climbergirl blog

I have wanted to go to South America for quite some time, and this movie has made that yearning even stronger!  It is so gloriously filmed, the cinematography is stunning.  I should have expected that, considering Robert Redford is the executive producer and his films are usually visually asthetic.  Along with the nonstop eye candy, this movie has the potential to hit a nerve. 

It is about Che, before he was called Che and how he made the transition from a boyhood life to being a man who sees the connectivity of the human race.  The filmmakers strive to show that there is a common thread among the poor indigenous cultures in each one of the countries the young men travel through.  They touch on the social injustice that occures when these people treated as less than. 

One of my favorite scenes was when Che and his buddy were sitting in Machu Pichu, and the buddy says, “I’ll just marry an Incan Indian and we’ll get all the indigenous people to vote and overthrow the government”.  Che responds, “Hmm, a revolution without guns, that will never work!”.  I’m paraphrasing here, because I don’t speak spanish and this is the general idea the subtitles gave me. 

I don’t agree with this sentiment, but this path of thinking shows a definite change in Che’s world view from when he left home(and thought it odd when his Dad shoved a pistol in his hand).  Now he sees the destruction of civilization, and what brute force can do and it is upsetting to him in a very personal way.

I also thought it was neat how this journey affected Che, and how it affected his friend differently.  What lessons one gets out of this type of trial, if those lessons stick or if they come out of survival only to go back into remission.  I think it’s amazing they made it to their destination travelling on that motorcycle back in 1952!  And, I’m glad it was documented in a book and movie format.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ll read the book now!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 1st, 2006 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Movie Critique. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.