Amoeba Music

Alejandro González Iñárritu may be best known for his film Babel (2006) or 21 Grams (2003), but his first feature film, Amores Perros, shows his ability in weaving stories together through the commonality of human suffering. Made in his home country, Mexico, the film is set in Mexico City, featuring three stories that are connected by a single car crash. Within these stories contain intensified, passionate characters with tales of love, loss, and dogs.

In the first, Octavio becomes involved with the dog-fighting business in order to make money so he can run away with his sister-in-law Susana and begin a new life. This plan falls out of reach as tragedy pursues, and the story ends with more than the loss of dreams.

The second story is about a magazine publisher, Daniel, who leaves his family to live with a Spanish supermodel. She can no longer work as a model after the car accident, but exacerbates her injury when she discovers her dog is trapped under the floorboards in the new apartment.

The third concerns an ex-revolutionary, El Chivo, who is hired as a hit-man. Through his current experiences involving the car crash and the characters of the previous stories, he is left face-to-face with his abandoned past, covered by the dust of his hardened heart.

The film, while raw, energetic, violent, and abrasive, is thoughtful and provocative. The title hits a deep chord of the universal humanity– like dogs, humans fight, steal, hurt, and ultimately, they must deal with the passion and emotion that are the roots of their actions. Iñárritu's debut film is a cinematic achievement that raises questions of human morality and challenges the viewer in the boldest of ways.

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Amores Perros was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.