Monday, June 26, 2006

Motorcycle Diaries


Just been watching Motorcycle Diaries, which is about Che Guavara's journey around South America, from Buenos Aires to Caracas, and how about how this shaped him as a politician and an activist. It focuses particularly on the plight of the indigenous farmers who were kicked off their land by the Hispanic landowners and a fair bit of the film takes place in a Peruvian leper colony, where Guavara questions why the sick and the healthy need to be seperated if the disease isn't even contagious.
I really enjoyed this film, but I realise that Guavara's character is fairly idealised. Some critics have said that Motorcycle Diaries is like a film about Hitler that emphasises his vegetarianism and his concern about unemployment. So I've also decided to post this photo, of one of the stencil pieces Dylan did on the fire escape when he lived here last year:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that being said, one has to realise that this was Che before becoming the revolutionary that he eventually became, so while his character might have been prittied up a bit I actually believe that this is how he might have been prior to taking on the role that he eventually took on. some of this is fuelled by the book that it was based on and the photos from the trip...

how hard is it to believe that such a likable guy turned out to be such a rough revolutionary?

Anonymous said...

Ah c'mon, you've been listening to the wrong people.
Che was a doctor. He spearheaded the healthcare system that's still operating in Cuba today. It's way better than the US's, and Cuba educates foreigners as doctors *for free* and sends them back to their own countries -- where they are badly needed -- places like Angola.
And even the US. Americans study medicine in Cuba then return to places like New York where they are able to practice medicine because the Cuban education system is just as good as that in the US.

What's wrong with that kind of revolution?