But this saga of unrelated characters rich and poor, linked to one another through a horrific car accident and a loyal but murderous dog named Cofi, is both more tragic and more moral than those influences suggest…įrom the accident, Amores Perros moves variously backward and forward in time through several stories about love and betrayal, about the ease with which people commit acts of violence and the difficulty they face in finding redemption… Yes, González Iñárritu’s vision of Mexico City is part Quentin Tarantino, part Luis Buñuel, part Roman Polanski, all enfolded in the elaborate, melodramatic plot structure of the telenovela or Latin American soap opera. Its world of violence and subtropical beauty, its passion and heartbreak, its grimy realism and its sneaky, almost spiritual touches of surrealism mark it as a powerful and original work…
If you’ve ever spent time in the Mexican capital – and even if you haven’t – you’ll find yourself swept away entirely into this film’s sensory realm, into the tang of smog and the feel of dirty turquoise stucco, the smell of frying frijoles and tortillas, the taste of Carta Blanca…īut Amores Perros– the phrase isn’t easily translated, although Love’s a Bitch, the suggested English title, isn’t bad – is more than a breakthrough work for Mexican cinema.
Amores Perros is a feverish, breathtaking tour through Mexico City high and low, an explosive, mosaic-style portrait of our continent’s largest city.