Amores Perros (Loves A Bitch) Case Study

Rob Miller | Monday October 31, 2011

Categories: A Level, WJEC A Level, WJEC A2, FM4, Section A: World Cinema, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case
Studies, World Cinema, Amores Perros, Genres & Case Studies, Drama, Gangster, Romance, Thriller

Urban Stories: Power, Poverty and Conflict

Synopsis and Character Profiles

Amores Perros is a film about a three interconnected stories in Mexico City that borrow from, or arguably make, intertextual
references to Pulp Fiction in terms of the non linear narrative.

A car crash is the pivotal scene that involves, and effects, all three narratives and serves as a narrative arc in Story 1 (like
Pulp Fiction chapter headings are used) Octavio and Susana fall for each other, but not before Susana leaves Octavios
brother, with whom she has a child.

Octavio falls in love with Susana and yearns for her, even listening behind a door while she is having sex.

Their life is poor, both Octavia and his brother have menial jobs, and Octavio decides the only way to seduce Susana is too
become the provider and amass enough money to run away with her.

Octavio starts to win money, illegally fighting his Rottweiler dog, and sees this as his opportunity, until a fight goes badly wrong
(he is swindled out of all of his winnings) and he flees the scene (after killing his assailant, ending up in a car crash). Brutal
scenes of violence punctuate the narrative.

Audiences are introduced in Story 2 to Daniel and Valeria Valeria is a stunningly beautiful and successful model, who is
having an affair with wealthy, successful businessmen Daniel.

Daniel eventually chooses to leave his wife and sets Valeria up in an exclusive apartment, where they both start living with
panoramic views of Mexico City, including a huge billboard poster of Valeria modelling outside in the street.

Their new life is going well until Valeria is involved in a car crash, badly injuring her leg and ruining her modelling career. She
leaves hospital with her leg in a calliper and confined to a wheelchair; she spends boring days in the apartment recuperating
with only her beloved dog, Richie, for company. Daniel accidentally steps on some badly fitting flooring and a hole opens up
he has no time to fix it and goes to work, only to find on his return that Richie has disappeared down the hole chasing a ball and
is nowhere to be found.
El Chivo is the central character in Story 3 and the key protagonist of the film; an ex businessmen turned hit man he is now
down and out, homeless living with his dogs in impoverished accommodation.

El Chivo yearns to see and meet his daughter who has rejected him, and who he has not seen for years after El Chivos wife
left him. He is a clever and enigmatic character who tracks down his daughter, watching her from a distance and eventually
breaking into her apartment and leaving a coded message for her not to forget him; replacing a picture of her Stepfather in a
photo frame with one of himself.

The secondary narrative surrounding El Chivo involves a naive, frustrated but wealthy businessmen, who approaches El Chivo
through a third party, requesting him to assassinate his business partner for a considerable amount of money.

El Chivo agrees to this request, but also witnesses a car crash involving Octavio and Susana and Daniel and Valerio. He
rescues Daniels dog from the car and tends to his wounds, only to find one day, when he returns home, the Rottweiler has
attacked and killed all of his other dogs. El Chivo then decides it is finally time to move on.

Production and Historical Context

The film was made in 2001 and set amongst the urban squalor of Mexico City. Most scenes are filmed on location,
foregrounding the poverty and deprivation of one of the poorest cities in the world. Amores Perros does, however suggest a
culture of extremes through the poverty of how Octavio and Susanas life is represented, and the wealth and excess
represented by the well heeled Daniel and Valeria. The film is a hybrid genre of thriller, drama, gangster and romance with the
latter underpinning the narrative Amores Perros is a film about love.

Optimum (independent distributors) releases the film in the UK while Lions Gate distributed the film in the US. The film has
medium to high production values, with established actors in the lead roles and actors who have gone on to work in larger
productions, including the young Octavio played by Gael Garcia Bernal (Motorcycle Diaries - 2004). Amores Perros reflects a
successful and developing Mexican film industry with the director, Alejandro Innaritu subsequently directing and in some case
writing and producing 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006) and Biutiful from 2006 (starring Javier Bardem); all receiving critical
acclaim. Innaritos films are difficult in terms of representation and are encoded with themes of death and loss, often involving
children as he and his wife suffered themselves on the death of one of their own children. He is Mexico City born himself, and
mirrors an over populated city of nearly 9 million with the vast number of the people living there in poverty and struggling to
survive.

