Amores Perros

This movie is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu. It is a Mexican production that was nominated for best foreign language film in 2000. It is three stories in one movie with a car accident as the connection between them. This is the point where the three key characters appear in the same scene. Octavio expresses to her sister-in-law his desire to run away with her. They live in the family house with Octavio’s mother and brother, her baby and the dog, Cofi. Octavio dislikes the way his brother behaves to his wife, Susana. He collects money from arranged dog fights where cofi keeps winning. Unfortunately, the sister-in-law decides otherwise; Susana and her husband disappear with the money. And in one last fight the other dog‘s owner shot cofi which loosing blood seriously. Octavio hits the road after he drives a knife into the man’s belly in retaliation.
This chase which is all over in the movie causes the accident between Octavio’s car and the young model Valerie. Her right leg is seriously hurt. She has to wear a special protection and is confined to a wheelchair. There, Valerie feels the pain of abandon. She lost her modeling project. Worse, her dog runs under the floorboard. She becomes hysteric and suspicious of her lover in point to lock him out of the bedroom. When the lover finally breaks through the door after a night on the couch, it was too late. He finds her on the floor with more damage to the leg. It has to be amputated.
The final story is about “el chivo.” This man looses his daughter, Maru and his wife after he goes to prison. From then, he could not find the courage to face Maru. As he agrees, the mother lies about his existence. He is dead to her. El chivo is also a professional hitman. It would be very difficult for anyone to be suspicious of this dirty bum always walking his dogs along the streets.
The movie explores many themes such as fatality of life. Valeria learns a serious lesson about that. She was that famous model everyone calls after. As she becomes injured, she discovers abandon and lost of interest. Even her lover could not understand her quest to find Richie, the dog.
There are also love and betray. Octavio certainly feels a great love for her sister-in-law. He plans on that and trusts her with the money. I bet he feels betray as he learns that she escapes along with money. Valeria could feel the same as she loses her modeling contract and sees the lack of interest from her lover. These two dilemmas are all around the character of “el chivo” either in the relation to his daughter or the act that push him away from her.
Amores Perros is a very suspenseful movie. This car chase keeps me hanging on to discover the final outcome. The cross between the stories is well performed to keep such aspect. Here, it is a very different style. Only Octavia’s part has a well defined goal. Octavio wants to run away with her sister-in-law. Overall it is a pleasant realization that certainly reflects the maturity of Alejandro Gonzalez.