Amorres Perros and the Mexican secular world...

Amorres Perros combines three loosely tied story lines that eventually all come together. First we have a restless youth struggling to make it with his poor family, secondly we have a rich executive leading a double life with a model, and finally we have a transient/ex-guerilla who is followed by a pack of dogs. The thing that I enjoyed about this film is that it hits at the heart of Mexico – or at least when I was there – and the true culture that exists around the area. It’s great to see a director avoiding any romantic biases and letting a film flow from his hands like Amorres Perros.

This movie is not a feel-good hug your neighbor type movie. It questions the integrity of what a person shows to the world and what truly makes him tick. Every character has an ulterior motive for acting the way that they do (Spoiler Alert – The youth wants to take his brother’s wife, the transient has revolted from the institution of a university, and the actress plays the fantasy relationship on television only to be with a regular guy on the side). All these roles are entangled with some sort of relationship with dogs. Without going too in depth with the animal bond addressed in the film all three characters have projected images of themselves in the dogs – i.e. the youth uses the dog to get money to further his cause, the transient hordes and roams around with his pets, and the actress has a pampered long-haired terrier.

Amorres Perros is a great film that has minimal flaws. It is well acted and well developed from beginning to end. Throughout the journey of the three plots the viewer is forced to witness disturbing situation and witness the humanity that exist in every person as cruel as it may be. The range goes from poor to wealthy and this film does an excellent job painting the spectrum full with color.