Amores Perros

Starring: Emilio Echevarria, Gael Garcia Bernal, Goya Toledo, Alvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas
Directed by: Alejandro G. Inarritu
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Three people are connected through the event of a car accident.

Review:

Tim: Amores Perros was director Alejandro G. Inarritu's feature film debut and the movie that put him on the map. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and it's a memorable, powerful film. It's an impressive debut that suggests the big things to come for Inarritu. I watched this movie late, two decades after its release. The movie holds up and is a film that's hard to look away from.

The formula has been often used, but it's still effective. Inarritu's film focuses on three separate storylines. Each are connected through the events of a car crash- two of them are involved directly in it, and the third is a bystander. These three people live very different lives and this one event changes the course of their lives- some dramatically, others more subtly. This gives the film a broad appeal, as it gives us glimpses into very different human stories. We have the young man who is in love with his brother's wife and gets into illegal dogfighting. We have a celebrity who recently moved in with her recently divorced boyfriend, and we have a homeless hitman longing for his estranged daughter and haunted by his past. Each of these are compelling, substantial stories in their own right. Each could have been the sole focus of the film. It's Inarritu's genius that he combined these three stories and the final product is something new. It gives a more complex look at the human experience.

For an American like me, it gives a fascinating look at life in Mexico City as well. I've never been to Mexico, so I enjoyed this little detour into the country as of 2000. These human stories represent the city well also and I appreciated this.

The cast is good. Gael Garcia Bernal makes perhaps the biggest impact. His story begins first and it's the the one that lingers with me the most. His ability to connect with the audience is impressive. You grow to care about his lovesick ambition. Now, the character is complex and does more than a few distasteful things. It's to Bernal's credit that I still retained some empathy for the character. His story also involves dogfighting, which is a bit hard to watch. I read a few accounts of people who couldn't handle it and had to turn the movie off. I sympathize with that, but I did read that Inarritu was careful in how he shot those scenes and that it obviously wasn't real. Still, it's incredibly difficult to watch, even as it's fascinating.

As good as Bernal is, Emilio Enchevarria gives him a run for his money. His performance is much more subtle, though. It took me a while to realize how impressed I was with his performance. His story is a bit less focused than Bernal's, which hurts just a bit. Still, it's memorable and has some great scenes. Goya Toledo's story was probably my least favorite of the triptych, but not because it's ineffective. It's really good and my assessment is relative to the others. It's just that it's perhaps the most joyless of the three. It features a supermodel who is badly injured in a car accident and how that event spirals her life down into nearly oblivion. It's hard to watch- much of it takes place in one apartment and there's a lot of screaming. It also features a strange event- their dog gets stuck below the floorboards and stays down there a remarkably long time. I'm not sure if I missed the point here (there's obviously some level of symbolism), but it was a little jarring that more extreme measures weren't taken, especially when they were worried he'd be eaten by rats. Anyway, the story is still good and makes you think about how easily your life can change. It was effective, just my least favorite of the three.

For a feature film directorial debut, Amores Perros is stunning. It's intricately complex. It paints a picture of a broad swath of humanity and gives you insight into Mexico City. I liked how dogs played intricate roles in all three stories. This movie gives you a lot to think about. I enjoyed it immensely.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



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