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As the film ends, Ernesto tells Alberto he will have to do some serious thinking, because he has now seen so much injustice. The striking thing is that this film does not explicitly endorse the conclusions to which the future Che Guevera came, which arguably produced even more forms of injustice. And while co-star Bernal has said he finds the character inspiring, he also told a press conference at the Toronto Film Festival that Latin Americans of his generation are more ambivalent about the armed revolutions of so many years ago, which led to a great deal of bloodshed but little actual progress. Instead of presenting us with a political agenda, the film aims, instead, to prick our consciences.

On the road again, with Alberto and Ernesto

If anything, the political injustices to which Ernesto bears witness are dwarfed in this film by what we might call "natural" injustices. As a young medical student, Ernesto comes across sick animals and people crippled by age and afflicted by various diseases; plus, Ernesto himself suffers, sometimes severely, from asthma. "Life is pain," says one of the lepers he treats, and if it seems at times that Ernesto is brushing up against something of cosmic significance—the incredible beauty of the South American landscape when seen from afar, the many small tragedies that one sees up close—then it may be somewhat pathetic, almost a sign of resignation, that he settled for mere politics in his later life.

But that flaw belongs to the man, not the film. At its best, The Motorcycle Diaries is a thought-provoking film, grounded in breathtaking scenery and engaging performances, and if it is more interested in what it means to be human than in pushing any particular ideological agenda, then that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Talk About It

1. What is justice? How should we respond to the injustice in the world? What role, if any, did political justice play in Jesus' ministry?
   
   
2. Is there anything Christ-like about Ernesto, perhaps in the way he deals with lepers? Is it possible to be Christ-like without being Christian? Can we learn anything about what it means to be Christ-like from people who do not believe in Christ?
   
   
3. What do you think about the relationship between the lives of real people, whether in politics or the church, and the stories that get told about them after they're gone? How important is it to know the "man" behind the "myth"? Which is more important, the man or the myth? Does the myth have any value if it diverges from the man?
   
   

The Family Corner

The Motorcycle Diaries is rated R for language; though the dialogue is in Spanish, the expletives show up in English subtitles. There is also some hanky-panky, but nothing explicit. Some characters express skepticism about the Church, at least as it is personified by the nuns at the leper colony; one character links the Church with capitalism by calling it "Jesus Christ Inc."

Photos © Copyright Focus Features

Director Walter Salles, the filmmaker responsible for the Oscar-winning Central Station, is winning more raves for his film about young Che Guevara. The Motorcycle Diaries stars Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien) as Guevara and newcomer Rodrigo de la Serna as Guevara's friend, Alberto. While Guevara is a controversial figure in Cuba's history, the film's focus on a brief chapter of the young man's life offers plenty of thought-provoking material.

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