In terms of form and style, Innarito uses a de-saturated colour palette to represent Mexico City anchoring the poverty and
deprivation. In conjunction with this, excessive use of hand held camera encodes realism and also at time disrupts the
audience cutting on action and scenes of graphic violence. Sound is largely diegetic, to emphasise the desperate plight of
the characters in each story, but Hip Hop music is utilised in one key scene where Octavio and his brothers criminal activities
are seen as aspirational, but ultimately they are both punished; Octavios money stolen by Susana and he loses the last fight,
when Cofi is shot leading in the prelude to the car crash. Some key scenes had to be reshot to ensure the BBFC would award
an 18 certificate for release in UK cinemas.

Themes, Messages and Values

The film explores narrative themes of betrayal, corruption, greed, violence, family values, Catholicism, social class and
poverty. Innarito states in interviews that the dog fighting scenes are a metaphor for the complex interpersonal relationships
weaved into the film. Gang violence is represented as a form of escapism, but is punished which is a recurring theme each
of the characters in Octavio and Susana and Daniel and Valerias story are punished in terms of narrative outcome for their
infidelity, immorality and criminal behaviour with love and money as their primary goals. Whether these values and moral
judgements originate in a Christian context is unclear (Octavio continually crosses himself).

Amores Perros represents dysfunctional characters and dysfunctional families with a key emphasis on masculinity and
patriarchal culture. Octavio and Susana are more under class than working class, while El Chivo has rejected the middle
class values that he once lived and worked for. Daniel and Valeria risk everything so they can be together, but are presented a
wealthy but naive.

Car Crash Scene

The car crash almost serves as moral punishment uniting the characters and stories but at the same time leading to the
destruction of their lives. Octavios car careers across a junction into the car driven by Valeria who is trapped the scene uses
sound to maximum impact shocking audiences at the moment of the accident seen from three different perspectives throughout
the film.

The crash is followed by silence and a panning camera reveals the level of destruction and graphic violence. Innarito
represents the death and injury in as graphic a way as possible, with blood filmed heavily in close up and in medium shot.

Audiences are presented with an eerie scene and the lack of non diegetic sound creates tension and anxiety. This link scene
connecting all the stories is repeated throughout the film, but shot from different angles all are punished for their sins except
for El Chivo who bizarrely, but interestingly, literally disappears over the horizon at the end of the film searching for a new
beginning. Perhaps he has suffered enough and no longer needs to be punished.

Related Resources

Amores Perros Research Questions

WJEC A2 Film Studies FM4 Section A World Cinema Mexican Cinema Exemplar

Rob Miller | Monday June 03, 2013

Categories: A Level, WJEC A Level, WJEC A2, FM4, Section A: World Cinema, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case
Studies, World Cinema, Amores Perros, Y Tu Mam Tambin, Genres & Case Studies, Mexican, iTraining, Improve
Your Teaching

Key Texts
Amores Perros (Loves A Bitch) 2000

Y Tu Mama Tambin (And Your Mother Too) 2001

Compare some of the stylistic features in the films you have studied discussing how far they make for a
distinctive kind of cinema.

The study of so-called World Cinema tends to focus on common themes e.g. power, poverty and conflict, social class, gender
representation et al within the confines of what has to be described as Hollywood Hegemony. Ironically international film styles
or World Cinema has heavily influenced Hollywood and continually makes intertextual references to Hollywood. Amores
Perros was known as the Mexican Pulp Fiction in this regard. World Cinema seems to attract artistic definition (anything
produced outside of Hollywood) or economic definition (associations with non-western economies in developing countries).
Access, awareness and distribution continue to dictate our understanding of World Cinema with audiences actively involved in
the process of looking for films either online, at Film Festivals or on DVD. Mexican Cinema remains one of the better-known
international film styles that have emerged from World Cinema.

In the 1930s and 1940s Mexican Cinema was known for its Comedia Ranchera films that were basically singing cowboy films
about the Mexican Revolution while melodramas and comedy dominated in the later 1940s. During the 1950s through to the
1970s Mexican film entered a period of state control and cinematic legislation reduced the number of screens to the point that
11 Mexican films were produced in 1997 until a significant renaissance in the late 1990s becoming known as Nuevo Cine
Mexicano. The right wing government for many years suppressed Mexican Cinema, but a change in leadership in the 1980s
heralded gradual artistic change and saw an increase in film production. Amores Perros was a key film that brought Mexican
Cinema to the attention of the world and since, many of its talents including director Inarritu and Guillermo Del Toro have gone
on to become successful Hollywood filmmakers. Mexican Cinema has hit a run of form despite the constraints of film
production and distribution problems Del Toro was initially shunned in his home country after his first feature, Cronos in 1993
which was seen as too much of a horror genre piece but has gone on from strength to strength.

