write 2 paragraphs
Our first film, Even the Rain, was itself critical of the possibility of political film-making. It was also critical of people of European background (like Guevara
himself) acting as potential saviors for indigenous peoples. How does Motorcycle Diaries compare with the kind of exploitation/entertainment that Even the Rain
critiques?
Format consistent with APA guidelines including in-text citations. Masters level work with no grammar or punctuation errors.
“Motorcycle Diaries”: the myth of Che Guevara in the twenty-first century Author(s): Fernanda Bueno Source: Confluencia, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Fall 2007), pp. 107-114
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Motorcycle Diaries: the myth of Che Guevara in the twenty-first century
University of Texas at Austin
Walter Salles builds a new dimension to the myth of Ernesto Che Guevara with the film “Motorcycle Diaries” (2004). The director stated in several interviews that he
did not want to make a political film on the story of Che Guevara, that his film focuses on an adolescent rite of passage to adulthood, in an attempt “to both humanize
Guevara and give an indication of his gradual political maturation” (qtd. in Porton 19). It is beside the point to argue the complete success Salles achieved in his
endeavor: “Motorcycle Diaries” received over thirty nominations and awards. Young and old alike acclaimed the film. It is frequently adopted for classroom use and what
is noticed by students and anyone who sees the film is the humanity of the character and his political maturation process. “Storicizing” history, the film is based on
a careful reading of Guevaras diaries and several biographies, especially the one by Pablo Ignacio Taibo II (Porton 19). Moreover, Alberto Granado, Guevaras companion
on the trip, gave his personal assistance to Jos? Rivera in writing the screenplay (Porton 19). The film is an original project of its executive producer, Robert
Redford, who invited Salles to direct the film. Like most of the feature films today, “Motorcycle Diaries” is a co-production of many countries and directed to a
global audience. Likewise, the myth of Che Guevara is connected worldwide to the memory of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and the African wars of Independence. He
is also remembered by his death plotted by the CIA while fighting for the Bolivian revolution, which makes him a liberator and a martyr in our imagination. Being
perceived as a Christ like figure or of someone who died for the liberation of the oppressed, the romantic hero Che Guevara still today embodies the myth of rebellion,
of resistance. The mid twentieth century, the sixties especially, refers to a mythical period for the liberation of the oppressed and is deeply connected in our memory
to the icon of Che Guevara wearing his beret, as Kodas picture was immortalized in the T-shirt image. The general public has scant knowledge about the historical
aspects of the revolutionary’s life and philosophy of liberation. In his article “The Real Che,” Anthony Daniels argues that the myth of Che Guevara is kept alive by
the strong commercialization of souvenir goods stamped with his figure (23):
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The film clearly intends to suggest that Guevara was a youthful idealist, and that his idealism?so generous, so disarming?was the source of his later opinions and
activities, such as his liberal and open-handed signing of death sentences after perfunctory trials, his support of regimes that had killed millions and scores of
millions.. .The film is thus the cinematic equivalent of the Che Guevara T-shirt; it is morally monstrous and emotionally trivial. (26)
With such a harsh opinion Daniels goes on to convince the reader that the “real” Che was indeed morally monstrous and probably emotionally unbalanced. Daniels fails
to perceive that the “Real Che” is as unrecoverable as all legendary myths. As Fredric Jameson said, expanding the Althusserian thought, history is “inaccessible to us
except in textual form, and that our approach to it and to the Real itself necessarily passes through its prior textualization, its narrativization in the political
unconscious” (35). Therefore, the actions of Ernesto Che Guevara may be recorded, taught, and discussed, but his legend s place in social memory survives beyond the
mans actions and facts, whether they are heroic or atrocious. Ernesto Che Guevara belongs today to the realm of imagination. The legendary figure is subjected to
“narrativization,” becoming cultural products as a T-shirt, a movie, a novel, and an aspiration of our collective unconscious. The narrative of “Motorcycle Diaries”
assumes and explores this signification. As Roland Barthes explains in “Myth Today,” mythical language empties the signifieds of the first semiological system, keeping
its meaning but impoverishing it. Mythologies are not lies, they are formed as a distortion of a previous signification, they are a new situation, they bring up
different concepts. “The meaning is already complete, it postulates a kind of knowledge, a past, a memory, a comparative order of facts, ideas, decisions” (117). For
this reason, our knowledge of the fact that Ernesto is the revolutionary we all know is taken as the empty signified to be combined forming new concepts. Moreover, the
