Latin American cinema has been enjoying a renaissance over the last few years and Walter Salles' historical road movie The Motorcycle Diaries is riding high on that wave. It tells the "intoxicating" story of Ché Guevara (Gael García Bernal), before he came to prominence as the face of the Cuban revolution, travelling across South America with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo De La Serna). The movie was a hit at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival where it premiered and went on to earn plaudits at film festivals the world over.

Wheel Life

In extended cast and crew interviews Walter Salles identifies with his hero, describing the movie as, "a journey that changed our perception of the world". Gael García Bernal also talks about personifying the icon of Che Guevara and executive producer Robert Redford reveals how Sundance brought Salles to the world's attention (the Sundance lab helped develop his 1998 feature Central Station). The real Alberto Granado gets his own forum; sadly, at only three-minutes long it's a very brief reminiscence on the road trip that changed his life.

Salles and co offer more insights in The Coming Of Age Of A Cultural Icon, discussing the intersection of fact and fiction and the "search for identity". Screenwriter Jose Rivera also makes a brief appearance to outline his intentions in extrapolating human truths from "the myth of Ché". Complementing this featurette is a separate 12-minute reel of behind-the-scenes footage, a compulsive fly-on-the-wall look at the making of the film which finds Salles' shooting guerrilla style on the streets with a vast audience of onlookers.

Revved Up

Ché and Alberto hitch a ride from a blind truck driver in the funniest of three deleted scenes, which complete this package. It's a modest selection of features, but it provides a neat context for this thematically rich film. Take The Motorcycle Diaries for a spin on DVD; you won't be sorry.

EXTRA FEATURES

The Motorcycle Diaries DVD is out to buy on Monday 7th February 2005.