By 2005 Mexico had the 7th best ticket sales of US film and in 2007 70 Mexican films were produced. Key films of this period
included The Devils Backbone (Del Toro) 2001, Babel (Inarritu) 2006, Pans Labyrinth (Del Toro) 2006 and Biutiful (Inarritu)
2010. Many of the films of this period have similar themes, values and representations that suggest a distinctive kind of national
cinema.

Amores Perros is a film about three interconnected stories in Mexico City that borrow from, or arguably make intertextual
references to Pulp Fiction in terms of the non-linear narrative. A car crash is the pivotal scene that involves, and effects all
three stories and serves as a narrative arc in Story 1 (like Pulp Fiction chapter headings are used) Octavio and Susana fall
for each other but not before Susana leaves Octavios brother with whom she has a child. Octavio falls in love with Susana and
yearns for her, even listening behind a door while she is having sex. Their life is poor reflecting the haves and have nots on
Mexico and both Octavia and his brother have menial jobs. Octavio decides the only way to seduce Susana is too become the
provider and amass enough money to run away with her. This escapist tradition is reflected in much Mexican cinema where
there is always something to aspire to. Octavio starts to win money illegally fighting his Rottweiler dog and sees this as his
opportunity until a fight goes badly wrong (he is swindled out of all of his winnings) and he flees the scene after killing his
assailant ending up in a car crash (common iconography). Brutal scenes of violence punctuate the narrative, again common to
Mexican cinema in terms of graphic imagery.

In story 2 the new life of Daniel and Valeria is going well until Valeria is involved in the same car crash, badly injuring her leg
and ruining her modelling career. She leaves hospital with her leg in a caliper and confined to a wheelchair and spends boring
days in the apartment recuperating with only her beloved dog, Richie for company. Daniel accidentally steps on some badly
fitting flooring and a hole opens up he has no time to fix it and goes to work only to find on his return that Richie has
disappeared down the hole chasing a ball and is nowhere to be found. Unexpected disruption and the punishment of characters
is again a common theme found in Mexican cinema. El Chivo is the central character in Story 3 and the key protagonist of the
film an ex-businessmen turned hit man he is now down and out, homeless living with his dogs in impoverished
accommodation. El Chivo yearns to see and meet his daughter who has rejected him and who he has not seen for years after
El Chivos wife left him. All three stories explore morality and moral outcomes within the framework of a traditional, Catholic
country.

The film was made in 2001 and set amongst the urban squalor of Mexico City. Most scenes are filmed on location
foregrounding the poverty and deprivation of one of the poorest cities in the world. Amores Perros does, however suggest a
culture of extremes which is a narrative arc that frequently reoccurs in Mexican film. It is seen through the poverty of how
Octavio and Susanas life is represented and the wealth and excess represented by the well heeled Daniel and Valeria.
Amores Perros reflects a successful and developing Mexican film industry with the director, Alejandro Innaritu subsequently
directing and in some cases writing and producing 21 Grams 2003, Babel in 2006 and Biutiful from 2006 starring Javier
Bardem all receiving critical acclaim. Innaritos films are difficult in terms of representation and are encoded with themes of
death and loss, often involving children as he and his wife suffered themselves on the death of one of their own children. He is
Mexico City born himself and mirrors an over populated city with the vast number of the people living there in poverty and
struggling to survive.

In terms of form and style Innarito uses a de-saturated colour palette to represent Mexico City anchoring the poverty and
deprivation. In conjunction with this excessive use of hand held camera encodes realism and also at time disrupts the audience
cutting on action and scenes of graphic violence. Sound is largely diegetic to emphasise the desperate plight of the characters
in each story but Hip Hop music is utilised in one key scene where Octavio and his brothers criminal activities are seen as
aspirational but ultimately they are both punished Octavios money stolen by Susana and he loses the last fight when Cofi is
shot leading in the prelude to the car crash. Some key scenes had to be reshot to ensure the BBFC would award an 18
certificate for release in UK cinemas. The film explores narrative themes of betrayal, corruption, greed, violence, family values,
Catholicism, social class and poverty. Innarito states in interviews that the dog fighting scenes are a metaphor for the complex
interpersonal relationships weaved into the film. Gang violence is represented as a form of escapism but is punished which is a
recurring theme each of the characters in Octavio and Susana and Daniel and Valerias story are punished in terms of
narrative outcome for their infidelity, immorality and criminal behaviour with love and money as their primary goals. Whether
these values and moral judgements originate in a Christian context is unclear (Octavio continually crosses himself). Amores
Perros represents dysfunctional characters and dysfunctional families with a key emphasis on masculinity and patriarchal
Mexican culture.

