A non-English film of three hours may not be your cup of tea,
but in the case of Amores Perros, I would recommend
that you make an exception and sample the brew.
The debut feature from
young Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu is
an outstanding tryptich of short stories based in and
around Mexico City. Perhaps modelled on Magnolia (the
parallels are in abundance) or on Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, all three stories are
based around a car crash.
The first story tells of
Octavio, a young aimless loser who lives in a 'barrio'
and is obsessed with his sister-in-law, Susana, who is
married to Ramiro, a thief. Octavio resorts to using
his dog in dogfighting circles to raise enough money
for him and Susana to run away together. This is
probably the strongest of the three stories.
The
second is more emotional, and concerns Daniel, an
editor, who has ditched his wife and children to live
in an apartment with Valeria, a billboard supermodel. Within this story
comes Valeria's dog, who becomes
stuck under the floorboards. The constant whining of
the dog contrasts with Valeria's continuous uttering
of the dog's name throughout the story, illustatring
her neurotic behaviour all too clearly.
The final tale
speaks of El Chivo, a bitter ex Guerilla turned
hitman, who is given a contract to kill a wealthy
powerful businessman.
Tarantino-esque in parts, all
three stories converge and get tangled up around the
car crash, while the dogs in all three stories become
more human than the characters who own them.
This is
an outstanding film; the acting, music, setpieces and
gritty realism are superb. A confident debut for Iñárritu; catch this while you can.
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