artistic organization of images in the narrative will definitely contribute to the mythological form of the film: myth is defined not by its content but by the form
the message is uttered (109). We must also consider that a myth evolves from history. Today, the film “Motorcycle Diaries” updates our imagination on the figure of a
revolutionary, stimulating acceptance in spite of making popular Che s sayings such as “let the world change you … and you can change the world.” In our age of
terrorism attacks and the “war on terror,” the last known figure of a “guerrillero,” one who fights for the liberation of the oppressed, is Subcomandante Marcos, who
has achieved some political change in a small localized region of M?xico, combining the use of the media and politics with weapons. Therefore, today we long more for
protection against change, against attacks, than feel the impetus of changing the world by caring a firing gun. One instance which proves the historical evolution of a
mythical signified, is the fact that today, in order to feel protected against terrorist attacks, society relies on the same organizations that plotted the fall of Che
Guevara; hence, what was then perceived as an assassination, today, with the “terrorists,” their fall by the same plots are celebrated as just punishment. Drawing
comparisons to other films by Walter Salles and discussing three main sequences of “Motorcycle Diaries,” I intend to pose a possible answer to the question Barthes
raises in his article: “How do [we] receive [Che Guevaras myth] todayT (129). I
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want further to suggest that in our age of fear of terrorism, Salles sends a message of conformity through the myth of the romantic hero Che Guevara, placing his
aspirations of achieving a more equal and just society in a distant past. Walter Salles s filmography is already extensive and well-known. His two previous features,
“Central Station” (1998) and “Broken April” (2000) also present inner discoveries of the protagonist during a journey guided by a supportive character, which is
inserted in the long literary tradition of Virgile guiding Dante and Sancho Panza following Don Quijote. Brilliantly acted by Fernanda Montenegro, the protagonist Dora
of “Central Station” is a picara at the beginning of the film. Doras humanity develops during a scenic trip across the backlands of Brasil, in her interaction with the
environment, its people and Josu?, her guide through the “inferno” of her life. Her moment of transformation is well marked by the poignant scene of the religious
procession at the climax of the film. In interviews Salles described this film as a “parable of hope.” Thus, the argument of “Central Station” follows the classic
structure of a bildungsroman. “Broken April” and “Motorcycle Diaries” are atypical bildungsroman because the heroes’ personalities do not change significantly in the
process. In the development of the narrative, Tonho and Ernestos personalities are a seminal factor in becoming the revolutionaries they will be. The development of
these protagonists is to show how they will affect their world. Tonho, the older brother of “Broken April,” breaks a centuries-old family tradition of fighting for
their land by killing the oldest son of the other family or dying. In his journey, encouraged by his young brother Menino, Tonho discovers the love of Clara and
another life beyond the land he should protect to death. Furthermore, the structure of Salles s narratives are similar in the way he creates new mythologies. For the
Brazilian sertao, the environment of “Central Station” and “Broken April,” the director crafts a land of honorable people striving for progress through respectable
poverty; which is quite a different image from the one constructed by Glauber Rocha and N?lson Pereira dos Santos, the revolutionary filmmakers of the sixties. They
created a sert?o of inexorable misery, which is closer to our reality half of a century later. Nonetheless, as Lucia Nagib points out, the contrasting views do not
represent a “value judgment” of the films of the sixties or Salless films. The fact that Salles builds a sert?o which is “a source of healing for a nation in need …
[and Glauber builds a sert?o which is] the most obvious expression of social divisions … simply represent different ways of coming to terms with the realities of
Brazil… Some hope for revolution, others for reform … in different times” (153). In this way, “Motorcycle Diaries” presents successful strategies of the style
Salles developed in previous films: they are road movies with spectacular photography (Eric Granier for “Motorcycle Diaries”); which makes nature another major element
in the ?criture of the narrative. For instance, the magnificence of the Peruvian Andes sets the stage for Ernesto’s encounter with the peasants, giving the scenes the
eloquence of a religious confessional rite. Another strategy is the choice of acclaimed actors that perform their characters with excellence, who expand the meaning of
their representations. In particular, both protagonists of “Motorcycle Diaries” and “Broken April,” Gael Bernal (Ernesto) and Rodrigo Santoro (Tonho), are able to
speak eloquently in their silence through their eyes and measured gestures. Salles declared that he was “mesmerized” by the way Gael Bernal
