---
title: "The Motorcycle Diaries"
year: 2004
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries"
fi1m_id: "the-motorcycle-diaries"
imdb_id: "tt0318462"
tmdb_id: 1653
wikidata_id: "Q309246"
fi1m_score: 77
critics_score: 68
critics_reviews: 12
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:54.077457+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Directed by Walter Salles · 2h 06m · MPA R · Drama

## Identity

The Motorcycle Diaries

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-motorcycle-diaries
- **IMDb ID:** tt0318462
- **TMDB ID:** 1653
- **Wikidata ID:** Q309246
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1653, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q309246

**Fi1m score: 77** · Critics 68 from 12 reviews

*In a sentence:* Young Che gets good company, fine scenery and the benefit of almost every doubt

> Walter Salles’s road film is warm and affecting, with Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna convincing as travelling companions. Its affection for young Guevara sometimes discourages harder questions.

## Synopsis

Ernesto Guevara (Gael García Bernal) travels through South America with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna). Their journey brings them into contact with people whose circumstances differ from their own. The two companions share the pleasures of travel while encountering poverty and social divisions that begin to change how Ernesto sees the continent. Before the man known as Che becomes a revolutionary, he begins to question what he sees around him. The story follows the friendship alongside the development of his social conscience.

## Review

Walter Salles’s *The Motorcycle Diaries* is a good, affecting road film that is sometimes too eager to approve of its famous passenger. It follows the young Ernesto Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado through South America, where encounters with poverty begin to change Ernesto’s outlook. Salles gives the pair time to enjoy one another’s company before asking us to consider what the journey means. That patience is welcome, although the film becomes noticeably more cautious when there are difficult questions to ask about its subject.

Gael García Bernal makes Ernesto’s seriousness appealing without turning every moment into an announcement about the man he will become. His performance is watchful and unshowy, and it leaves room for Rodrigo de la Serna’s Alberto Granado to matter. De la Serna gives the companionship enough ease that we believe these men would choose to spend so much time together. Neither actor strains to make the friendship important. The pleasure of being in one another’s company is there before the film starts asking them to learn from the people they meet.

Éric Gautier’s cinematography lets us enjoy the distance covered and the changing surroundings, which helps the travel hold our interest without a constant supply of incidents. Carlos Conti’s production design keeps the places they visit from feeling like exhibits assembled for a biographical lesson. We can look past Ernesto and Alberto and imagine people continuing their lives after the travellers have gone. The handsome images do carry a risk, though: hardship can become something pleasant to contemplate from a comfortable seat.

Daniel Rezende’s editing allows the encounters to settle instead of pushing us straight towards their consequences for Ernesto. At 126 minutes, the film has room for that approach, but some stretches linger after the point has registered. Gustavo Santaolalla’s music is well suited to Salles’s gentleness, giving the reflective passages feeling without making them sound like declarations. It helps sustain interest when the pace slackens, although music cannot make each new stage of the young man’s education equally revealing.

We were moved by Ernesto’s growing attention to the poverty around him. García Bernal makes that concern feel newly discovered, without the self-satisfaction of someone who arrived knowing all the answers. Jose Rivera’s screenplay understands the discomfort of finding that other people’s lives are harder than one’s own, but it is reluctant to examine the conclusions Ernesto draws. The film puts considerable faith in his decency. There are moments when another encounter tells us little more than that he cares, and we have already understood that.

A road film need not provide a political education, and Salles is right to resist turning the journey into a series of lectures. But choosing Guevara gives these experiences a historical importance that the writing does not always earn. The people the companions meet occasionally seem to have been included chiefly to improve Ernesto, when their own lives invite attention. That limits a film whose interest in other people is otherwise so persuasive. Watch it for the friendship; an argument about Guevara will still be waiting afterwards.

*Fi1m score 77, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Walter Salles’s account of the young Ernesto Guevara’s journey, praising its gentle approach to his growing social conscience. The strongest agreement concerns the charismatic performances of García Bernal and de la Serna, whose friendship gives the travelogue much of its feeling. The photography, locations and attention to encounters along the route also draw praise, with favourable reviews finding political awakening conveyed through people and places rather than speeches.

