Amores Perros - A

On DVD (Released 2000). Rated R, 155 minutes.

Mexico is a tough place. In Amores Perros (Love's a B*tch), Director Alejandro González Iñárritu made his mark as its most compelling and complex storyteller. This film shares its structure and oh so bleak worldview with 21 Grams and Babel, and together the 3 films are considered a trilogy. All three are directed by Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga (the two have had a falling out over credit for the success of the pictures, especially Babel).

The first of the 3 intersecting storylines tells the tale of Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his pursuit of his sister-in-law, Susana. Her husband and his brother, Ramiro, works as a checker in a supermarket and as a burglar on the side. Octavio lusts and loves Susana, which creates violent conflict between the brothers and scolding from their mother (Babel's Adriana Barraza). The characters and the story are infused with the seething machismo culture that is rampant in much of Mexico, and is played out violently as Octavio uses his other love, his dog, to earn money in violent and bloody dogfights. Octavio sells out his brother, his dog, and ultimately his soul all for the love of Susana. This story is the strongest of the 3, and captures several gritty details and side stories in mesmerizing fashion.

The second story is the weakest. A successful businessman is cheating on his wife and 2 teenage daughters for the 'it' girl in Mexico, a sought after model. After finally separating from his wife and getting an apartment with his girlfriend, she is injured on their first day together in a horrific car crash (the moment of synergy for the film, as the central characters are all impacted thereby) that ultimately renders her once beautiful legs amputated. Loss, vanity, fidelity, love, and ego are all dealt with well.

The third story is the most bizarre, but most emotionally effective. El Chivo (Emilio Echeverria) portrays a strange and unkempt man that was imprisoned for 20 years for his role as a Mexican guerrilla. Before going to prison, he and his wife agreed that they would tell their then 2 year old daughter that he had died. Of course, when he gets out, she is all he can think about. He earns money as a hit man and passes the time staking out his daughter and taking care of a pack of dogs.

There is enough in this movie for a 10,000 word post, but suffice it to say it deserved the Oscar it won for Best Foreign Film in 2000.