Che rides...

Thoughts on "The Motorcycle Diaries":

Cinematography of South America: gorgeous

Gael Garcia Bernal: también

Rodrigo de la Serna: very entertaining

La Poderosa (the motorcycle): hilarious

The story:  Interesting; rambling like a long road trip, with lots of the very small moments and discoveries that cumulatively add up to a portrait of a young man on a journey encountering things that will change him profoundly and set him on the path to the myth – but all before the myth: a sensitive, intelligent, complex, and sickly soul just forming, just becoming a man. I should also say it’s often very funny.

Resonance for today: The injustice in the world, sometimes appallingly cruel, will always call forth some movement to counter it. In this case communism, in the current world, terrorism. These movements create their own injustices, of course. But so long as the powerful refuse to recognize and address the real issues, to hold their own power and that of their friends as their own birthright with any means justifying the end of staying in power at the expense of others, we will continue to have revolutionaries – terrorists of our day – striking out to try to call attention to and redress the problems. (The movie, by the way, addresses Che’s life long before he becomes a revolutionary. What may happen with similarly bright young men today encountering today’s injustices, much of which they can point to the West, to the U.S., as either being responsible for or supporting?)

Venue: Avon Cinema on Thayer St. in Providence, near the Brown University campus – kind of what Harvard Square used to be before it yuppified, only much smaller. With actual parking within a couple of blocks of where you want to go!

 So, do I want to go to South America? You bet! But with more reliable transportation and a bit more cash, bourgeois as I am.

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