last night I watched the film "The Motorcycle Diaries" based off the true adventures of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado between the years of 1951-1952. Man! this was an example of a deep and intuitive film. The themes of Che's adventures are so deeply embedded in the nature of them, that no ideas are ever mentioned directly, but instead they seem to flow out at you through the screen. TOGETHER-ness. banding together. Withdrawal of lines created by race or nationality or background. They, Ernesto and Alberto, are examples of men who seek truth, objective truth, throughout the film and they lead it wherever it may take them. No presuppositions, and with no preconceived prejudices. They start the journey just to see and experience South America but what they find instead is the nature of what life truly means.
The film's most poignant moment is near the end of their journey when Che and Alberto stop to work and live at a leper colony along the Amazon River in Peru. Silvia, a very young patient, stricken with leprosy, is about to lose her arm to the disease. Che tries to console her, tries to convince her to have a surgery that may save it.
She tells him that nothing matters because, "Life is pain."
To which he replies,"Yeah, its just a mess, isn't it. You have to fight death off with every breath."
Man! that really struck me. First, I was thrown off by his answer. He seemed to totally ignore her reasoning that nothing matters because life is pain. Instead he just takes it as an axiom, or an unprovable truth, that is unavoidable and doesn't necessarily effect life's meaning at all. Then he answers her with words that are completely big picture: life is a mess but we fight for it just to live. At some point, we all could be happy just to die and be over with it... but what he was trying to tell her is each breath is worth fighting for simply because the chance to take it is a tiny miracle.
What would life be like if we realized this and took it to heart?
And on top of that, it made me think about what would life be without the bittersweet qualities?
What would joy mean without pain?
And what would pain ultimately mean without the dawn of a new day?
It all would be quite meaningless. Because joy means the most if you have fought for it.
When Che and Alberto come into colony, they break down barriers between patient and doctor. The joy that they find in the colony is real. Its not the kind of joy that is granted by riches or by luxury, but it is created by the fact that finding any joy under such circumstances is something to be joyful about. The small things become the luxuries and the trials become the refining fire, that reveals the tough stuff of life, the grit and salt that is worth fighting and dying for. (which Che ended up doing)
On day three I have an new desire to be a part of that type of joy. To forgive it, live it, and come out stronger, with happiness that is made of hearty grit and salt.
at the very end of the film we are left with the images of the friends and people, the real people, that changed Che's life. we hear his revelation of the change that they made that was stronger than the one he left behind. their haunting portraits are the deft hand of the film's auteur and leave you marked.
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