week5—[Melancholy amidst] the Excitement of Nostalgia—
reading blog #8 – The Motorcycle Diaries
“How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew?”
I immensely enjoyed The Motorcycle Diaries. It is hands-down one of the better movies I have watched in recent history…
This idea of a coming-of-age through exploration of familiar yet foreign land, interacting with new people, and constantly being humbled was fascinating to me. I think coming-of-ages are a kind of universal language. The discovery or re-discovery of oneself is a very human attribute to me. Perhaps what sets apart this movie from other coming-of-age movies (i.e., Eat Pray Love… which may be the blueprint for new-age-tourists?) is the entanglement between Ernesto, the unknown lands becoming known, and the people who change him through mere interaction.
What was most interesting to me was Ernesto’s monologues on the tensions of travelling.
“What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.”
Though I am not Che Guevara, nor do I allude myself to him… I found these lines evoking something that I’ve been feeling ever since I came to Peru. Going to the ruins, especially to Saqsaywaman, there was something there, an essence that felt primal, ancient, and ethereal. I want to define ‘ethereal’ for myself: “extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world”. These conflicting feelings of this ageless grandiosity have always been disputed with a kind of melancholy, stressed with a tinge of apprehension and unease, yet these somewhat fleeting feelings are usually overcome with moments of awe and reverence. In a way, these feelings feel as if they are meant to be, intentionally or not, the wonder and dread is for posterity. (Posterity – “all future generations of people”).
I think, perhaps, I had not quite put word to feeling until these lines of the movie came. The idea of leaving something behind to cross a new frontier had not been verbalized in my words nor thoughts, but perhaps it was spoken through my actions and feelings.
It is overwhelming to tap back into these feelings… back to what I felt at Saqsaywaman, and most likely what I will feel at Machu Picchu. For now, my excitement and eagerness for the unknown wills me forward, but it is the melancholy of the known that grounds me to these roots of which I am discovering.
…
Here again, I will put this quote for my question:
“How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew?”
Nostalgia—as I’ve learned—is a funny thing. It’s memory and hope, past, present and future; its contradicting, overwhelming, and fleeting—it’s known and unknown fused into one.
~~~
Some Letterboxd reviews that I enjoyed, now for your enjoyment:
“Che Guevara really set the template for people who go backpacking across Europe on their gap year and supposedly find themselves.” (Letterboxd; user rated: 4.5/ stars)
“This is how communism should be shown to people. You would get a bunch of people wanting to join just from seeing gael garcia bernal dripping wet talking about revolution while having an asthma attack.” (Letterboxd; user rated: 4/5 stars)
“i need rodrigo de la serna to hit me with that bike”. (Letterboxd; user rated: 3.5/5 stars)
2 replies on “week5—[Melancholy amidst] the Excitement of Nostalgia—”
Hi Jasmine,
Thank you for another incredible post as always! I loved your inclusion of the Letterboxd reviews. I also really enjoyed “The Motorcycle Diaries”! I went in expecting to somewhat enjoy but mostly tolerate the movie, but it exceeded my expectations. I still can’t quite put my finger on why, but I think it’s because, similar to what you wrote about, the film gave voice to a lot of things I’m feeling on this trip that I can’t quite describe. I never thought I’d find myself relating to Che Guevera but here we are??? I think it’s sort of reassuring to find connection across space and time with humans who were doing the same things and feeling the same way we are today.
Take care,
Cissy
One of the phrases that has inspired me for a long time is precisely one of Che Guevara, which translates more or less like this: “We must grow tough, but without ever losing our tenderness”. To relate it to the film, that could be the ethical basis of every intra-Latin American traveler. What’s more, this pain of return works like a house with two doors: towards the future and towards the past. Seen from there, the present is a mere place of passage. I believe that Che’s revolutionary character does not contradict that desire. (Thank you for allowing me to share these confusing thoughts that come to me after reading your blog.)