Review LVIII - Amores perros

Review LVIII
Amores perros (2000)

Human beings are creatures that rely on others for comfort. We don't live as solitary beings, and instead have adopted a way of living that requires the love and caring from others in order to maintain a certain level of happiness. This could be via family, friends, or significant others. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Amores perros (or "Love's a Bitch" as it is sometimes translated into English) explores the love people think they perceive and demonstrates how it can lead to our downfall or our transcendence through a single event - a car crash. It stars Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Bauche, Álvaro Guerrero, Goya Toledo, Emilio Echevarría, and Lourdes Echevarría.

The film is separated into three segments. The first focuses on the tale of Octavio (Gael García Bernal) and Susana (Vanessa Bauche). Susana is a young mother who is married to Ramiro (Marco Pérez), a man who makes ends meet by robbing stores. Ramiro is abusive to Susana, and Octavio, Ramiro's brother, who also loves Susana, is angered by this. Octavio dreams of running away with her, and, through dog fighting, he holds the belief he will win her over.

The second segment focuses on Daniel (Álvaro Guerrero) and Valeria (Goya Toledo). Daniel was a unhappily married man with two daughters who wound up in an affair with the famous supermodel, Valeria. He leaves his family behind to grow this infatuation, but when Valeria severely injuries her leg in a car crash, their love will be tested.

The final segment focuses on El Chivo (Emilio Echevarría) and his daughter, Maru (Lourdes Echevarría). El Chivo, a hitman who poses as a homeless man, participated in guerrilla tactics and landed in jail because of them. A business man approaches and asks him to take out his partner. However, planned events become skewed following a car crash which will leave El Chivo debating the meaning of his existence.

If you know Alejandro González Iñárritu (and you may since he directed 21 Grams and Babel, both Oscar-nominated films, which are actually part of a trilogy of hard love, the first being Amores perros), then you already have a sense of how Amores perros will be executed. The film is more linear than 21 Grams, but it still revolves around a single event that captures the lives of different people. Personally, I find it pretty remarkable as a story because of this event. It shows how small the world can be and the basic concept that everything in this world is connected. I've yet to see Babel (though I read a summary written by a friend for an essay, so I know the story already), but I can definitely say I enjoyed 21 Grams and Amores perros a lot. I don't recall 21 Grams that much since I watched it when I was young, but I can definitely comment that Amores perros was well done. It was melancholic, and it captured that feature of life very well. The characters - Octavio, Susana, Daniel, Valeria, and El Chivo - are three-dimensional who think life is going one way but learn that it isn't what it's cracked up to be. Congratulations to all the actors - you definitely did a great job in your roles. Again, don't go into this film expecting something heart-warming because it isn't. It reveals the hardships of life, and I think it does a great job.

The plot is interesting, and it really showed desperation. Each segment captures a different point about love and, with every one, I was yelling out what the characters should do. But you realise that, if you're in that situation, you don't necessarily think straight. As they (yes, they) say, "Love is blind." I'm warning you now, though, that dogs are a prominent feature in the film (think what they could mean symbolically), and there is a lot of canine abuse. Obviously it's for symbolic purposes and I thought it aided in proving a point, but as a person who has grown up with animals, including dogs, and still has many animals, it was hard to watch sometimes. I'd say don't let the dog fighting and dog abuse prevent you from watching the film because, again, its symbolism is powerful, but I'd rather give a short warning so you don't turn off the film in disgust. It's worth a watch anyway.

The film was authentic and depressing, and it definitely deserved the Oscar nod it got for Best Foreign Film. I'd give the film eight stars on ten. It was interesting and well captured, and it made me cringe and feel, something very little films can do. Also, might I mention I love the play-on-words for the title?

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Review LVII - Efter brylluppet

Review LVII
Efter brylluppet (2006)

I find it hilarious that as soon as I hit my March break - after an endless amount of midterm examinations - I get sick. This happens nearly every year, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised. Regardless of my flu, I knew I was going to catch up on watching some films since I haven't watched any since my last review. For this reason, I decided to ease my way in with Susanne Bier's Efter bryllupet, or After the Wedding, as it is known in English.

The film opens up in India where we meet Jacob Peterson (Mads Mikkelsen), a Danish man who has dedicated his life to managing an orphanage. He loves working with the children, including Pramod, a young boy who Jacob is very attached to, and for this reason, he's extremely hesitant to meet the CEO, Jørgen Lennart Hannson (Rolf Lassgård), of a company in Denmark who wishes to donate a large amount of money to the orphanage. Jacob, eventually accepting as the orphanage faces bankruptcy, promises Pramod that he will be back in time for his eighth birthday. However, when Jacob is invited to Jørgen's daughter's wedding, he discovers that he's more connected to this man than he thought.

