Latino Narrative film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Latino Narrative film - Essay Example My goal in this paper is to explore The Motorcycle Diaries in depth focusing on the way the spiritual transformation of Ernesto Che Guevara, the movie’s protagonist, evolves. Specifically, I will focus on how the film’s story is told and the devices that have been employed by the director to draw the audience. In particular, film’s script, performances, and the way it is shot will be discussed in relation to the research topic. Secondly, my goal is to compare The Motorcycle Diaries to another film by Salles Central Station (1998), which, similarly to the former, contains the theme of transformation. To achieve my goal, I have thematically divided the paper into four meaningful parts. The introduction sets the background to the essay. The first section focuses on the transformation experienced by the character of Ernesto Che Guevara and director’s devices employed to get the message across in a successful way. The second section will concentrate on the film Central Station and the similarities and differences between ways the two movies describe transformation. The paper ends with the conclusion of the major ideas discussed. In brief, The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie about a road trip taken by two young men who, while travelling, learn a serious lesson about life. A closer look at the movie’s focus allows claiming that it is not the result of the motorcycle journey that the movie’s director Walter Salles, a Brazilian by origin, emphasizes as the overall message on screen, but rather the transformation of the inner self of Che Guevara’s character. In particular, this is a transformation of a lighthearted medical student into a resolute leader. It happens against the backdrop of major social mishaps faced by people of the land that this weird duo encounters. This view can be well supported with the evidence from the film. First of all, it is clear at the beginning that the two young people who intend to cross the c ontinent are politically unconcerned. Their major interest, it seems, is courtship and enjoying the company of as many women as possible. Indeed, in the first section the friends are shown in a quite lighthearted manner  ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œ just as they try to make use of their suggested status as doctors to obtain food and lodging and visit parties. Besides, one sees how the two repeatedly wreck their falling-to-pieces motorcycle, which they joyfully call La Poderosa or â€Å"The Mighty† (The Motorcycle Diaries). Just as the film approaches its ending, one sees a different character. Ernesto is no longer lighthearted, neither is he daffy or frivolous. Instead of acting in a playful manner, he now perceives life in a thoughtful and serious way. Clearly, Ernesto’s life has taken on a new direction. To illustrate, the movie ends with Ernesto’s crossing of the Amazon river with the aim to bid farewell to his downtrodden and outcast patients, with whom Ernesto now aligns hi mself. Thus, a young reckless student of the upper middle class Argentinian background has transformed in a radical revolutionary, who even after his death will have crowds of admirers kicking up the motto â€Å"Che lives† across the globe (Brussat and Brussat, â€Å"Film Review†). Just as any transformation suggests a process which results in a complete change, let us examine in detail how this process went on in Che Guevara (Alberto seems to have undergone transformation too, yet not in