Amores Perros
Amores Perros is a film from Mexican Cinema that incorporates all different levels of Mexican Society in a single movie. The three stories that are interconnected are the stories of: a young man trying to raise money by dog fighting so that he may run away with his brother’s wife, a magazine editor who leaves his wife to live with a model and a homeless man with a strange past who cares for dogs and makes money by murdering by money. The central character of the three stories is this homeless man who is trying to come to grips with the fact that he abandoned his young daughter and wife in order to lead a failed revolution in Mexico. All three of these stories are somewhat connected stories that are all resolved with a fatal car accident. Furthermore, in this Best Feature Film winner at the American Film Institute Film Festival, the three stories are also connected by the central theme of the love for pet dogs who are own by the main characters. The director cleverly shot the scenes with the dogs so that in each story there is a dog that resembles its master. Octavio owns a quiet dog that can fight, the model owns a small prissy dog and the homeless man takes care of a herd of homeless dogs. The film features many quite graphic scenes by the clever use of sound and changing the focus of the camera so that the focus is on something other than the very graphic dog fights makes the film bearable. By diverting the focus to something else and merely relying on sound to help the viewer experience things such as the dog fights, the viewer can experience the yelping of the dogs without suffering by seeing them suffer. The use of many close ups, natural lighting, and a hand held camera makes the viewer feel almost a part of these three interconnected stories. Another element of the film that makes it feel especially real is the choice of using an ensemble cast that is relatively unknown outside of Mexico. Though the actors may be famous to a native audience, for an international viewer, this makes for a film that is all the more realistic. Amores Perros is a very gritty, realistic film that comments extensively on the class issues of Mexico without every being hyper critical. It is a very good film that makes extensive use of camera angles and light to make the viewer feel as though they are experiencing rather than watching a film.
written by Jesse zell
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The dogs tie all the characters together, but I don't think the homeless man is the central character. He is present in all 3 storylines, but in all but his own he is an outsider looking in. He is what sets the timeline for the story. When you see his story at the end it makes the connections for the other two and the viewer can create a timeline of the events that have taken place.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of the cinematography and editing was informative and gave reason as to why this international film might interest non native viewers. The synopsis was adequate and did a good job of explaining the central story without giving away too much. I would avoid making generalizations like "it is a very good film" though. It's unnecessary and your review already gave many good reasons as to why the viewer should watch it and then form their own opinion.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the director specifically chose famous Mexican actors instead of others. I think that the Mexican actors were the ones who were available; however, as you mentioned, it would look weird if the film is set in Mexico featuring a cast of people from other countries. Addressing that the dogs portrayed their masters was a good point to bring forward.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that there is any one central character. The entire story is a narrative of three pairs of people and the homeless man brushing against each of them.
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