Motorcycle Diaries
"Let the world change you...And you can change the world..."
Not many movies make you cry... some movies do. Not that you hate it. Infact, for some reason, you want more of it. A little bit of introspection can make you understand that the tears are the colorless blood drops oozing out of your eyes... as something has been ripped out of yourself... only to add something else.
This is one such movie...
"This is not the tale of impressive deeds...Is a piece of two lives taken in a moment when they were cruising together along a given path...With identity of aspirations and conjunction of dreams"
The movie starts and ends quoting the above lines. Simple and trivial...in the beginning. Simple and powerful...in the end. The transformation inside us makes us feel different about them.
A Spanish movie directed by Walter Salles.
Two friends, Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, start their mission of travelling 8000 kms across South America in four months in Alberto's 'La Poderosa' ('The Powerful' Bike). Ernesto, a student of medicine and Alberto, a biochemist start their journey from Buenos Aires and end it in San Pablo, taking a unique path of varied people, mystic places and mixed emotions.
The 'road'... You see the pair spanning the continent in their bike and every atom of your body shouts at you to hit the road. Not one of the many crises they face, dampens our spirit.
"How is it possible that i feel nostalgia for a world i never knew?"
A question asked not only by Ernesto, but by the viewer too, for the movie successfully transfers that nostalgia into our minds. Places and faces...yes. They haunt you hours after the movie is over and whenever you think about the movie.
For those who were moved by the music of 'Amores Perros', '21 grams', 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Babel', here's Gustavo Santaolalla again. I relate his music in this movie to 'rain'. Snippets of sounds showered like a drizzle, here and there, at the exact emotional moments.... only for a complete pour in the end...
Some scenes...
- Alberto's love for his 'La Poderosa' brings tears to his eyes, when he had to part with it. The scene made the man's innocence and passion transparent.
- Ernesto's denial to spend the money (given by his love to buy her a pair of underwears) during all crises they face, sheds light on the man's capability of faith and resolution in whichever he sets his heart.
- The scene when Alberto breaks down while climbing the mountain saying its 'humanly impossible', just to see a brisk man walking across, is an example of the subtle comedy found all over the movie.
- Asthmatic Ernesto crosses the river which no one has, to get to the other side, to celebrate his birthday with the patients of San Pablo.
- The scene when the pair bids goodbye to San Pablo, I was in tears....
That was a glimpse into this heart wrenching tale. Now forget reading this and go watch the movie...
Experience.... Friendship, Journey, Passion, Love (philanthropy), Empathy, Power of choice and Extraordinary music.
Reflection "The degree of life in a man is not judged by his ability to do activities like breathing, eating, walking etc. It is done on the basis of his level of sensitivity to his surroundings. Have you not felt anything when an old woman in tattered rags, begs you for a penny or two? Have you not felt anything when you see a small boy... running around you... like a chatterbox... begging you to buy whatever he has to sell? Have you not felt anything when you see a limping dog cross the road? The things we see everyday to which we have turned ourselves insensitive. This movie can make you a little more sensitive... make you live more!"
