In 1952, 23-year-old medical student Ernesto Guevara (García Bernal) hops on a beat-up motorcycle with his best friend, Alberto Granado (De la Serna), and the two set out on a journey across the South American continent. During their travels, the young Argentinian men confront for the first time the devastating poverty and hardship that scars their native land.

Director Salles's "Diaries" is an evocative, scenic, superbly realized coming-of-age story. Writer Jose Rivera was Oscar-nominated for his screenplay, adapted from Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara's own memoirs about the transformative trip he took across the South American continent as a young man. Anchored by García Bernal and De La Serna's appealing, full-bodied portrayals, "Diaries" powerfully portrays the dawning of one man's political and humanitarian commitment.