The Motorcycle Diaries

Original Title:  Diarios de motocicleta
Director:  Walter Salles
Released:  2004
Length: 126 min.

The Motorcycle Diaries depicts the journey Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his best friend Alberto Granada took by motorcycle from Argentina to Venezuela in 1952 and is based on books written by both Che and Granada.

Gael Garcia Bernal as Che and Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto perfectly capture the innocence, enthusiasm, brashness and idealism of youth.  The fact that the moto is old and that they lack money forces them to stop frequently, and their encounters with people from many different backgrounds introduces them to prejudice and injustice in many forms.  It was this journey that determined the future paths of Ernesto and Alberto;  Alberto to improve medicinal treatment in poor areas, and Ernesto to instigate social and political change throughout South America.

Walter Salle perfectly captures the natural beauty and cultural diversity of South America.  Gustavo Santaoallalo's guitar solos in the score complement the film well, as a guitar often provides nice accompaniment on a long journey.

The Motorcycle Diaries is part travelogue, part adventure, and part documentary.  It portrays the humor between two close friends exploring together, and the escapades they encounter on a road trip.

The Straight Story

Director:  David Lynch
Length: 112 min.
Released:  1999

No two David Lynch films can be compared directly, and The Straight Story is no exception.  Based on a real story, The Straight Story follows a Midwestern farmer from Iowa to visit his ill brother in Wisconsin on his only available means of transportation: a John Deere tractor.  Lynch brings

Lynch shows more than tells, letting the events unfold without obvious manipulation by a film director.  Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin Straight, and Sissy Spacek his daughter Rose.  It's still amazing that Farnsworth only began acting in his later years, after spending most of his career as a film stuntman.  This was Farnworth's last film, a poignant reminder of the film's message.

The film's slow pace perfectly accompanies a tractor's pace, capturing the scenery and pride of the rural Midwest, driving past farms and through small towns.  The soundtrack's slow waltzes and fiddle solos provide a beautiful accompaniment, reminiscent of distant trains, both melancholic and joyful.  This is not a road trip to blast the speakers and broadcast the freedom of the open road; it's a contemplative journey to sort out your thoughts and ponder what's most important in life.

Paper Moon

Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Released: 1973
Length:

There's something about films in black and white that seems to make them ageless.  Paper Moon was made nearly forty years ago, yet if you saw it today for the first time you'd never guess it.  

Director Peter Bogdanovich perfectly captures the relationship between both main characters, and their verbal exchanges sound impromptu.  Parentage is frequently suggested, but the issue is always skirted.  In the end it doesn't really matter; to the outside world he's her father, and she's ok with it.

Ryan O'Neal and his daughter Tatum portray the same issues of conflict they later struggled with in real life.  

Tatum played her character with such poise and sophistication that she won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress), even though it was her first film.  She sets the record for youngest person to win an Oscar (she was ten).  

Easy Rider

Director: Dennis Hopper
Released: 1969
Length: 95 min.

What began as revolutionary filmmaking exploring the freedoms of the counter culture has now become the mainstream image of modern road culture. Over the decades, Easy Rider has become reduced to a song (Born to Be Wild) and an image (two chopped motorcycles).    

Dennis Hopper's and Peter Fonda's characters embark on a motorcycle journey across the Southern United States, eventually winding up in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.  Their encounters with people living under the radar present philosophical questions for the mainstream public without preaching.  Potentially offensive aspects of counter culture life confront the viewer directly, almost provoking conflict, yet maintaining a distance.  As the main characters wind their way across the country, they almost seem nostalgic about their journey, almost seem to know this may be their last.

The film opened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1969 prior to its release two weeks later in the US.  It was made on a very low budget, without much crew, and had tremendous success throughout the world.

Easy Rider marks the end of an era (it was made in 1969); most profoundly by its somewhat bombastic conclusion.  It juxtaposes youthful idealism with apathy, foreshadowing the decades to come, when drugs would be harder, the counter culture more dangerous, and everyone less carefree.  It doesn't question the price of freedom, it throws it in our faces.