First off, I enjoyed the way the movie was filmed. Again, which seems to be typical of Anders Thomas Jensen films (he wrote the screenplay), there was quite a bit of symbolism, and the film aimed to capture this. There were a lot of close-ups of eyes, of mounted animal heads, and of different scenes, and this gives the film a certain essence. I thought it was interestingly captured as a result.

I thought the plot was interesting. It really got you emotionally invested in the characters, and the film has many different layers to it. At first, when you realise the first secret of the family (trying not to spoil anything!), you debate how it will go from there. The film, however, didn't follow a typical plot exposition (at least I found), and I applaud it for that. Nonetheless, I thought the reasoning behind Jørgen's obsession with Jacob was a bit... off. Alright, I'm going to spoil it because it's hard to explain what I mean with no context. Skip the remainder of this paragraph if you don't wish to see spoilers. We find out that Jørgen is dying (never explains what) and he feels compelled to make Jacob the one who will take his place given the fact that he is Anna's (Stine Fischer Christensen) real father. I mean, yes, Helene (Sidse Babett Knudsen), his wife, did have a child with this man, but that doesn't mean he has to remain the father... Had the plot revolved around the fact that Jørgen wanted to see if his wife would be happier off with Jacob, then I could see why he would push to have Jacob be part of his daughter's and his wife's lives. The fact that it's because he's terminally ill seemed odd to me. He doesn't seem convinced Helene will even live with Jacob after he dies as he asks her if she will. I don't even find it's necessarily completely implied at the end that Jacob stays with Helene. I mean, they hold hands, but Helene explains to Anna at one point that they were unhappy together. When they talk throughout the film, I got the idea that they were friends rather than lovers, and while maybe this is good enough for Jørgen, again, I'm assuming his intention was to make them fall in love again, or something of the sort. Either way, the way he goes about it seems odd to me. Not completely unbelievable, but odd. I also disliked the end since we learn Jørgen is dying, and then it seems like he dies ten minutes later. We get a whole scene of him crying out that he doesn't want to die, and then boom, he's gone. I thought it would have been better to see him actually go through the process of being sick and show how Jacob becomes part of the family. Instead, it's all assumed. I thought this was weak, and considering we spent all this time getting to know the characters, it seemed like a waste. It was still interesting overall, but I think the way it went about things wasn't very in depth when it should have been.

I'd give the film a seven point three on ten. I enjoyed it, but the plot really did suffer at the end. Still, it's worth a watch as it is beautifully captured, and, well, it has Mads Mikkelsen.

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Opinion on the Oscars

It's been a week since the Academy Awards, and I'm sure, if you did follow them, you've already heard a great number of opinions on them. However, since I haven't had time to watch any films (except for two in class, but I don't think they should count), and since I did go out of my way to watch all the films nominated for Best Picture, it would seem odd if I didn't at least write a little bit on what I thought of them and who won. So here I am at two in the morning taking time away from sleeping in order to write here. You can thank me later!

Well, the Oscars were incredibly predictable this year. All the big categories gave awards to those who were predicted to win. Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role went to Jennifer Lawrence, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role went to Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role went to Anne Hathaway, and Best Picture went to Argo. I was super excited to see Christoph Waltz win his second Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, though I would have been equally happy to see Philip Seymour Hoffman get it. I'm glad Life of Pi grabbed some Oscars - the most, actually, for one film this year, including Ang Lee winning for Best Director! Best Achievement in Cinematography was rightfully awarded to Claudio Miranda for his contribution to Life of Pi, and Mychael Danna wrote an awesome score for the film, so he deserved an Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score. The theme to Skyfall won, and rightfully so. Searching for Sugar Man won for Best Documentary, and I thought Malik Bendjelloul was wonderful for claiming Rodriguez as the greatest musician in the world, hehe. Although I didn't see it, the creators of the winning Documentary Short Inocente were really inspiring and made me want to watch it... Really, I could go on, but sadly, I don't really have the time, and since we're all subject to our own opinions, me just gloating over everyone I was happy to see win really seems like a waste.

I was disappointed that everything was so straight-cut for the Oscars. I mean, while there were some films that deserved the position - like Amour for Best Foreign Film - I really would have liked to see Quvenzhané Wallis win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. It's also more interesting when a film that was almost guaranteed an Oscar according to the public loses to the underdog. Sadly, this year, nothing of the sort occured. The award ceremony itself, well, while it wasn't the worst, was not all that interesting. I thought some of the performances seemed super rushed, and the guests that came out to speak were not all that engaging. But anyway, I'm not here to judge that - I just watch the films.

Overall, I can't say I'm mad with who won, but I don't see any of the films that won really being extremely memorable. Hopefully 2013 brings out some creative genius that will be recognised for years to come.