The Motorcycle Diaries

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The Motorcycle Diaries
(2004, 126 minutes) Rating 15, FILMCLUB suggests 14+
Rural Inclusion Project
What’s this film about?
Bio-chemist Alberto and medical student Ernesto are best
friends living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1950s. Their
dream is to travel the length and breadth of Latin
America on a 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle. Alberto is
adventurous and full of bravado. Ernesto is idealistic,
young and compassionate. Undertaking their journey,
the pair experience problems with the bike and the
men’s ideologies begin to diverge from each other too,
leading to arguments and confrontation. The journey
and its unforgettable encounters will come to define
both men: one will become a renowned scientist and
writer; the other will become known and remembered as
Che Guevara, the revolutionary who changed a
continent and became an unmistakeable twentiethcentury icon throughout the world. In Spanish with English subtitles
Why have we chosen this film?
Issues raised
This film, based on the diaries of Alberto Granado and Ernesto Guevara, sees two men who have
never left their home country experiencing the world beyond their borders for the first time. For
many, travelling to another country is a defining experience, one that some rural students may
already be considering – or may begin to after seeing this film. The Motorcycle Diaries also gives
a unique insight into a twentieth-century icon in his formative years; a man most of us recognise
from posters and T-shirts, but whose impact and ideology may be less familiar to students.
Politics: Guevara’s ideology is slowly formed as he sees injustices all around him on his travels.
Exploration: Alberto and Ernesto travel to a range of different countries and cities, taking in some
amazing locations.
Friendship: The men’s relationship is tested as they spend every minute together and as their
outlooks on life and how people should be treated begin to differ.
Be aware of...
Strong language
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Before the film: Starter activity
What’s the furthest you’ve ever been away from home? Do you like being away or do you
prefer more familiar surroundings.
What benefits are there to travelling in your own country and to travelling abroad? Is it
something everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Share your travelling experiences with the Club? Who has had the most fascinating experience?
Whose was the worst? Who has travelled the furthest?
After the film: Discussion questions
Which key experiences begin to change or form Ernesto’s ideology? How?
Are there any similarities in how the poor and sick are treated in this film to how we treat them
nowadays?
Whose outlook on life do you most associate with: Alberto’s or Ernesto’s?
After the film: Further explorations
1. Now you’ve watched the film, play the trailers for Steven Soderbergh’s Che: Part 1 and
Che: Part 2. These films see Guevara in his adult years. Does the character bear any
resemblance to the man you have come to know in The Motorcycle Diaries? Discuss
what else may have happened to Che in the space between the stories of this film and
Soderbergh’s.
2. The journey the men take in the film is a distance of 5,000 miles, which takes them from
the bottom to the top of their continent. How many different journeys across the length
and breadth of the U.K. could you take in that distance? Plan some routes – where would
you go? What towns, cities or landmarks would you want to see? Who would you go
with? How would you prefer to travel?
Get reviewing
Check the FILMCLUB Guide to Writing Effective Film Reviews – Secondary for ideas and activities
to help club members write their reviews.
http://www.filmclub.org/resources/details/353/review-writing-guide-secondary
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