Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro González Iñárritu)
As with many other movies in the last ten years or so, Amores Perros is told in a non-linear fashion, with multiple intertwining story lines. Three stories are told in all, and they are connected through a horrific car crash. The movie is set in Mexico City.
Octavio (Gael García Bernal) is trying to make enough money to run away with his brother’s wife, and enters his dog into various dogfights to do so, with dire consequences. Daniel (Álvaro Guerrero) and Valeria (Goya Toledo) get involved in the aforementioned car crash and their lives are shattered. And El Chivo (Emilio Echevarría) is a homeless man with a past, who witnesses the crash.
Now, these types of movies are hit and miss with me, and this was more miss than hit. I did enjoy the gritty style of it, and it’s a very intense movie. The bustle of Mexico City lends itself well to this type of filmmaking.
My problem was that there is hardly any likeable characters here, with the possible exception of El Chivo, who has his moments. The characters are all well-developed, but they are so despicable, it’s hard to find anyone to root for. Maybe that’s the point, but it’s not for me. The acting is solid though.
Speaking of El Chivo, I really wanted to see more of his story. It felt a little sloppy at times, and I was never quite happy with the resolution (or lack thereof). Also, I was not a fan of all the dogfighting. I’ve never been squeamish, but entering these dogs into fights to the death just for the sport of it is, to me, a horrific thing to do.
The theme of love runs throughout, and I did enjoy some the way the harshness of it is portrayed, but overall, this movie left me pretty cold.
As a final note, I usually can not stand the contrived ways filmmakers come up with to connect stories in these types of movies, but it didn’t bother me much here. It seemed organic enough.
Decent, but not deserving of its spot on the IMDb Top 250.
Rate this movie:
(0 vote(s), average: 0 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this post.