. The camera is at a high angle on him, to make him seem smaller. Granado encourages Ernesto to dance with a girl who is interested in dancing; however, Ernesto clumsily attempts to get her to tango at Granados suggestion, which is the dance he learned from Chichina earlier.
The footage of the dance is the result of a two minute video that we shot three days prior to filming the film:
Hospital, 1:17pm
The scene in Guadalajara, Mexico, takes place the second night of the film.
Guadalajara is a small town and a large town, with a population of about 80,000 and a population density 2.6 persons per square kilometer. The town has been a focus of violent demonstrations, riots and attacks against the police and public sector workers, both domestic and foreign.
Granados tells us, a long time ago, his dream as a leader was to join the armed forces to fight against the Mexican government or other fascist countries, with the only requirement of being in prison, or for at least some time afterwards, under military law.
“It was my promise in the beginning – I would fight on, the people would love me to die every year,” he tells us, “when they are able to get away from that.” And to that, he adds, “I want to save people to make my dream come true again.”
Granado explains that the country is a land of violence and deprivation, with the government and state suppressing opposition groups; while the main opposition in Mexico, the Popular Party (PP), is not only against the Mexican government, but also against the state, because of its political and social values. “The situation today is a situation reminiscent of Hitler and the German dictator Max Planck, both against the German state, the state’s control, its own state institutions, its own economy, the state’s social policy, national security policy,” Granado says, “but we see the state becoming something other than it was in Hitler’s Germany. It became something we need to fight for in other countries. One day it might come to us to make war on us, but today we are in a world together.”
This time, Granado says he is not a soldier, but lives in the town, where he has spent his entire adult life and many of his youth inside prison. His girlfriend, who is from the village of Diamant (about 60km from the film location), says, “If the violence and crime is to last for a long time and you start thinking of war for you, so be it…”
Guadalajara, 1:45pm
As the main opposition begins their search, both the PP and the “Leftist forces” in Guadalajara begin to show signs of interest in the scene. In addition, the PP and its members demonstrate for a period of six hours as they continue their search towards the film. According to Granado and the film crew, the film captures the view of Guadalajara itself as the village where this fight may just end, with Granado and his party taking refuge within the perimeter of the village. According to Granado, some of the PP members are still fighting to the end, but the camera pans past them as if he is in an empty theater. On one side of the field is the barricade that divides barricades in order to protect some of the PP members, who are not there, from other combatants, all trying to avoid violence and to get their views as to just how