It all started with a dog
(Note:Once upon a time, there was a film festival here in our country called Pelikula at Lipunan, brainchild of Nick de Ocampo. One of the acclaimed films that premiered in the festival was the Oscar-nominated Mexican film ''Amores Perros'', back in 2002. Here's the note I wrote about the film, a few months after I first saw it back then.)
Alejandro Inarritu's "Amores Perros" was the opening film of Pelikula at Lipunan held here a few months back. There was a good number of filmgoers who attended, but the film actually started late (about 7:45 pm, from the supposed-to-be 7:00 pm screening - it was alright, for I also came in late!).The film ran for about two-and-a-half hours, but there was never a single moment where I felt my eyes to be already asking for one good snooze. This Oscar-nominee for Best Foreign-Language Film is so powerful, moving and gritty that to divert your attention from it even for a few seconds would be a big mistake (the Academy Award jurors had already committed one by giving the "bald man" to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - not that this film was a bad choice, but not over the former).
In essence, "Amores Perros" contains three stories. Though the characters (there are two brothers who become rivals for the love of one woman;there is an ad model who suddenly loses her "market value" because of an accident;and there is an unkempt and odd hitman who is abandoned by his family) move within the same urban landscape, they in fact have nothing to do with one another - they appear as total strangers to each other as is common in a cityscape. They have their own stories to tell - except for that fatal car accident at a city intersection which becomes their "common fate." That accident was actually "triggered" by the dog owned by one of the brothers (Octavio), as he and his friend were on a rush to bring it to the hospital after it was shot during a dogfight.
The fateful incident brings each of the characters to a re-examination and readjustment of their lives, making decisions that, whether they intended the outcome or not, would ultimately help them in finding meaning in themselves and their situation. For Octavio, that an adulterous love can't really be consummated, even if the feelings are sincere and affectionate - what can be of help for the moment is to live on one's own;for the model (Valeria), that the value of one's being can't be measured in terms of the glitter and glamour of a commercial and material enterprise, for they're only momentary and superficial - what can really mold her being is the love and companionship offered by the man closest to her;and for the hitman (El Chivo), that the fatherly love he can show to his only daughter is his one remaining redemption.
And this, while they are all affectionately tied to their dogs!
A non-linear narrative, a jittery hand-held camerawork, a gritty photography, a compelling script and first-rate performances - plus the dogs. All of these serve the film well.
In essence, "Amores Perros" contains three stories. Though the characters (there are two brothers who become rivals for the love of one woman;there is an ad model who suddenly loses her "market value" because of an accident;and there is an unkempt and odd hitman who is abandoned by his family) move within the same urban landscape, they in fact have nothing to do with one another - they appear as total strangers to each other as is common in a cityscape. They have their own stories to tell - except for that fatal car accident at a city intersection which becomes their "common fate." That accident was actually "triggered" by the dog owned by one of the brothers (Octavio), as he and his friend were on a rush to bring it to the hospital after it was shot during a dogfight.
The fateful incident brings each of the characters to a re-examination and readjustment of their lives, making decisions that, whether they intended the outcome or not, would ultimately help them in finding meaning in themselves and their situation. For Octavio, that an adulterous love can't really be consummated, even if the feelings are sincere and affectionate - what can be of help for the moment is to live on one's own;for the model (Valeria), that the value of one's being can't be measured in terms of the glitter and glamour of a commercial and material enterprise, for they're only momentary and superficial - what can really mold her being is the love and companionship offered by the man closest to her;and for the hitman (El Chivo), that the fatherly love he can show to his only daughter is his one remaining redemption.
And this, while they are all affectionately tied to their dogs!
A non-linear narrative, a jittery hand-held camerawork, a gritty photography, a compelling script and first-rate performances - plus the dogs. All of these serve the film well.
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| Alejandro Inarritu's "Amores Perros":Three lives and a dog |
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