Amores Perros (2000)

English translation: Love is a Bitch

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Story: Guillermo Arriaga

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Bauche, Álvaro Guerrero, Goya Toledo, Emilio Echevarría

Music: Gustavo Santaolalla

Time: 154 minutes

Bottom-line: Interesting storyline and themes; a powerful debut film

Iñárritu’s first film kicks off his career with dogfights, gunfights, hitmen, models and robberies, in this drama filled with violence: Amores Perros. The film is considered to be an “anthology” film, meaning it interlinks several (in this case, three) unrelated storylines with one single incident. Just to be clear, films like 21 Grams, Chennaiyil Oru Naal are said to have a “hyperlink narrative”, where all the different tracks coalesce into one; films like Neram and Pulp Fiction connect different storylines with different incidents, but not necessarily all. Amores Perros and Soderbergh’s Traffic have unrelated tracks, connected by a single incident or theme (the theme being drugs/drug usage in Traffic).

 

Bauche as Susana and Bernal as Octavio 

The first track is about Octavio (Bernal), his brother Ramiro, and his sister-in-law, Susana (Bauche). Octavio uses his Rottweiler, Cofi, to win (illegal) dog fights, and collects the money, hoping to escape with Susana when he notices his brother abusing her. Ramiro, apart from working in a shop, also commits heists. The second track talks about a Spanish model, Valeria (Toledo), and successful magazine publisher, Daniel (Guerrero), who leaves his family to live with her. The third track is the story of a vagrant/hitman El Chivo (Echevarría), who is hired by a client to kill his half-brother. All three storylines have one common point: a car accident between Octavio’s car and Valeria’s, that gravely injures the former, and almost permanently damages the leg of the latter.

 

Toledo as Valeria and Guerrero as Daniel 

Apart from the main storylines, the underlying themes are of more interest here. The use of dogs in all three tracks symbolises loyalty (and probably is the reason for the title too!); Octavio’s track features infidelity, as does the second, and the last one talks about trust issues between father and daughter, but the common thing being the dogs are always loyal to their owner, very much unlike humans. Another theme is related to the different classes of people in Mexico: the elite class (Valeria), the working class (Ramiro and Octavio) and the lower class (Chivo), and of course, the underworld. All of whom would have never met if not for the accident. Each of their lifestyles are also explored in a little detail, giving rise to many contrasting aspects.

 

Echevarría as El Chivo 

Iñárritu leaves a lot of things to interpretation; none of the fates of the characters are shown: be it the future between Susana and Octavio, the fate of the two brothers in the third track, or the fate of the relationship between Valeria and Daniel. There is a lot of graphic violence, particularly in the dog fights. The actors have all done well, especially Bernal and Toledo; Octavio’s encounters with his rival in dogfighting, and with his brother are the scenes where Bernal does his best. Echevarría plays the creepy character; he pops up now and then from the start, but the truth behind him is known only in the last half hour; the way his character transforms towards the very end makes you realise how skilled Echevarría is to play both roles equally well.

Amores Perros brings out themes that recur in the later Iñárritu films, but this film also talks a lot about the Mexican lifestyle. The stories are aptly chosen, and the car accident provides the best connection point. The film might drag a lot at times, and you may not like the open-ended climaxes, but overall, the presentation is superb. This film provided a highly successful start to Iñárritu’s film career, earning an Academy Award nomination for the Best Foreign film, and winning the BAFTA award for the same.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%