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interiorized his feelings in acting “Amores Perros” (Mexico 2000), this being one of the reasons why he chose Bernal for the role of Ernesto: “[he] was an actor who
had the vitality of a 20-year-old as well as the maturity of a much older man” (qtd. in Porton 18). The character Ernesto shares some contrasting characteristics with
Tonho, the character of “Broken April.” Both are revolutionaries, they both present their love, compassion and openness to the Other, they both want to learn about the
world around them and make changes in their environment. While Tonho s personality is built upon idealism: non-violence, laughter, innocence and love of a woman;
Ernesto s personality in the film is built upon his weaknesses. He is chronically ill, his girlfriend leaves him, he has poor social skills. The only people Ernesto
relates to well are the underdogs he encounters enroute. The scenes that show the turning point of Tonho and Ernestos consciousness are contrasting as well. Tonho s
perception of his own reality changes in an upward movement: he and Clara discover their love when the girl flies in the sky while supported by the rope he holds as
the movie theater is filled with the sound of their laughter. In a similar later scene, pushed by Menino, Tonho swings high extracting some laughter even out of his
grouchy fathers mouth. Thus, in “Broken April,” the sky is the limit for Tonho s aspirations. On the other hand, Ernesto is brought to a consciousness of himself
through the break-up letter from his girlfriend Chichina (M?a Maestro). The protagonists feelings are shown in a downward movement, on a darkened screen, helped by the
harsh sound of the small elevator in which Ernesto and Alberto are squeezed in, descending to the beach in Valparaiso. Ernesto is no longer an adolescent; the rupture
leaves him open to a new search for meaning in his life, which is fulfilled by the readings of Jos? Mari?tegui and encountering enroute the plight of the indigenous
people. Considering film as poetic language that constructs significations, Salles uncovers Che Guevaras path to revolution with powerful metaphors of images and
sounds, which make of the young Ernesto Guevara a hero out of his weaknesses. Another source of building the protagonist s personality is to present Ernesto to the
audience in contrast to the character of Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna). As in other Salles s movies, the circumspection of the protagonist is lightened up by
the grandiose nature and the splendid work of the supporting actors. According to Gaston Bachelard, poetic imagination is executed when the poet is able to transform
images unexpectedly:
Imagination is always considered to be the faculty of forming images. But it is rather the faculty of deforming the images offered by perception, of freeing ourselves
from the immediate images; it is especially the faculty of changing images. If there is not a changing of images, an unexpected union of images, there is no
imagination, no imaginative action. (19 italics in the original)
The poetic images constructed in the film are “formed” within the known and reliable model of Hollywood beautiful images. From the small units of contrast between the
two protagonists through the combination of major segments, all is crafted in every aspect of their realization: photography, screenplay, soundtrack. These images are
“naturalized,” “deformed,” by their changing of significance when combined in new mythologies. The film develops in a crescendo of changing images which attain new
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significations forming today a new perception of Che Guevara and the life of Alberto Granado. Bachelard s notion of “deforming” poetic images, “changing” and
“unexpectedly uniting” them is related to Barthes notion of mythologies. For Barthes, myth is a message, it is “idea-in-form” (109-112),
myth is a second order semiological system. That which is a sign (namely the associative total of a concept and an image) in the first system, becomes a mere
signifier in the second … the final term of a first semiological chain [… which is] reconstitute [d] in a chain of causes and effects, motives and intentions
[giving us the] mythical concept [which] is confused, made of yielding, shapeless associations. (114-119 italics in the original)
Three major segments may be constructed as the main signifiers of the films mythology. They are the ship voyage to the leper colony, their farewell at the colony, and
the epilogue at the airport in Venezuela. Likewise, all smaller units of the film also construct new associations. At the beginning of the narrative, the film
delineates the respective roles of the characters. Alberto acts as the older and wiser of the trip as Ernestos mother makes him responsible for her sons health and
security. He then becomes the “sexual ambassador of Argentina,” is able to find food and lodging for both, and dutifully takes care of Ernesto when suffering asthma
attacks. At the same time, Ernesto shows a naive approach to life, for instance, by childishly protecting Chichinas money, being unable to properly seduce the mechanic
s wife and speaking bluntly to the man with a tumor. On these occasions, Alberto, his guardian and protector, saves the day with his worldly skills. However, Ernesto
is the hero of the film; he is the one who manages to get published the newspaper article which opens doors for both. The character of Alberto also functions as
