Love's a Total B*tch, Especially in Mexico with a Bunch of Dogs

With the recent attention towards films of Latin America, a new wave has been emerging in different countries south of U.S. border. From Brazil, there's Fernando Meirelles and Walter Salles and in Argentina, the late Fabian Bielinsky. In Mexico, two noted auteurs have managed to find success in not just their homeland and internationally but also find work and success in the U.S. First is noted horror/action director Guillermo del Toro and the second is the more dramatic Alfonso Cuaron. The third director from Mexico that's been making waves internationally is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Prior to his career into feature films, he directed several television shows for Mexico before meeting screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. The collaboration with Arriaga led to them creating a project that took three years and thirty-six drafts that originally was supposed to be several shorts that would lead into their first feature film entitled Amores Perros (Love's a B*tch).

Amores Perros tells three interconnected stories revolving around a car accident where a young man falls for his sister-in-law and hopes to win her heart while another man leaves his family for a model and another story involving a hitman trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Written by Arriaga and directed by Inarritu, Amores Perros is a film where three different stories come together to form a theme that often involve dogs and tragedy. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Emilio Echevarria, Goya Toledo, Alvaro Guerrero, and Vanessa Bauche. Amores Perros is a Raw, Intense Masterpiece from the duo of Inarritu & Arriaga.

Frustrated in her relationship with the irresponsible and abusive Ramiro (Marco Perez), Susana (Vanessa Bauche) is in dire straits in trying to take care of her baby and being in school. Living with Ramiro's family including his younger brother Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal), Susana has a more stable relationship with Octavio who has a crush on her while is the only one trying take care of the problems. Meanwhile, in the middle of Mexico City, dog fights are the big thing and the winning man is Jacorch (Gustavo Sanchez Parra) and his champion dog Pancho. One day when Pancho wants to fight other dogs, they come across Ramiro's Doberman named Cofi. To the surprise of Jacorch and Octavio's friend Jorge (Humberto Busto), Cofi defeated the undefeated Pancho as Jacorcho is angry at Octavio and wants his money. Learning of Cofi's talents in dog fights, Octavio decided to use Cofi to make money for him and Susana to escape the clutches of Ramiro, especially that she's pregnant with another child. Making deals with the dog fight's organizer Mauricio (Gerardo Campbell), Octavio and Jorge reaches a deal that for 15 fights, often with whatever dog Jacorch has, gave them some success.

With Ramiro learning of what Octavio is doing in the dog fights, it hurts him more since his job working at a supermarket while doing bank robbing jobs and cheating on Susana has made him more troublesome. With Susana finally giving in to Octavio's love, it seems that things will go great. With Octavio offered one more fight against Jacorch, he decides to make it the final fight for Cofi against a Class A dog that Jacorch has purchased. On the day of the fight, Octavio's optimism is shattered with some new setbacks and the fight Cofi has doesn't go well as he planned where Octavio reaches into some trouble with Jacorch and his friends.

On that same day, Octavio and Jorge were to fight. Jorge was watching a TV show where model Valeria (Goya Toledo) was attending. She presented her new boyfriend in an actor named Andres Salgado (Ricardo Dalmacci) when in reality, he was posing as her boyfriend. The truth is that she's having an affair with a married man named Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero). For some time, Daniel has been obsessed with the model while trying to hide his obsession with his wife Julieta (Laura Almela) and two daughters. Now that he's separated from her, Daniel hopes to make a new life with Valeria and her dog Richie until tragedy strikes. Valeria was involved in a horrific car accident as her right leg was severely damaged while she was nearly paralyzed. Living alone in her new apartment with Richie, Valeria tries to make the best of it despite having her modeling contract be expired. While playing with Richie, the dog suddenly falls into a hole in the floor and is lost under the apartment. Things couldn't be worse for Daniel as Valeria's obsession with retrieving her dog has definitely affected the relationship.