Y Tu Mama Tambin is a film released a year later than Perros but exploring similar themes and reflecting a distinctive style
directed by Alfonso Cuaron it reflects another Mexican auteur born out of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano. The film is a coming of
age road movie about two teenage boys taking a road trip with an older woman. As in Perros cars and car driving feature
significantly as both directors reference the intensity of a Mexico City of some 9 million. The pace of life and its contrast to the
more rural geography is again a feature of modern Mexican cinema. Like so many the film is also overtly political (while Perros
looks at Catholicism and social class Tambin explores key political changes in present day Mexico as its socio-political
underpinning). Mexican films have something to say and this is very much a repeated stylistic trait.

Like Perros with overtly sexualised scenes, Tambin attracted criticism for its erotic representations, again rebelling against
traditional Catholic doctrine. Mexican filmmakers were now free from creative restrictions and heavily sexualised imagery has
been a common response in developing a distinctive style of cinema. Moral messages are again encoded as ultimately the
sexual experience destroys the boys friendship. Death and violence are only around the corner in contemporary Mexican
cinema as in Tambin following the death of Luisa from cancer. In Biutiful this is a theme that is explored throughout the
narrative following the Javier Bardem characters own cancer diagnosis he is allowed time to prepare for his own death as the
film progresses. The film takes us and the boys through a rites of passage journey that is both familiar and shocking on the way
attracting, as with Amores Perros a high certification (UK 18).

As with Perros through the three intertwined stories the film explores characters from across the class and race spectrum in
Mexico and plays with gender dynamics. A broader vision of the Mexican nation is offered as the country is opened up to
scrutiny through its characterisation. The boys wish to escape into a utopian existence, much like Octavio and Susana and
Daniel and Valeria something is wrong with what they have now and there is a need to make something better. This
deliberately parallels the socio-political context and representation of Mexican society that is seen as changing slowly. In the
film death features more prominently than freedom however and this obsession with the end of life borrows heavily from a
collection of Mexican essays first published in 1950 called The Labyrinth of Solitude. In Tambin the voice over reports the
victims of car accidents and heat exhaustion who are also victims of poverty and social exclusion, much like Octavio and
Susana.

The rural and urban spaces are commonly set in binary opposition but are as utopian as they are dystopian, again linking with
change in Mexico and highlighting inequality (Cuaron has admitted that even the names of the characters are symbolic in how
they represents periods of Mexican history). Periodically the diegetic sound cuts out as the narrator explains hidden details
e.g. the Mexico City road accident where the body of a migrant worker has blocked the road, run over as he struggled to cross
a busy carriageway on the way to work. The boys experience all these events as Luisa serves as a catalyst for the their
development. Her status at times is almost secondary as she is framed for the male gaze, a common tradition of what is
sometimes seen as a patriarchal, male dominated national cinema. However, she regains a sense of control when she is seen
to lose patience with the teenagers mutual betrayals (each boy sleeps with the others girlfriend). But, on her passing Luisa is
disposed of by the narrative and the audience is left to focus on the central protagonists, much in the same way that Valeria is
punished for her beauty in Amores Perros.

Hand held camera is commonly used, particularly during sex scenes that are graphic without being pornographic challenging
Catholic, Mexican morality but not completely overstepping boundaries. An un-staged and more realistic feel is brought to the
film during these scenes. The Mexican macho common in many contemporary Mexican films is evident but challenged by the
boys heterosexual competitiveness but also with their easy acceptance of Daniel, a homosexual friend. Like many Mexican
films it references the new and the old in terms of social change. However, there is still vehement denial that homosexuality
could form a part of their (the boys) own lives with perhaps the director here clinging on to traditional sensibilities.

Tambin explores identity, sexuality and national identity premature and violent deaths of migrants are used to criticise
contemporary social and political developments, more so than Amores Perros than asks the audience to think harder, beyond
the manifest. Although the film promotes the inclusion of different races and classes the Cuaron almost takes a paternalistic
role in relation to the representation of Mexican poor and society. Like many films of the movement it is however deeply
allegorical, it tells a story with a message and crosses over frequently from mainstream to art house; a common distinctive
feature.