At the New York premiere on Monday at the Loews 19th Street Theater, SAM ROCKWELL, who was drinking a cherry Slurpee, chatted with ETHAN HAWKE and SONIA BRAGA; DONNA KARAN brought her daughter GABBY; NARCISO RODRIGUEZ came in shorts and sneakers with no socks.

The after-party, held at Lucy Mexican Barbecue in the corner of the ABC carpet store, had the feel of a fiesta. JULIE TAYMOR danced to "Guantanamera." We chatted with Mr. de la Serna, who apologized repeatedly for his English. Mr. de la Serna had never driven a motorcycle before making the film, and he said the 1939 Norton 500 was not kind to him.

"My body shows a lot of that, you know - I have a scar here," he said pointing to his right arm.

What was it like to make a movie in all those locations?

"It was so - oh, my English!'' he said. "I'm another person, you know, since I did this. The contact with the original culture, for South America, the Inca cultures, the Mapuche, gave me a sense of spirituality. So this movie transformed me a lot."