The Motorcycle Diaries

The Motorcycle Diaries

In the 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, a young Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) goes on a cross-continent trip on a beaten-down motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) to see the sights and be one with the land before settling down. Over the course of the film, Ernesto and Granado learn a great deal about themselves and the rest of South America, including some of the economic and social inequalities that would eventually spur Ernesto into action as one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution. The film is a poignant, reflective and joyful piece, with powerful acting from Bernal and wonderful cinematography from Eric Gautier - these elements and more all combine to create the narrative climax of the film, occurring during Ernesto's birthday party at the leper colony in San Pablo that they end up in.

The scene takes place in the rural setting of the leper colony, in the modest yet spacious main lobby of the clinic from where Ernesto and Granado have been working to help the lepers. At the beginning of the scene, raucous mambo music is playing diegetically, and the camera pans over everyone joyously dancing along; this takes place on the north end of the river in the colony, where everyone who is well off and takes care of the lepers get to live. Everyone is dressed in white and pastels, to indicate their health and overall happiness, and the whole room has a warm orange glow from the lights above them. The lighting is low contrast, with few shadows, to indicate the brightness of the event that they are celebrating. This bright lighting reflects off the white clothes of everyone to create a cheery and festive atmosphere, despite the fact that the scene takes place in night, the stars occasionally peeking through the windows of the room. The cinematography has a very shallow depth of field, keeping most everything in relative focus compared to each other; this helps to create an inclusive atmosphere where everyone can be seen, and everyone is a part of the celebration.

The scene, as with the film, takes the point of view of Ernesto, demonstrating his lack of comfort with the excitement and revelry of the crowd, foreshadowing his eventual comfort as a leader and inspirer of men rather than one of them. Ernesto, all throughout this party, is merely sitting and chatting, while Granado is reveling along with everyone else. Ernesto's seated position indicates that he is dissatisfied with the experiences he had seen so far, and is almost disturbed by the revelry that is happening while people are segregated and suffering on the other side of the camp. The camera is at a high angle on him, to make him seem smaller. Granado encourages Ernesto to dance with a girl who is interested in dancing; however, Ernesto clumsily attempts to get her to tango at Granado's suggestion, which is the dance he learned from Chichina earlier.