The divide is sharp over how much this sympathetic portrait explains. Even some admirers acknowledge sentimentality and idealisation, while the negative reviews see a more fundamental lack of curiosity about Guevara’s complexity. RogerEbert.com finds the journey tedious and the character development too thin to make his conversion convincing. Slant Magazine goes further, arguing that the glossy treatment of poverty and politics reduces Guevara to an appealing, simplified figure.

## Straight answers

**Is The Motorcycle Diaries worth watching?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys a slow, warm road film, and we scored it 77. Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna make the friendship between young Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado easy to spend two hours with. Anyone wanting a hard look at Guevara himself will find the film too fond of him to ask difficult questions.

**How long is The Motorcycle Diaries, and what is it rated?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* runs 2h 06m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch The Motorcycle Diaries in the US?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Motorcycle Diaries, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* carries a UK 15 certificate, so it is for older teenagers and adults rather than children. It is a gentle drama about two young men travelling through South America and noticing poverty around them, and our review found nothing in it to frighten. The certificate points to adult material rather than violence, and the squeamish have nothing to fear.

**How does The Motorcycle Diaries compare to Central Station?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* and [*Central Station*](https://film.one/film/central-station) are both Walter Salles road films built on companionship, and the earlier film is the more affecting of the two. *Central Station* earns its feeling through a reluctant, difficult travelling relationship, while *The Motorcycle Diaries* offers easier company and finer scenery but goes soft on its famous passenger. Choose the earlier film for emotion, this one for the pleasure of the journey.

**Is The Motorcycle Diaries based on a true story or a book?**

*The Motorcycle Diaries* is based on a book by Che Guevara himself, so it is a true story of his youthful journey through South America with his friend Alberto Granado. Our review does not judge how closely Salles follows the book, but it finds the film reluctant to examine the conclusions Ernesto draws. You need not know the source, or Guevara's later life, to enjoy the friendship.

**What should I watch after The Motorcycle Diaries?**

After *The Motorcycle Diaries*, try [*Central Station*](https://film.one/film/central-station) (1998, Fi1m 85): Another journey shaped by difficult companionship and attention to people usually ignored. Then [*Y tu mamá también*](https://film.one/film/y-tu-mama-tambien) (2001, Fi1m 87): Youthful travel, convincing friendship and a sharper sense of who gets overlooked; and [*The Straight Story*](https://film.one/film/the-straight-story) (1999, Fi1m 88): A slower journey, with room for strangers and feelings left largely unspoken.

