“The Motorcycle Diaries” (モーターサイクル・ダイアリーズ), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 2004, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) O867
This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster produced for the first Japanese cinema release of Walter Salles’ acclaimed The Motorcycle Diaries (モーターサイクル・ダイアリーズ), starring Gael García Bernal as the young Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto Granado. The film opened theatrically in Japan on 9 October 2004, distributed domestically by Nippon Herald Films / 日本ヘラルド映画.
Based on the real-life journals of Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, the film follows the two young Argentinians as they set out across Latin America in 1952 aboard a battered Norton 500 motorcycle nicknamed “La Poderosa.” What begins as an adventurous road trip gradually becomes a profound encounter with poverty, inequality and the social realities of the continent, experiences that would help shape Guevara’s later worldview. Directed by Walter Salles, the film was executive produced by Robert Redford and was selected In Competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Poster design
A beautiful and highly atmospheric Japanese first-release design built around one of the film’s most memorable images: Gael García Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna riding together across an immense South American landscape, with arms outstretched as their motorcycle charges along a winding dirt road.
The composition is suffused with a warm, almost nostalgic palette of golden earth, muted green and hazy blue, perfectly capturing the freedom, youth and sense of discovery at the heart of the film. Across the upper sky appears the poetic Japanese tagline 「遠い空の下、僕は世界がめざめる音を聞いた」 — approximately, “Under a distant sky, I heard the sound of the world awakening.” The line directly evokes the political and emotional awakening that develops over the course of the journey.
The huge ochre Japanese title モーターサイクル・ダイアリーズ dominates the lower portion of the sheet, while the poster also prominently advertises its status as an official selection in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and credits Walter Salles and Robert Redford.
It is over 21 years old!
Condition
Excellent. The poster retains superb colour saturation, with the warm golden landscape, blue sky and photographic imagery remaining exceptionally strong. There are only very minor signs of age and handling, with no significant condition issues affecting the central artwork or typography. Please review the photo—it shows the exact poster for sale.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