jester. The jester figure comes to play as a counter balance of the hero. Alberto is constantly called fat and old when he weights a few pounds more than the skinny
Ernesto. In the film, both are in their twenties, but Alberto is six years older. In addition, Ernesto physically displays the beauty of a teenager, while Alberto
displays a manly charm and manners. Both characters are captivating in their own contrasting ways. In every scene their actions and presence on the screen are
complementary, pointing the audience s imagination to the construction of the legendary Che Guevara. Ideologically the contrast between them is marked: the film
establishes more than once that Ernesto does not believe in a revolution without firing a gun. On the other hand, it also establishes that Alberto is a good-hearted
man who believes in revolution through founding an indigenous party and reaching the ideal of a more equal society through politics. After setting up the character of
the two protagonists the film proceeds to develop its mythology in the three following sequences. First comes the sequence on the ship during their voyage to the leper
colony. It perfectly illustrates the contrastive figure played by Alberto and gives emotional balance and ideological connotation to the movie. It also sums up Ernesto
Guevaras social consciousness. Just as Ernesto is profoundly moved by the social differences of the people on the ship, the spectators must face the squalid people
packed on the small boat pulled by the nicer ship. The larger ship carries a casino and the
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wealthy who can afford to buy the services of a prostitute, who in turn has to share her profits with the captain. Deep in his thoughts, Ernesto observes the people
below and recalls all the encounters along their route, which are the black and white stills we see. He writes in his diary, suffers, and finally collapses in an
asthma attack. Without the presence of Alberto, this sequence could be described as a scene out of the cinema of the sixties, when the audience was asked to acquire
the consciousness of the hero. However, social transformation is something that is not on the mind of the twenty-first century moviegoers and the director skillfully
deviates our attention to Alberto s quest. Will he be able to make the money he needs to pay the prostitute? Alberto s lively character upholds the lightness required
for the film. He is seen walking up and down the boat, assisting his friend, flirting with the girl, searching for money, and winning the money in the casino. As
Alberto states, he comes out as “the man with balls on the ship,” not the thoughtful Ernesto. Alberto’s performance is posed in sharp contrast to the reflexive
attitude assumed by the character of Ernesto. Within this sequence we can perceive the main techniques used in the film to build its mythology. In alternate scenes, in
the same enclosed space of the boat, first we see Guevara and all the elements that form his ideals. The audience can relate to his ideals because we all wish for a
better society; this is one of the reasons which makes the T-shirt so popular. Secondly, we identify ourselves easily with Alberto; like us, he is mundane, he likes
sex, money and adventure, plus, he is a good, caring man. The mythology of the film is established when Alberto declares himself the toughest man around in the casino.
At this moment, a pale Ernesto is standing background to the right of the screen, while Alberto occupies the center, speaking and looking at the other men in the
casino and at us. Secondly, the segment of their farewell of the leper colony presents the most spectacular scenes in the film and is the grand finale of the story.
Ernesto symbolically crosses the river to celebrate his birthday with the patients. They are all on the banks of the river, at first uncertain, but soon cheering
Ernesto’s exhausting crossing and receiving him in their arms. Carried in the arms of the lepers, Ernesto poses himself as their savior, one that would die for them,
as the dangerous nocturnal swimming proved. The posture of his body being held by the people resembles paintings of Christ being descended from the Cross. While these
scenes are in the dark of night, Alberto and Ernesto’s departure from the leper colony is at the break of dawn, when light is diffused in a dense fog and everyone is
surrounded by the deep vegetation of the forest and the river waters; all of which gives a supernatural mood to the segment. When compared to Ernesto’s small
participation in the casino scene, here Alberto significantly barely participates in the long emotive farewell which takes place between Ernesto and every patient of
the colony. This segment, in its enormous humanity and expressiveness, reaffirms the mythic Che Guevara of our imagination as the expression of our eternal unfulfilled
desire for equal and just societies. The final segment, which is presented with the credits of the film, can be placed in sharp emotional contrast to the previous
segment. One of the major differences is the use of light. Contrasting it to the preceding diffuse light and natural scenario, this sequence is in the hangar of an
airport in mid-day light. The brightness of day offers no depth of vision; the screen is all in one plane, punctuating the realness and bringing the story to our
present day.
