Amores Perros (2000). Cert 18. Director - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Writer - Guillermo Arriaga Starring - Emilio Echevarria, Gael Garcia Bernal, Goya Toledo & Alvero Guerro.

Premise - Amores Perros is three stories interwoven into one movie. The first story concerns Octavio, whom has a crush on his sister-in-law, he fights his pet dog to raise the cash for them to run away together. The second tale is of Victor whom leaves his wife and kids to move in with a supermodel and her dog. The final story is about El Chivio a former a tramp and hit man who regrets leaving his family to join a guerrilla group 20 years previous. Described by some as a Mexican Pulp Fiction, this isn’t to far from being spot on. The narrative structure borrows a lot from Pulp Fiction and is used in such a way that each story could be watched independently and be understood. However, when the film is watched in its entirety, the stories intertwine and bring the tales to a higher level. There are several themes running through each of the stories. Dogs are used in each tale to show the basest level of love. We love our animals without thought and when something happens to them it can be heartbreaking. The main theme however is described in the title of the film. The English translation of Amores perros is Love’s a bitch. In each story we see this become reality. Octavio loves his sister-in-law and will do anything to have her, in the end he pays the price for this love. Victor gives up his family to follow his love; he also pays a price. Chivio, in the last story, again pays a price for his love. The direction here is fantastic; the first few scenes left me breathless with their intensity. Inarritu uses some clever tricks to tell his story and for his efforts the film looks great. Also good is the acting all concerned do an excellent job. It’s not perfect however. The middle story concerning Victor and the model is slow and pedestrian in comparison to the other two. It is still interesting, but in no way is it as engaging as the other two stories. I should also add if you are an animal lover, perhaps you should not watch this movie. In the first story dog fighting is shown very graphically and could be disturbing to the animal sensitive viewer. No animals were harmed of course, but it is very convincing all the same. Apart from these points however Amores perros is a triumph of film. Don’t be put off by the subtitles, I recommend it highly.

8/10 for Amores Perros. Poster Quote - That’s amores.