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"Amores Perros - first cinematic classic of the 21st century"

I've watched two films in the past two days: "Sexy Beast" and "Amores Perros". Now don't get me wrong, "Sexy Beast" is a very very good film, just ask Goatboy, but "Amores Perros" made it look like something a ten year old child had made, albeit a foul-mouthed psychotic ten year old.

Imagine "Resevoir Dogs", add the interweaving stories of "Pulp Fiction", and then set the film in Mexico: that's the bare bones of "Amores Perros"... oh and I nearly forgot, times the idea by about 1000; it's that good.

"Amores Perros" literally means "love's a b***h" but my sketchy knowledge of Spanish tells me that Perros also means 'dogs', and they are a central motif in the film. Indeed if you go and check out the BBFC website, they're the guys who rate the films we watch and a good source of release dates; they were very concerned about the film because the dog fighting scenes it contains are very graphic. Yeah, dog fighting, if you're thinking "Snatch" think again, "Amores Perros" has more style than "Snatch". Every single detail has been lovingly crafted and honed to the point where there is absolutely nothing to criticise about the film. So all that's left is to praise, and praise effusively I shall...

The film might be in Spanish but it's not too impregnable, in fact I barely noticed that I was reading the subtitles after a while. They seem well-translated but that's my GCSE Spanish, most of which had been forgotten, telling me. But you really don't need any Spanish because it's a film that works on higher levels than mere language. The film starts with a central event; a car chase followed by a car crash, and then proceeds to follow the lives of three people involved, in three seperate stories. This is no "Run Lola Run", or "Go" with poorly developed characters as it hurtles through it's 80 minutes... AP clocks in at over two and a half hours. This is a very bad thing because you never really want it to end. The stories are beautifully illustrated, having been based on a book by a top Mexican author, and there is not one single point at which you want the pace to pick up; if the film ever shows a flicker of lagging then something happens that sparks new interest. All of it is wonderfully shot in an unobtrusive but flair-filled style and there are some superb performances. What really sets the film apart from virtually any other film I have ever seen is its sheer depth. If you thought Magnolia was complex then you ain't seen nothing yet. However, Magnolia was inaccessibly complex to some, AP isn't inaccessible, if you want to watch it on one level then it's still a brilliant film, but the more you think about, the more rewarding becomes. There are a mind-numbing number of things that you can find lurking beneath the plot, believe me I'm still finding new ones..

The first story deals with Octavio and Susana; Octavio is in his twenties and lives with his mum, brother and his brother's wife whom he is desperately, madly, but hopelessly in love with. He doesn't seem to be getting anywhere when his luck changes. Now I don't want to give the plot away so I'll simplify. He finds out that his dog is a lethal fighting machine and so starts it in the dog fighting circuit and makes a killing (what a pun), events progress and culminate in a car crash. In the other car is Valeria, a beautiful model and the second story concerns her. The car crash leaves her in a wheelchair with severe damage to her leg and everyday she is forced to look out of the window of her new appartment and see her latest advertisment, in which she is showing off her stunning legs. The appartment is a present from her boyfriend, who has just divorced his wife to be with her. The story charts the disintegration of their relationship as they both ty and come to terms with the accident. It's in this story that you start to notice links. At the same time there is a graphic juxtaposition of the impoverished slum of Octavio and the high-class appartment of Valeria. All the time you spot ways in which this story is linked to the previous one; there's the common theme of love, relationships between people and most importantly, dogs. Valeria owns a little dog called Ritchie, far removed from the brutalness of Cofi, the lethal killing machine from the last story. Well, Ritchie ends up lost beneath the floorboards of the appartment. Again this is not just part of the plot but also carries a deeper symbolism. The symbolism doesn't become clear until the final story, which links all three even more tightly...

The final story follows El Chivo, an assassin, who's plot has been bubbling under the other two stories. He is an old, bearded man who looks like a tramp and to all intents and purposes is a tramp. He looks after dogs he finds on the street, and in his spare time kills people. He's a lonesome old chap though because he left behind his daugther to become a guerilla and now desperately wants to reconcile with her, having told his wife to tell her he was dead. The story of El chivo is the linking story that realises all of the links you have seen earlier and brings the film to conclusion. He also sums up one of the messages of the film, owners are like their dogs and how true this is...

