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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