Amores Perros

Amores Perros, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, is an intense movie that weaves together three different stories together connected by a single incident. In the movies, a car accident is used the connect the three stories.

The first storyline follows a guy named Octavio, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. Octavio is in love with Susana, who is his brother Ramiro's wife. Octavio is upset by the abuse she gets by Ramiro and wants to run away with Susana. So, to raise money, Octavio gets involved in Mexico City's dogfighting ring. Together with his dog Cofi, they begin raising the money by winning the dog fights. However, out of nowheres, Susana leaves with Ramiro. Octavio gets into one last dog fight but its goes horribly wrong leaving Octavio fleeing for his life. After a chase, Octavio's car gets hit at an intersection.

The driver of the other car that Octavio hits is a girl named Valeria, which is the movies second storyline. Valeria was a supermodel before the care accident which damaged her leg and now confines her to a wheelchair. She is living in an apartament with Daniel. Valeria has a dog named Richie, who disappears under the floorboards while fetching a ball. This triggers a series of fights between Daniel and Valeria, who is shaken up by the disappearance of the dog. At the end of the storyline, Valeria has her leg amputated.

The Final storyline involves an assassin called El Chivo. He used to be a teacher than joined a guerrilla movement and left his wife and daughter. Upon hearing of his wife's death, he tries to see his daughter but he can't actually face her. Chivo's storyline is connected by Octavio's dog Cofi, who he rescues from the car accident. Towards the end of the storyline however, Cofi kills all of his dogs.

This movies deals mostly with the themes of love. For Octavio, it was his love for his dog Cofi and for Susana. In Daniel y Valeria, it was for between the two of them even tho Daniel was still married in the beginning of the film. In El Chivo's storyline, it was a husband's love for his wife and daughter. However, the theme of betrayal plays heavily to. For Octavio, he eventually feels betrayed by Susana, who is thought loved her, when she leaves with Ramiro. Even when she sees him again at Ramiro's funeral, she stands Octavio up at the bus station once more. In the movie, Daniel is unfaithful to his wife and sneaks around with Valeria before eventually leaving his family for her entirely. Lastly, in El Chivo's story, his wife and daughter is betrayed by him as he ups and leaves them for some guerrilla movement type of deal.

Another theme of the movies is corruption which is shown by all the illegal dog fighting in the movie that is happening. Futhermore, the officer who captured El Chivo, is now having him assassinate people for him.

This movie was very gritty. It involved a lot of handheld camera work, low-key lighting, and choppy editing. The movie is also unflinching in showing the cruelty of dog fighting as many dogs are killed in the movie. The plot of the movie is incredible as it weaves these stories seamlessly in and out of each other from characters passing each other on the street or the car accident. The movie also plays with its timeline jumping from past to present then back again and so on. I liked how the film was not afraid to touch on the topic of dogfighting and give us a sense about how wrong this is but yet how it also thrives in areas such as Mexico City and is extremely profitable. Amores Perros is a great movie in general from its acting to its action to its storyline.