Octavio's dog Cofi can be violent, but only when circumstances dictate. Similarly Octavio is agressive at times but in a controlled way but they are most similar in their raw energy, Cofi's being violent and Octavio's sexual. However, ultimately Cofi is to lose and so too Octavio. More interesting is the relationship between Valeria and her dog Ritchie; this one's rife with symbolism. Ritchie becomes lost in the tunnels beneath the floor boards. Equally Valeria is lost in her own tunnel, albeit a psychological one. She is obsessed with skin-deep beauty, however evanescent that may be, and this seems to be the root of her relationship problems, the fact that she is lost. Finally El chivo has many dogs which he takes into his care and feeds and looks after. One of these is to be Cofi who he finds after the car crash, which he witnesses. Cofi ends up killing all of his other dogs and at this point El Chivo realises that he is just the same, killing pointlessly. So he stops and tries to set things right.

You might also notice the time frame of the stories. The film begins in the present with a car crash then tracks back to follow Octavio in the events that lead up to the crash. The story of Valeria is set in the present as we see her immediately before and after the crash. El Chivo's story takes place in the future, after the crash. Similarly, Octavio is locked into the past and cannot let things go. We are left knowing that he will always love Susana. Valeria lives for the present, from day to day, and we see how her relationship implodes day by day. El Chivo is the source of positivity in the film; as he walks off into the sunset many of the stories are left open-ended but you get a feeling that some hope has been generated.

"Amores Perros" is a dazzingly good film and the Spanish isn't really a barrier at all. It is shot exactly as you would expect an American film to be shot; ie it's not obscure continential lens tints and weirdness. But it's shot stylishly too, I can't remember any particular camera tricks but I think that was because they were in the background aiding the narrative, which is how the camera should be used. (insert random attack on Traffic's pointless obtrusive camera tricks) All in all I would say this is one of the most stunning films I have ever seen. It combines violence, beauty and compassion in a realistic way, which is where it beats Tarantino in my opinion. For all his snappy dialogue, Tarantino has never managed to make a film like this; sure his films are good, but have you ever seen a love story bubbling underneath, no just violence. In fact, "Amores Perros" could be a Tarantino film, the start with a bleeding dog being transported in a car is particularly reminiscent of "Resevoir Dogs", but there is some unseen quantity that lurks beneath "Amores Perros" making it that little bit better than most films. This is a must for any cinema fan with even a modicum of taste; think I'll stick it in the thoufht provoking/life changingly good genre of cinema.

It's out on DVD!!!

That's how I watched it!

Take a visit to an alternative purveyor of DVDs that rhymes with slack bar

I tried to get to see this, but the local giga-plexes round my way didn't put it on.
Yet I could go watch Arnold Schwarzenegger 15.

*sigh*

At least it's coming out on DVD next month.
Amores Perres - must see and I can't just yet.

Gah

I've watched two films in the past two days: "Sexy Beast" and "Amores Perros". Now don't get me wrong, "Sexy Beast" is a very very good film, just ask Goatboy, but "Amores Perros" made it look like something a ten year old child had made, albeit a foul-mouthed psychotic ten year old.

Imagine "Resevoir Dogs", add the interweaving stories of "Pulp Fiction", and then set the film in Mexico: that's the bare bones of "Amores Perros"... oh and I nearly forgot, times the idea by about 1000; it's that good.

"Amores Perros" literally means "love's a b***h" but my sketchy knowledge of Spanish tells me that Perros also means 'dogs', and they are a central motif in the film. Indeed if you go and check out the BBFC website, they're the guys who rate the films we watch and a good source of release dates; they were very concerned about the film because the dog fighting scenes it contains are very graphic. Yeah, dog fighting, if you're thinking "Snatch" think again, "Amores Perros" has more style than "Snatch". Every single detail has been lovingly crafted and honed to the point where there is absolutely nothing to criticise about the film. So all that's left is to praise, and praise effusively I shall...

The film might be in Spanish but it's not too impregnable, in fact I barely noticed that I was reading the subtitles after a while. They seem well-translated but that's my GCSE Spanish, most of which had been forgotten, telling me. But you really don't need any Spanish because it's a film that works on higher levels than mere language. The film starts with a central event; a car chase followed by a car crash, and then proceeds to follow the lives of three people involved, in three seperate stories. This is no "Run Lola Run", or "Go" with poorly developed characters as it hurtles through it's 80 minutes... AP clocks in at over two and a half hours. This is a very bad thing because you never really want it to end. The stories are beautifully illustrated, having been based on a book by a top Mexican author, and there is not one single point at which you want the pace to pick up; if the film ever shows a flicker of lagging then something happens that sparks new interest. All of it is wonderfully shot in an unobtrusive but flair-filled style and there are some superb performances. What really sets the film apart from virtually any other film I have ever seen is its sheer depth. If you thought Magnolia was complex then you ain't seen nothing yet. However, Magnolia was inaccessibly complex to some, AP isn't inaccessible, if you want to watch it on one level then it's still a brilliant film, but the more you think about, the more rewarding becomes. There are a mind-numbing number of things that you can find lurking beneath the plot, believe me I'm still finding new ones..

The first story deals with Octavio and Susana; Octavio is in his twenties and lives with his mum, brother and his brother's wife whom he is desperately, madly, but hopelessly in love with. He doesn't seem to be getting anywhere when his luck changes. Now I don't want to give the plot away so I'll simplify. He finds out that his dog is a lethal fighting machine and so starts it in the dog fighting circuit and makes a killing (what a pun), events progress and culminate in a car crash. In the other car is Valeria, a beautiful model and the second story concerns her. The car crash leaves her in a wheelchair with severe damage to her leg and everyday she is forced to look out of the window of her new appartment and see her latest advertisment, in which she is showing off her stunning legs. The appartment is a present from her boyfriend, who has just divorced his wife to be with her. The story charts the disintegration of their relationship as they both ty and come to terms with the accident. It's in this story that you start to notice links. At the same time there is a graphic juxtaposition of the impoverished slum of Octavio and the high-class appartment of Valeria. All the time you spot ways in which this story is linked to the previous one; there's the common theme of love, relationships between people and most importantly, dogs. Valeria owns a little dog called Ritchie, far removed from the brutalness of Cofi, the lethal killing machine from the last story. Well, Ritchie ends up lost beneath the floorboards of the appartment. Again this is not just part of the plot but also carries a deeper symbolism. The symbolism doesn't become clear until the final story, which links all three even more tightly...

The final story follows El Chivo, an assassin, who's plot has been bubbling under the other two stories. He is an old, bearded man who looks like a tramp and to all intents and purposes is a tramp. He looks after dogs he finds on the street, and in his spare time kills people. He's a lonesome old chap though because he left behind his daugther to become a guerilla and now desperately wants to reconcile with her, having told his wife to tell her he was dead. The story of El chivo is the linking story that realises all of the links you have seen earlier and brings the film to conclusion. He also sums up one of the messages of the film, owners are like their dogs and how true this is...

Octavio's dog Cofi can be violent, but only when circumstances dictate. Similarly Octavio is agressive at times but in a controlled way but they are most similar in their raw energy, Cofi's being violent and Octavio's sexual. However, ultimately Cofi is to lose and so too Octavio. More interesting is the relationship between Valeria and her dog Ritchie; this one's rife with symbolism. Ritchie becomes lost in the tunnels beneath the floor boards. Equally Valeria is lost in her own tunnel, albeit a psychological one. She is obsessed with skin-deep beauty, however evanescent that may be, and this seems to be the root of her relationship problems, the fact that she is lost. Finally El chivo has many dogs which he takes into his care and feeds and looks after. One of these is to be Cofi who he finds after the car crash, which he witnesses. Cofi ends up killing all of his other dogs and at this point El Chivo realises that he is just the same, killing pointlessly. So he stops and tries to set things right.

You might also notice the time frame of the stories. The film begins in the present with a car crash then tracks back to follow Octavio in the events that lead up to the crash. The story of Valeria is set in the present as we see her immediately before and after the crash. El Chivo's story takes place in the future, after the crash. Similarly, Octavio is locked into the past and cannot let things go. We are left knowing that he will always love Susana. Valeria lives for the present, from day to day, and we see how her relationship implodes day by day. El Chivo is the source of positivity in the film; as he walks off into the sunset many of the stories are left open-ended but you get a feeling that some hope has been generated.

"Amores Perros" is a dazzingly good film and the Spanish isn't really a barrier at all. It is shot exactly as you would expect an American film to be shot; ie it's not obscure continential lens tints and weirdness. But it's shot stylishly too, I can't remember any particular camera tricks but I think that was because they were in the background aiding the narrative, which is how the camera should be used. (insert random attack on Traffic's pointless obtrusive camera tricks) All in all I would say this is one of the most stunning films I have ever seen. It combines violence, beauty and compassion in a realistic way, which is where it beats Tarantino in my opinion. For all his snappy dialogue, Tarantino has never managed to make a film like this; sure his films are good, but have you ever seen a love story bubbling underneath, no just violence. In fact, "Amores Perros" could be a Tarantino film, the start with a bleeding dog being transported in a car is particularly reminiscent of "Resevoir Dogs", but there is some unseen quantity that lurks beneath "Amores Perros" making it that little bit better than most films. This is a must for any cinema fan with even a modicum of taste; think I'll stick it in the thoufht provoking/life changingly good genre of cinema.