The+Motorcycle+Diaries

The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie that tells of the story of Ernesto Guevara, an Argentinean revolutionist. His life started off typical, he was to be a doctor, but about a semester before he finished school, he left with his friend Alberto Granado on a road trip around South America. Based off a true story, it tells of how during their road trip Ernesto experiences many situations where the peasants and farmers are mistreated and stripped of opportunities of better lives. After what is to be a final stop at a colony volunteering to help doctors help treat people with leprosy, he realizes that he can't go on knowing that these poor people are being restricted to simple lives: all of the farmers, miners, workers, and people with diseases.

Editing is a big part of this film, as the editor and director use an interesting array of cuts to create meaning and help build a character's thoughts and background. One example of this editing is the juxtaposition between a shot where Ernesto is reading a book about marxism and the ideas of revolution beginning with the farmers, and a shot of some of the people, who work as farmers or miners, that he's come across. This positioning of shots, helps the viewer realize that the book and its ideas remind him of the people he's come across during his trip. It also begins to give some insight on some of his thoughts, giving us more information on his character.

We also see this assimilation between Ernesto, his friend Alberto and other farmers, when during one set of shots we see some farmer's walking along a hill with their cattle, and the camera pans over to Ernesto and Alberto walking up a similar hill down below creating a comparison between the two pairs. this comparison being one of equality and similarity between the farmers and the two friends.

A big part of The Motorcycle Diaries is the fact that the entire movie is almost void of sound. The sound that is there is simple, only things that give us an idea of what the setting is like, or what the mood of the scene is like. Usually, they will have only like one or two diegetic sounds happening at once, except for mainly in the beginning when the two friends are still in Buenos Aires. This transition from many diegetic sounds to only a few can represent Ernesto's growth as a character, and his escape form the complexity of his old life, to the simplicity and truth of his new life.

These simple sounds also sometimes help create tones for the scenes. For example, during one scene Ernesto has received a letter from someone. Although we don't see who the letter is from, or what it says, the near-silence of the scene gives us a thoughtful and sad feeling. It lets us really think about the possibilities of what the letter said.

Lastly the lighting in some of the scenes from the movie help us give some idea of the characters in Ernesto's life. Sometimes when Ernesto and Alberto have to tell lies to try and get people to offer them shelter or food for free. However being a very truthful person, at first, Ernesto ruins the plan with his truthfulness. During these times, Alberto is darkly lit, there's maybe a soft light on him but most of the lighting comes from natural light. However, Ernesto has a lot of natural light on him. And, whenever Ernesto is willing to lie to get help, he is as dark as Alberto.