With her leg starting to be more damaged, Daniel starts to cling himself more towards the family he's left while his relationship with Valeria begins to fall apart. Her depression and yearning to find Richie has affected everything that goes on as Daniel feels he left his wife and family for nothing. Then one night after returning home from work, Valeria has fallen on the floor where her health is in danger as Daniel makes a final attempt to find Richie under his apartment floor that is also filled with rats.

On the day Valeria would have her car crash and Octavio would be in trouble with Jacorch, an aging, homeless hitman named El Chivo (Emilio Echevarria) is walking around surrounded by dogs. Days before, he is sent on a mission where his target is a businessman which he successfully kills where around the same time, he learns that the wife he hadn't seen for some 20 years has died while his daughter Maru (Lourdes Echevarria) is unaware that her father is alive. His 20-year hiatus was largely due to be jailed for being part of a guerilla and since his release, he's been homeless and living with dogs only to get funds from a dirty cop named Leonardo (Jose Sefami) who has been giving him jobs to kill people. For his next job, Leonardo is accompanied by a businessman named Gustavo (Rodrigo Murray) who asks him to kill his business partner claiming he’s being cheated out of some money.

El Chivo decides to do the job where on the day of the crash, he finds a wounded dog that turned out to be Cofi. Healing the dog from his wounds, Chivo takes care of him while watching over Gustavo's business partner Luis (Jorge Salinas). Haunted by the way he left his family and everything else, Chivo's life gets worse when most of dogs were suddenly killed with Cofi being the only one alive. On the day he was to target Luis, he makes a decision that would change his life while dealing with the loneliness that he's been suffering while the characters of Octavio and Valeria would also go into some life-changing decisions.

While some of the storylines and interconnecting plot devices might be similar to the elements of Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 classic film Pulp Fiction. What Amores Perros has that Tarantino's film doesn't have is a raw outlook of life in Mexico City and the way it deals with loss, regret, and the realities of life. While taking some of not just Tarantino's multi-layered plot devices as well as the psychological, dramatic observation of the Trois Couleurs trilogy of the Polish director Krzystzof Kieslowski. The film has three different stories about love in all types of form and how the characters deal with that kind of love. Aside from the themes that connect the three stories, they're also connected by their relationship with dogs as well as the car crash that brings all three stories together. The result is a very multi-layered yet intense drama about the human heart and how they deal with the baggage that love brings.

Many of the film's themes and storylines come from the mind of writer Guillermo Arriaga who is indeed, one of Mexico's great screenwriters. The way Arriaga brings the different stories together where in some parts of the story, the character of El Chivo is in the background while a moment where someone like Jorge is watching Valeria on TV. The approach of Arriaga's writing and characters is psychological since he uses a place like Mexico City as an environment where the class standings are erased to the situation the characters are dealing with. The result is a very tight, observing script from the great Arriaga.

Helping Arriaga in telling the story is Inarritu whose entrancing yet gritty approach to directing brings an energy and style that isn't seen in films these days. Inarritu's approach to connecting stories in a scene are wonderfully set up with some parts in the background and then, being seen again from different perspectives. Plus, the film moves in a mostly linear way where in one segment, he reveals a bit of other segments to come. Even to the point where the film has to be seen again to see where the other characters where at the time of a certain incident and such. He also allows a full development of characters to see how they deal with things in a realistic, natural way while making the dogs into being great characters of their own in whatever situations they're in. Overall, the film is directed with such tightness and virility from the very talented Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Helping Inarritu with his presentation is cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. Prieto's grainy yet colorful photography reveals the contrasting look of the stories from the flashy, blueish look in the Octavio/Susana sequences to more cleaner, polished looks in the Daniel/Valeria sequence back to a mix of grain and observant feel in the El Chivo segment. Prieto shines with his range of color into his cinematography to show the atmosphere of what goes on in each segment. Production designer Brigitte Broch and art director Melo Hinojosa also play to the contrasting look of the film's atmosphere where it's all shot entirely in Mexico City from the working-class look of Octavio, the posh look of Valeria, and the poor look of El Chivo that features an authenticity to the film's look. Costume designer Gabriela Diaque also plays to the film's look from the hip-hop like clothing of Octavio and Jorge, the posh clothes of Daniel and Valeria, to the haggard look of El Chivo.

