Amores Brutos

'Amores Perros' impressed the hell out of me. Three interrelated tales of the darker side of life in contemporary Mexico City, each one as fresh and as fascinating as the last. Each of the three stories are dark, disturbing and filled with humanity. Superbly acted all round, but especially noteworthy is the standout performance by Emilio Echevarria as El Chivo, a political dissident turned hitman, and if the charismatic Gael Garcia Bernal (Octavia, the lovesick dog fighter) isn't an international star in the making I'll eat my words. This brilliant movie shows up the mediocrity of most current Hollywood "product", and to my mind ranks with a small handful of movies made this decade ('Chopper', 'The Pledge', 'The Way Of The Gun') that are truly memorable and with genuine substance. This one is a winner and essential viewing for all movie lovers. A future classic.

Three stories of life in Mexico, all loosely linked by one core element, dogs.

What a powerful and shocking movie this is, Amores perros is one of those films that truly lives with you.

I can't admit to seeing a huge amount of Mexican films, but I've certainly seen Mexico, Mexico City in particular as the setting for many crime documentaries, it is clearly one busy, but very dangerous City.

Intensely thought provoking and engrossing in equal measure, this film hits hard, full of violence, and I don't know what this says about me, but the violence between people was standard fair, the violence involving the dogs was hard to watch.

Unsettling in so many ways, people making bad choices, which of course have consequences, it really does show humanity at its worst.

My limited Spanish wasn't good enough to understand most, but I didn't mind the subtitles at all, sometimes it was a little hard to read them as the movie had several fast paced scenes.

Emilio Echevarría puts in a terrific performance, but the whole cast are hard to fault.

8/10.

Some people just won't want to sit through this film because of the overtly graphic and disturbing dog fighting scenes, which is ironic, because most people don't seem to mind the graphic violence involving the people in this film. Others simply won't watch it because of the subtitles. This is a shame, since this is by far the best film I have ever seen come out of Mexico (far better and more complex than the comparably immature "Y Tu Mama Tambien"). Here we get an intertwining tale involving dog fights, petty gangsters, a tragically injured model, a cheating husband, an abused teenage wife, and a homeless hit man. As you might expect the homeless hit man becomes the soul of the film, and the dogs serve as a link, reminding us of the violence we inflict upon each other and nature, and the fractured relationships we think beyond repair, but are actually more resilient than we could ever imagine. Brilliantly directed with a great soundtrack and a bigger heart than you might initially perceive, "Amores Perros" is a deep, thought-provoking and utterly enthralling film that you will not soon forget.

Comprising but not limited to, three stories all connected, and all sharing canine glue, shows how some loves and aspirations, formed and built on weak foundations, can implode through separations, leaves folks lonely and eschewed.

All elegantly carved and crafted around the streets of Mexico City by the perpetually impressive Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who takes Guillermo Arriaga's tale to deliver as angry a film as you're likely to come across, and one that delivers just as savagely some years on from its initial release. Often shocking with its portrayal, leaves you under no illusion of the desperation and despair of the lives of those it presents.

For years I've had this movie on my to-watch list. Alejandro G. Inarritu was steadily becoming a household name and then after that night at the Oscars where Birdman wiped the slate, the spotlight was too bright to put it off. Even before the director's fame, Amores Perros always had a lot of hype around it, often found on best movie lists. It's unofficially the first of a trilogy, followed by 21 Grams and Babel. Apparently, this is the movie that started it all for Inarritu. At first I didn't like it. My back pressed against my chair with anxiety, the movie and its characters made me uneasy. I was ridden with the sense that something bad was going to happen and I hated it. Then I realized, ah...yes, this is what he wants. It's the same feeling I had watching the other two movies (which I unfortunately watched first). Slow deliberate suspense and apprehension. Not from action or mystery, but from plain human emotions. The second story was boring and in the end nothing really happens so I was nervous for nothing. How long was the dog in the floor for? I lost track of time.

At one point I had to let go and succumb to the emotion he wanted me to feel. I cried. That was when I began to understand it. There was still a lot questions I had at the end when that guy was walking out into the field (Too many characters for me to know their names). But soon after I resolved again to let it go.

Did I like it? Nope. But, was it a good movie? Hell yeah.