Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Amores Perros

The first thing that will grab you about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Amores Perros will be the fast-paced car chases and fiery love-triangles. However, unlike most other action movies with a few romantic or hot scenes thrown in for good measure, it is the characters and the statements made on society that you will remember most. Made up of three stories, on the surface the thing that connects the characters is a horrific car accident caused by one, which injures another and is witnessed by the third, but in reality these characters have much more in common. Although they come from different classes in society, they all deal with the same issues and have the same troubles. Octavio becomes mixed up in the world of dog fighting and, for a while, is coming out on top. However, his winning streak cannot go on forever and eventually the resentments of fellow dog fighters and the increased violent tensions between him and his brother over Susana, his brother’s wife, lead to his demise. In the next segment which begins by portraying the glitzier and cheery life of Valeria and Daniel, a model and an advertising exec who left his old life with his wife and children behind to begin a new one with Valeria, we see how the same relationship breakdown can occur between people on the opposite end of the spectrum. When Valeria’s lap dog disappears and she is left totally alone in the apartment all day, her and Daniel’s relationship begins to fall apart as they are forced to confront their shallow connection. We see the reality of their relationship now, instead of the billboards and TV appearances, it’s the days spent alone and vicious arguments out of nowhere hiding deeper conflicts. In the final segment, we learn how El Chivo, one of the characters we’ve been watching throughout the film, became the wandering destitute man he is today. We watch as his relationship with the dogs comes to resemble human relationships, replacing the connection he lost to his daughter years ago. In the end, Amores Perros shows the realities of life without any sugar coating - and successfully illustrates how, despite the division by society, we all share the same issues and troubles.