Analysis Of The Movie Motorcycle Diaries

In 2004 the film “Motorcycle Diaries” was released depicting the motorcycle journey that Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Alberto Granado took throughout South America. This journey was important because it influenced Guevara’s political ideals and led to his involvement in the cuban revolution and his famous persona as “Che”. The Director Walter Salles understood the importance of the story and wanted to tell it in a less political more emotionally based light (Confluencia, pg.109.) Salles did a great deal of research over a span of three years for this film. He spoke with family members of Alberto and Ernesto, he followed the journey to find realistic shooting locations and studied asthma, leprosy and Inca history (Travelogue, pg16). The most important thing that the film depicts is Ernesto 's young naive side. I believe that this is an important side to convey because it gives the viewer an idea of who Ernesto Guevara was before he became the famous revolutionary that we now know as “Che”. “This is Che before the beard, the cigar and the beret.”(Travelogue, pg16)
One important characteristic that I believe humanizes Ernesto the most is his asthma. He has had asthma his whole life but he does not want it to get in the way of his everyday life. We see his asthma exemplified multiple times in the film “Motorcycle Diaries”. In the very first scene we see Ernesto playing football but hiding while trying to control an asthma attack. As told in the documentary “El Che” Directed by