Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Amores Perros - Movie Review

Another Mexican film , this one from Ram's collection, from the director of Babel, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. Three stories collide in a car collision and fuse the movie together. Two young men running away from a stabbing scene with their wounded prize fighter dog crash into the car of a super model. One of the boys dies, the driver is severely injured and the model breaks several bones. At the same time a vagrant man walking his dogs comes upon the accident scene and moves in ostensibly to help. The accident changes the course of all the lives and more.

The first story is that of two brothers who live in a house of violence and deceit. The older one is married but is always looting or getting into fights and abusing his wife. The younger one loves his sister-in-law and tells her to run away with him. The two have an affair. Needing money to run away the younger one fights his dog in dog fights. The dog turns out to be a champion fighter winning him much money and losing much for one of the regular fighters who resents his losses. The younger brother meanwhile gets his brother beaten up, tells the sister in law to come with him and goes for one last fight. Here his enemy loses yet again, but he gets back by shooting the champion dog.  The younger brother retaliates by stabbing the man and gets chased. While escaping he crashes into another car killing his loyal friend.

Th successful owner of a magazine falls in love with a model and leaves his wife and children for her. He moves into a flat with the model. Soon after, the model's dog falls into a hole in the floorboards and cannot be extricated. While the model is out on a drive, her car is crashed into by the dog fighting boys. Her leg gets bad and is finally amputated, the dog is found dead under the floorboards and suddenly several lives fall into pieces. The magazine owner regrets leaving his family.

The third story is that of a vagrant man who moves around with a bunch of dogs and a push cart which he uses to scavenge. His only company is his dogs. We learn that he is actually an ex-guerrilla, now a professional hit man. He however is craving for his daughter whom he has left when she was only two to 'set the world right'. It is while he is stalking his hit that he happens upon the accident, robs the boys in the car and rescues the prize dog which has been shot. He treats the dog and heals it but the dog kills all his other dogs. Given the lucrative job of killing a business associate, he collects money from the party, kidnaps both parties, sells their expensive cars and makes a lot of money. He takes the dog, breaks into his daughter's home, leaves her all the money and a message, and leaves town.

It's all about dogs, love, loyalties and how humans can muck up their lives. But there's lots of blood as the dogs fight, the humans fight, and there is lots of deceit all over. Some live, some die and we don't know why things pan out the way they do. Interesting idea but a bit too dark and gory for me. Second or third Mexican movie, but you know what, I do like their movies in a funny way. They are tragic, real and sort of hopelessly sad.

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