Amores Perros (2000)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

Alejandro González Iñárritu was born in Mexico City in 1965. He is now considered as a remarkable director that delivers passionate cinema, impressive productions and extremely enlightening stories. He focuses on deafening dialogues, overwhelming atmospheres and onslaught violence. Iñárritu possesses a unique seal that delivers the mastery of the brightest and darkest colors of life.

Before becoming involved with cinema, he made the experience of crossing the Atlantic Ocean, when he worked on a cargo ship from 17 to 19 years of age. His trips through the vast and beautiful ocean landscapes allowed him to explore the European and African continents. His work as a filmmaker has been influenced by the experiences he had at the time of traveling through different places around the globe. Also, the films he has made are located in the sites he visited during his nomadic time.

He returned to Mexico City after a long period on the sea, with the purpose of entering the Universidad Iberoamericana. In 1984 he began working as an announcer at the WFM rock station, with a radio program that lasted more than three hours. He set aside his career to devote himself fully to the practice. By 1988, he had managed to become the director of
that radio station, and for five years he was in charge of investigating different musical genres, interviewing important rock personalities like David Gilmour, Robert Plant, Elton John, Bob Geldof and Carlos Santana. Gradually, he made the station grow, making it the number one station in Mexico City for five consecutive years.

After his long journey in radio communication, he retired from the position to dedicate himself to directing some commercial announcements that would start his life as a director. In 1999 he received the opportunity to direct his first and most acclaimed film, entitled Amores Perros, and written by Guillermo Arriaga. This film would form the first part of Iñárritu’s Trilogy of Death.

Amores Perros received mixed reviews upon its release, but it gradually became a national treasure for Mexico City, and a hugely important achievement for international cinema. The film has an extremely cruel, brutal and raw atmosphere, which is highly realistic. It transports the viewer immediately into the underground vessels of Mexico City.

The film exceeds all the highest levels of cinematographic demand or expectations that we can impose on a film. It contains the necessary elements to be more than a great movie: a wonderful script and outstanding performances that are built inside an amazing montage of three stunning stories, that are intertwined by a car accident.

In the first story, we meet the young Octavio (Gael García Bernal). He has the goal to save enough money through illegal, clandestine dog fights, in order to escape his terrible reality and finally live with Susana (Vanessa Bauche), who is the wife of his older brother. Octavio has fallen in love with her.

In the second story, we get to know Daniel (Álvaro Guerrero), an important businessman that dramatically abandons his family to live with Valeria (Goya Toledo), a successful but shallow model. Progressively, Valeria despairs because a serious wound in her leg prevents her from keeping her dog and resume her career as a model.

In the last story, we follow “El Chivo” (Emilio Echevarría). After leaving his family to become a guerrilla, and after serving a sentence in jail, El Chivo returns to Mexico City in search for his daughter Maru (Lourdes Echevarría). El Chivo has now become a hitman, and he has the purpose of saving money for Maru (she just lost her mother). The three stories are intertwined not only by the car accident, but also by the dogs of the protagonists: “Cofi”, “Richie” and “Negro”. They stick to their owners in good times and in bad times.

The most iconic and distinctive symbol of the movie are the dogs. Although the characters have little trust between each other, they all have a deep connection with their pets. Their dogs embody the loyalty that the protagonists should have for their family, or that their family should have for them. Dogs, unlike humans, tend to follow the person who abuses or abandons them. This contrast is well marked throughout the film, because although dogs are victims of humans, they never act aggressively against their owners.

The film also fully recreates the different social classes and their relationships in the city. The costumes indicate the socio-economic situation of the protagonists, as do the locations. El Chivo lives in a poor, old, insecure and dirty neighborhood. Octavio lives in a small, familiar and messy house. Valeria, on the other hand, lives in a luxurious and newly built apartment. The three characters belong to different social classes, and it is not surprising that they do not know each other. They don’t look the same, they don’t have similar jobs and they live in different places. The protagonists do not relate other than through the car accident. The film expresses the social situation in Mexico City in this way; where social classes, although separated, are only connected through the street.

The camera image is unstable and full of gray tones. It exaggerates the violent content and shows open wounds, dead bodies of dogs and outdoor killings. The edition is fragmented, so the narrative does not have a chronological order. The mood embodies the violence and corruption in Mexico City, not only by showing situations of aggression, but also by reflecting this violence in the resources of the image.

The music also plays a very important role in the film. Iñárritu has expressed on several occasions that music has had more influence on him as an artist than films. The soundtrack is packed with several musical genres: rap, cumbia, hip-hop, rock and salsa. The lyrics of the songs manage to represent the feelings and situations experienced by the protagonists. For example, in the song “Lucha de Gigantes” by Nacha Pop, the title makes a reference to violence. It also shows the greatness and power of the city in relation to its citizens. The song “De Perros Amores” also expresses the situation that the protagonists are going through, referring that they seem to be in a constant dream state, in order to avoid the harsh reality of their lives.

Amores Perros represents the murky history of human beings that have lost their paradise, everything they knew and dreamt of has suddenly vanished. However, behind that resignation their memories and their experiences are still alive. The most instinctive, emotional and affective emotions can be perceived in the look of their dogs, which have the ability to turn their dead souls into something pure, incorrupt and innocent.

As Iñárritu pointed out: “Because we also are what we have lost”.

by Octavio Carbajal González