Brazil Abroad: Motorcycle Diaries

Argentina/Chile/Peru/USA 2004, 128 min., English subtitles

The Berlin Film Festival, which awarded Walter Salles the Golden Bear in 1998 for his film Central do Brasil, tried in vain to get hold of this film. While they were still students, Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna (better known Che) and his friend Alberto set off on a 9-month journey taking them halfway round Latin America: on an old motorbike, then on foot, by Amazon steamer, and on rickety lorries. In the course of their journey, the boys, who live from day to day, conquering the village beauties as they go, mature into men who reflect upon the real tragedies unfolding in Latin America. This film is not only about personal development, it is also an “unremitting story of poverty and wealth, pride and tradition, temperaments and joie de vivre, oppression and injustice...” film.de