### Reviews we read (13)

- **Screen Daily** (85/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a stirringly compassionate road movie that illuminates the young Guevara's personal odyssey and political awakening through vivid human and geographical details rather than myth-making. It singles out the likeable lead performances and the way the story documents the companions' growing awareness of social realities without conventional biopic clichés. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/motorcycle-diaries/4016915.article)
- **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (85/100, inferred): Salles's warm-hearted reconstruction captures the quickening of Ernesto's youthful idealism and the turning of his passionate nature toward radical commitment with startling clarity and delicacy. The film risks idealizing its subject but remains faithful to its sources. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/movies/on-the-road-with-young-che.html)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (85/100, inferred): Salles' best film to date is a beautifully wrought, intelligently made account of the dawning of Guevara's social conscience that is artful but not arty and political without being didactic. Thesping is strong but unflashy, with Garcia Bernal and de la Serna delivering fine performances. [Read](https://variety.com/2004/film/awards/the-motorcycle-diaries-2-1200537010/)
- **Empire**, Alan Morrison (80/100, inferred): The critic praises how the film focuses on the young Ernesto Guevara's awakening sympathies during his Latin American journey rather than mythologizing Che, crediting Salles, the screenwriter and lead actor for this approach. It excels as a travelogue, biography and portrait of friendship fused into an affecting whole, with added authenticity from on-location shooting. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/motorcycle-diaries-review/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (80/100, inferred): This is the quietest, most meditative motorcycle movie ever made, a soulful and reflective film that movingly presents how Guevara came to believe a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. Walter Salles was the right choice to direct a film that unfolds gently without pushing too hard. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-sep-24-et-motorcycle24-story.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Salles's biopic for its beautiful photography and charismatic performances, highlighting the journey's exploration of poverty and idealism in pre-revolutionary Che. He notes it sentimentalizes Che but captures the youthful testament well. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,,1291408,00.html)
- **Time Out**, GA (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Salles' relaxed and character-focused re-creation of the young Guevara's South American journey with his friend, highlighting the film's light touch on personal and social experiences without heavy rhetoric or melodrama. It singles out the charismatic performances, improvisational style, and evocative camera work and music for their freshness and insight. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-motorcycle-diaries)
- **IndieWire** (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a superficial road movie that fails to delve deeply into its subject or deliver much substance. It is seen as an unsatisfying portrait of young Che Guevara and his companion. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/walter-salles-the-motorcycle-diaries-on-the-road-without-much-substance-78640/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (30/100, inferred): The film is an attenuated and tedious travelogue that fails to develop its characters or explore Che's conversion in any depth. It relies on a simplistic formula of youthful adventures leading to later fame. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-motorcycle-diaries-2004)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (20/100, inferred): The critic calls the film insipid and disingenuous, accusing it of flattening Che into a simplistic, appealing icon for liberal audiences rather than exploring his complexity. It singles out the glossy, superficial treatment of the South American journey and social issues for complaint. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-motorcycle-diaries/)
- **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps: The critic praises the handsome direction, strong lead performances, and the way the film uses its historical context to show one man's growing social conscience. It notes that the story functions as an early chapter in a hagiography of Guevara and reveals little of the complex revolutionary he became. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-motorcycle-diaries-1798199965)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the film as a heartfelt coming-of-age story about young Che Guevara and his friend on a South American road trip. She singles out the stunning cinematography and the convincing performances, especially the central relationship between the two leads. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-motorcycle-diaries-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **Paste**, J. Robert Parks (80/100, inferred): The film is one of the most enjoyable of 2004, following the six-month journey of young Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his friend. It effectively captures the Latin American conditions that shaped Guevara without overt politics and highlights the development of a Latin American consciousness through the stunning scenery and themes. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-motorcycle-diaries)

## Details

- **Director:** Walter Salles
- **Director:** Walter Salles
- **Screenplay:** José Rivera
- **Novel:** Che Guevara
- **Cinematography:** Éric Gautier
- **Editor:** Daniel Rezende
- **Music:** Gustavo Santaolalla
- **Production design:** Carlos Conti
- **Costume design:** Beatriz di Benedetto, Marisa Urruti
- **Producer:** Edgard Tenenbaum, Karen Tenkhoff, Daniel Burman
- **Cast:** Gael García Bernal as Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna; Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Granado; Mercedes Morán as Celia de la Serna; Mía Maestro as Chichina Ferreyra; Jean Pierre Noher as Ernesto Guevara Lynch; Lucas Oro as Roberto Guevara; Marina Glezer as Celita Guevara; Sofia Bertolotto as Ana María Guevara
- **Runtime:** 2h 06m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 15 January 2004
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2004)
- **Box office:** $58 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_LAiSdIXos

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-15.*

Also available in: AU, DK, ES, FI, GB, IT, NO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2005: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated); Best Original Song (won)
- British Academy Film Awards 2005: British Academy Film Awards (won)
- Film Independent Spirit Awards 2005: Film Independent Spirit Awards (won)
- Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 2005: Goya Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (won)
- Cannes Film Festival 2004: Cannes Film Festival (won)
- European Film Award for Best Non-European Film 2004: European Film Award for Best Non-European Film (nominated)
- François Chalais Prize 2004: François Chalais Prize (won)
- San Sebastián International Film Festival 2004: San Sebastián International Film Festival (won)

## If you liked this

- *Central Station* (1998), Fi1m 85: Another journey shaped by difficult companionship and attention to people usually ignored — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/central-station.md)
- *Y tu mamá también* (2001), Fi1m 87: Youthful travel, convincing friendship and a sharper sense of who gets overlooked — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/y-tu-mama-tambien.md)
- *The Straight Story* (1999), Fi1m 88: A slower journey, with room for strangers and feelings left largely unspoken — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-straight-story.md)
- *Alice in the Cities* (1974): For patient travel, uncertain companionship and a camera that notices ordinary places
- *Pather Panchali* (1955), Fi1m 93: For its close attention to hardship without reducing people to their suffering — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pather-panchali.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries