Amores Perros

Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)

A Mexican film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu released in the United Kingdom in May 2001, and in most other countries during the 6 months prior to this. The film was nominated for some oscars, and won best film at 'Cannes International Film Festival Critic's Week'.

The film follows three different stories one after another, all linked vaguely. All three explore love in different ways, and all three feature dogs in different ways. The first story is based around a guy who loves his brothers girlfriend, and makes money from fighting their dog. The second is of a model who ends up with her leg amputated and is obsessively fond of her little dog, which gets stuck under the floor boards. Lastly is an old bloke, who during his life has been a married man-turned guerrilla-turned living rough hit man with lots of dog 'friends'.

The only event that links the stories is a car crash, which the film begins with. The three parts are relatively very chronologically separated, even with title screens for each. However there are a few scenes throughout that are 'in the wrong place'. Very Clever!.

Oscar nominated Amores Perros should have won best foreign film, a scorching study of human emotions, you're unlikely to see anything as intensely powerful this year---Hot Dog

Brilliantly directed, written, photographed and acted, this is first-rate film making. Trust us, you need to see this.---Empire (*****)

I think Amores Perros is a great film, probably containing something for (nearly) everyone, great unless you really don't like dog violence. And a clever pun-title too!

To make God laugh, tell Him your plans.

Do you think you'd enjoy watching dogs kill each other on film? Do you enjoy watching human beings kill each other on film? If you answered honestly, you probably said "no" and "yes". Assuming this is so, what do think the reason for this discrepancy would be? You know the deal with the humans is just make-believe and you think the deal with the dogs might just be real? Then let's turn it around. Suppose that you knew the deal with the dogs was make believe and the deal with the humans just might be real. Now, do you think you'd enjoy watching dogs kill each other on film? How about the humans? Answer honestly.

The best translation for this movie title, it has been decided by the cognoscenti, is "Love's a Bitch". However, it could also be just "Dogs Love". It's a hard movie to watch because the color is cheap like a Maaco repainted 10 year-old metallic blue Firebird or a bad video from the Fillmore East circa 1972 shot by an indulger. And it's long. Some critics have said that it's too long. I disagree. It seems to me that two and a half hours was just long enough to tell the three tales it tells.

The writer is Guillermo Arriaga. The moviemaker is Alejandro González Iñárritu and it was first released in 2001. It's Iñárritu's first film. It's shot in Mexico City and you can smell and taste the inner city squalor and claustrophobic tightness.

The symbolism is blatant and cheap, but it matches the colors in the film. My favorite cheap symbol is how the mindless renegade lovable killer dog reminds the homeless man how valuable life is, whether you're talking about dogs or people.

I think back to the best con job I've ever seen by one of those bearded sign-toting alcoholics at an intersection. He had his requisite duffle bag and his badly lettered "Will work for food" cardboard advertisement. But he had one killer addition. He had a medium size dog on a leash, and he was constantly paying attention to the dog, making sure it was comfortable and had water to drink. As the director of this film says, if we see a homeless man and a dog and our first thought is for the dog, what does this tell us about ourselves?

This was recognized as the best feature film at the October 2000 Chicago International Film Festival. It was also a prizewinner at Cannes. My guess is that this first film by Iñárritu will not be his best one, but it is the best movie I've seen in quite a while.