Amores perros (2000)

VHS CASE/SIDE

Length of film:  154 Minutes

Rated: 18

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Starring: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas, Marco Pérez, Rodrigo Murray

IMDB Rank: 8.1 /10

Part 1 Time:  94 Minutes 

Part 2 Time:  60 Minutes

Where does the first part end? The first half ends following the ‘daniel y valeria’ story arc. Valeria (Goya Toledo) and Daniel (Álvaro Guerrero) look out their apartment window. The advertisement that once had Valeria’s picture on it is now gone, and the billboard is now up for rental.

Final line of dialogue on the first part: No dialogue in the final scene, Daniel embraces Valeria as she begins to cry.

First line of dialogue on the second part: Start of the ‘el chivo y maru’ story arc. “Hello? Yes, tell him 3:00,” Gustavo (Rodrigo Murray) answers his cell phone while driving. Leonardo (José Sefami) is also present in the car.

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Somewhat, the film centers around a car accident that connects three different protagonists. By the end of the ‘daniel y valeria’ story arc one cannot help but feel sadness toward Valeria who has endured non-stop trauma following her car accident. Thus far we have seen Octavio (Gael García) and Valeria’s story-lines, how will bystander El Chivo’s (Emilio Echevarría) story-line in part two be directly impacted by the car crash?

Which part is better? The film generally focuses on one protagonist story-line at a time, but will occasionally show snip bits of other protagonists when stories overlap. Part one features the Octavio and Valeria plot lines, where part two presents El Chivo’s story-line. Part one is given the advantage as we not only get to see the story line of the two protagonists directly involved in the car crash (Octavio and Valeria), but also how cruelty and violence towards living things (Humans and Dogs) lead to an environment of disloyalty.

Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film (Nominated)