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The viewers previous knowledge of Guevara will be called upon in this final sequence of the film, its epilogue, when Alberto, in a double signification, calls Ernesto
“Che” for the first time, instead of the usual nickname “Fuser.” He says “Che” to mean both the Argentine colloquial expression, as well as “El Che,” from this point
on we are viewing the historical Che Guevara. As noted before, the character Ernesto of “Motorcycle Diaries,” is not revolutionary in the discours of the film, its
representation. Nevertheless, by counting on the spectators knowledge of the symbol; he is “El Che” on the level of narration, which is not present in the
chronological time of the narrative film, but in its histoire. The two friends say farewell and Ernesto departs to Buenos Aires, where he will decide his future. The
further development of his life and death is acknowledged by a still of text written in white over the dark screen. Finally, we see senior Alberto Granado, in our
time, observing the departure of a plane. Thus, the film ends by recalling us from fantasy to our own reality. The film ends with the image of Alberto. He survived the
revolution and opened the first medical school in Cuba. Alberto is the one who today looks at us from the screen, from a close-up of his aged face. “Motorcycle
Diaries” is a film directed to a global audience, produced and distributed (Focus Features) by the USA. The release of the film in the US was accompanied by
merchandise gifts such as a Lonely Planet booklet divided in three parts: Inspiration, Destination and Communication. In the first part, it brings information about
the filmmaking, the cast and an interview with the director. Destination is about the countries they travel, giving specific recommendations for backpackers. The last
part of the booklet, Communication, presents some quotes from the movie and a Spanish-English glossary for travelers. Thus, the film is a globally produced cultural
artifact with a variety of locations and professionals from diverse countries involved in its making. It also aims to stimulate global consumerism. Through its
beautiful images, foreign audiences get acquainted with the vastly unexplored Andean landscape and are invited to a similar tourist adventure, investing in further
economical development. Making a region known through film and television is not a new technique; for instance, the Brazilian soap operas have long advertised tourism
within their narratives. The film “Bossa Nova” (Brazil 2000) is also a trilingual post-card of Rio de Janeiro, one among many films produced to export. In his article
“Globalization as Philosophical Issue,” Fredric Jameson points to the danger of the imposition of the “American Way of Life” through cultural artifacts not only
economically but ideologically in global markets. During 1998, the trends of the New Latin American Cinema weren’t so visible. Now we can evaluate it as a positive
experience in the sense that national industries survived on a co-production scale and gives visibility to many directors like Walter Salles and Fernando Meirelles
(“City of God” 2002), who were invited to foreign productions, creating meaningful feature films. On the other hand, Jameson could foresee the control of culture by
the global mode of production. The filmmakers of the sixties, with their “modernist” techniques, created an ability to imagine different social alternatives:
This destruction of a national film production?and along with it, potentially, that of a national or local culture as a whole?is what can be witnessed everywhere now
in the third and second worlds…. [independent filmmakers all
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over the world could be seen to be guided by a certain modernism; but it is also the death of the political, and an allegory of the end of the possibility of
imagining radically different social alternatives to this one we now live under. For political film in the ’60s and ’70s still affirmed that possibility (as did
modernism in general, in a more complex way), by affirming that the discovery or invention of radically new social relations and ways of living in the world. It is
those possibilities?filmic, formal, political, and social?that have disappeared as some more definitive hegemony of the United States has seemed to emerge. (62)
As a mythology, “Motorcycle Diaries” realizes Jamesons admonition of the present inability of rethinking the social struggles we confront today. Eloquently
captivating the audience and reworking the mythologies of the sixties, Walter Salles states a message of political conformity and stimulates consumerism, reflecting
the society of twenty-first century. Works Cited “Amores Perros.” Dir. Alejandro Gonz?lez I?arritu. Mexico: 2000. Bachelard, Gaston. On Poetic Imagination and Reverie.
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“Bossa Nova.” Dir. Bruno Barreto. Brazil: 2000. “Broken April.” Dir. Walter Salles. Brazil: 2000. “Central Station.” Dir. Walter Salles. Brazil: 1998. “City of God.”
Dir. Fernando Meirelles. Brazil: 2002. Daniels, Anthony. “The Real Che.” New Criterion. Oct 2004 23( 2) 22-27. Jameson, Fredric. The Political Unconscious: Narrative
as a Social Symbolic Act. Ithaca: Cornell, 1981, 35. -. “Globalization as Philosophical Issue.” The Cultures of Globalization. Durham: Duke UP, 1998, 54-77.
“Motorcycle Diaries.” Dir. Walter Salles. USA, Argentina, Peru, Chile, 2004. Nagib, Lucia. “The Sertao in the Brazilian Imaginary.” The New Brazilian Cinema. London:
Tauris, 2003, 139-156. Porton, Richard. “Road to Revolution.” Film Journal International, Oct 1, 2004. Nov 04, 2004. <http://
v^ww.filmjournd.com/filmjournal/filmmakers/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=10n
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