Amores Perros ***** (2000, Gael García Bernal, Emilio Echevarría, Goya Toledo) – Classic Film Review 715

This deservedly, hugely acclaimed, Oscar-nominated 2000 thriller tells the stories of three men struggling to survive, whose lives become inextricably linked by two dogs and a car crash in the heart of a violent and turbulent Mexico City.

Producer-director Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s  controversial, long (154 minutes) and gruelling Mexican film is cleverly constructed, dazzlingly handled and engrossing throughout.

Gael Garcîa Bernal stars as Octavio, an aimless young loser with an obsessive crush on his sister-in-law, Susana (Vanessa Bauche), who is married to an abusive hoodlum. Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero), a successful TV editor, has abandoned his wife and children to live in a dream apartment with Valeria (Goya Toledo), a shallow and neurotic model.

Meanwhile, El Chivo (Emilio Echeverrîa), a bitter ex-con turned assassin, haunts the life of a pretty young girl with whom he has a secret relationship, and receives a contract to kill a rich, philandering businessman.

Written by Guillermo Arriaga, this is bracing stuff. It may not have won the 2001 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for Mexico, but it did win the 2002 Bafta award for Best Film not in the English Language; also the Critics Week Grand Prize and the Young Critics Award for Best Feature at Cannes and the New Director’s Award at Edinburgh.

It was controversial because it depicts dogfights, but the dogs were apparently just playing. Their muzzles were covered with fine fishing line so they were unable to bite each other and careful editing makes it look a lot more vicious than it really was.

The literal translation of the title is ‘Dogs Many Loves’. ‘Amores’ is translated from Spanish as ‘many loves’ or figuratively as ‘goodness’ or ‘sweetness’. ‘Perros’ means ‘dogs’ but also ‘wretchedness’ or ‘misery’. Together it translates as something like ‘that which is good and desirable in life’ and ‘that which is miserable’.

Iñârrîtu went on to make 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful.

(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 715 derekwinnert.com