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Amores perros (2000)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
3/15
3/15:
Technique-wise, 2004's Crash is a rip-off of Amores perros (Spanish
for Love's a Bitch) which is also a rip-off of Pulp Fiction.
Since it's a drama anthology, there are three vignettes which converge to a single point, namely the car
accident. Only one, that is "Octavio y Susana," is worth watching and should've been the whole film. The other
two are a waste of time.
My take is it's a movie about dumb characters who make idiotic decisions while embarrassing themselves
continually, no matter what. There's an imbalance throughout that becomes more noticeable after a lot of time has
been spent on "Octavio y Susana." After telling the story of "Daniel y Valeria," Alejandro Iñárritu begins to
lose his grip on the narrative and thus fails to make a point in the grand scheme of things. "El Chivo y Maru"
is the worst as it adds nothing and can be safely discarded.
I've been constantly asking myself, "So, what's it all about? And what do the stories have to do with each
other?" Perhaps the hidden answer is: it's all about the tricks, especially in storytelling and editing. The
cinematic elements are in place, but it's the sum of parts that don't have anything to do with one another.
During "Daniel y Valeria," the couple should've went to the hardware store and bought some plywood to cover
the floor. It's obvious they didn't care about Richie because if they did, they would've tried to get him out
within the first few hours. But they lose credibility by expressing their solicitude for the dog while
prolonging the appropriate course of action. After they rescue Richie, he appears fine and healthy with no
signs of rabies. That's manipulation. Plus, none of the neighbors is bothered by the constant barking.
"Octavio y Susana" bothers me because of the Rottweiler surviving the gunshot wound. After losing so much blood
and getting no treatment for hours, it isn't possible anymore that the dog is still alive. The sight of the old
man putting a Band-Aid on the wounded area is comical and insulting at once. So is the car accident involving
three independent sets of characters who happen to have a dog! There's no way Richie would've survived it, either.
Although the cinematography isn't bad, the shaky camera is annoying to put up with. There are many close-ups
with some being too extreme. The reason why Gael García Bernal has an extensive amount of close-ups is that he
wants the world to know how pretty his green eyes are. He's just an overrated actor with the knack of getting
naked with some girl in every Mexican film I've seen.
Normally, I'll let the dogfighting scenes, however unconvincing they are, slide if they add a certain meaning to
the film, but in this case, they've been pointless. That's why the director should've stuck with "Octavio y
Susana" as the main feature.
All in all, Amores perros is a ridiculous Mexican melodrama.