Off on the "Mighty One," their trusty Norton 500, for an 8-month adventure around their America; so it begins for Ernesto and Alberto.
Already friends, on the threshold of careers, they embark upon a life-changing adventure. I suppose if there's a lesson here, it's this: "Stay home!"
If you don't, you're likely to see and experience things that will alter your life and lay a claim upon your soul, a claim that cannot be shaken or denied.
Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Alberto Granado see the beauty of their America, the wonder of its people, and the vast injustice that governs so many lives.
This marvelous film explores how a soul is shaped, how a conscience is stirred, how a life forms its commitments. Surely not all at once, but in bits and pieces, over time. Like planting seeds, they take their time and grow, and then still the wait for flower or fruit.
Without being overly dramatic, with terrific bits of humor, neither are portrayed as saints, but revealed as young men who who long to see life - as the young always do - but doing it from a motorcycle and with limited means, they see life on the street and in the field. They get close to people, close enough to see their faces, the often haunting look of the frightened and desperate.
Along the way, they meet the generous and the cruel, the kept and the keeper. We're all part of vast systems, and it's within these systems that evil takes systemic root - hard to identify, more than anyone person, but pervasive and murderous.
A love-letter for South America, with its vistas and people - sometimes a remarkable feel as if it were a documentary. Be sure to check out the special features - how it was made.
In all regards, a film worthy of its accolades.