Editors Luis Carballar, Fernando Perez Unda, and Inarritu, along with additional editing from fellow Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, do amazing work on the editing in bringing an intensity to some of the film's more energetic sequences. The editing also work for the way it connects stories and everything else on how some characters are played in the background in a segment while they're seen again from their perspective. The editing overall is fluid and solid in the film's 153-minute running time. Sound designer Martin Hernandez also does great work in the film's sound to convey the atmosphere of each segment and everything else in how it connects the stories. Score composer Gustavo Santaolalla brings a haunting, atmospheric tone to the score with melodic guitar tracks and traditional Mexican music that brings an authenticity and mood to the film with additional contribution from Daniel Hidalgo. The soundtrack is filled a lot of rock, hip-hip, and traditional Mexican folk music that conveys the mood of Mexico.

The film's cast that includes some wonderful, small performances from Rosa Maria Bianchi as Maru’s Aunt Luisa, Dunia Saldivar as Susana's alcoholic mother, Adriana Barraza as Octavio's mother, Laura Amela, Gerardo Campbell, Ricardo Dalmacci, and Lourdes Echevarria. Other noted minor roles from Rodrigo Murray, Jorge Salinas, Jose Sefami, Ricardo Dalmacci, and Humberto Busto also make great impression. Other minor parts like Marco Perez as Ramiro makes a great impression while making a bigger impression is Gustavo Sanchez Parra as Jacorch with his menacing look and teeth where he gives a very intimidating performance. Vanessa Bauche is wonderful as the conflicted Susana who doesn't fully understand Octavio's motives while still in love with her irresponsible husband Ramiro. Alvaro Guerrero is excellent as the loving but frustrated Daniel who thought he had it all until tragedy strikes when he has to come to terms with what he's left behind and what he’s dealing with. Goya Toledo is great as the superficial Valeria whose character goes through a major change with the damage of her leg as she is forced to deal with loss that is unimaginable to her as she gives an amazing performance.

In what is really a breakthrough role, Gael Garcia Bernal is brilliant as Octavio. Bernal brings a youthful exuberance and naivete to his role as a young man who seems to understand enough about love but not enough of Susana’s conflict. Bernal really shows his range into gritty characters and revealing the youthfulness of those roles as he would eventually become one of the best actors of his generation. The film's best and most haunting performance goes to Emilio Echevarria as El Chivo. With a very haggard look, Echevarria really personifies as a man filled with loss and regret as he doesn't have much going for him. Echevarria is really the conscious of sorts in the film as he watches everything around him while being surrounded by dogs and the way he deals with his main target in his segment is astounding. Notably his final moments is really shocking in how Echevarria reveals his emotions, especially in his restraint that's been held together throughout the entire film.

When Amores Perros was released in 2000, the film was a smash not just in Mexico but helped started a new wave that would be followed a year later by fellow Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron with his film Y Tu Mama Tambien. Amores Perros would go on to win several awards in Mexico as well as some prestigious international prizes at the Cannes Film Festival while getting nominations at the Oscars and Golden Globes for Best Foreign Film while winning the British Academy Award in the same category. The film's success helped the team of Inarritu and Arriaga along with their collaborators Rodrigo Prieto, Gustavo Santaolalla, Brigitte Broch, and Martin Hernandez work on 2003's 21 Grams starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, and Benicio del Toro to huge success.

Amores Perros is a truly brilliant, intense, and engaging masterpiece from director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. Thanks to an all-star cast led by Gael Garcia Bernal and Emilio Echevarria, it's a film that is worth watching a second time around while getting to know the real grittiness of Mexico. Audiences new to the emergence of Latin America cinema will no doubt find this film to be among as one of the essentials. So in the end, for a film that is intense in its action and brings some questions on life, Amores Perros is the film to see.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Reviews:

21 Grams (2003):

(Coming Soon)

Babel (2006):

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