And the film’s interiors are no less evocative: in one lower-middle-class home, we see crucifixes, an altar, and a poster of Pope John Paul II (who visited Mexico five times).īut by 2000-though burning candles were kept on many such home altars-corruption, not faith, was the primary fuel of the Mexican social dynamic. The city becomes sensorial, intimate you can almost smell it. Mexico City is recognizable by its hidden spaces: its rooftops, alleys, backyards. Iñárritu refused to depict a postcard Mexico, and there are no monuments or landmarks to be seen in the film. The film’s settings form a crucial component of its social world. Amores perros captures such contradictions: some of itsĬharacters aspire to glamour, while others struggle to survive amid distressing Up to protest NAFTA and the shameful conditions in which Indigenous people Mexico, the U.S., and Canada-went into effect, many dreamed of their country asĪ first-world paradise meanwhile, in the state of Chiapas, the Zapatistas rose
In 1994, as the North American Free Trade Agreement-an accord among The social context from which it originated.Ĭhihuahua, on the border with the United States, has been the scene ofįemicides. Iñárritu simultaneously created their own world and painted a portrait of With their film, writer Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro Various national tensions, ones that have often come to a head in such scenes The three stories that intersect in the film represent Opening scene of Amores perros, released in Mexican theaters just aĬouple of weeks before Fox’s victory, shows a gravely wounded animal and culminates Skills of the winning candidate and his party, and more from the despair of aĬountry that was coming apart at the seams, and in need of intensive therapy. The hope for a “government for change” sprang less from the His image far exceeded his plans for governing.Īfter seven decades in power, the PRI hadīetrayed the progressive ideals of the revolution from which it took its name,īecoming known for its members’ use of public funds for private benefit.Ĭorruption, inequality, violence, and racialĪnd gender discrimination were the hallmarks of a profoundly worn-down An unusual figure in Mexican politics for the time, Fox came to power asĪ charismatic populist who rode on horseback, wore cowboy boots, andĭemonstrated his rejection of the system by kicking cardboard coffins adorned Vicente Fox, theĬandidate of the conservative National Action Party (PAN), led the opposition toĪ win. Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost the presidential election. For the first time in seventy-one years, the Institutional In Mexico, the year 2000 coincided with the end of a The beginning of a new millennium is naturally This was my first glimpse of Amores perros (2000), the film that would pull back the veil on our national reality. “You’ll see,” he promised, eyes alight, his fingernails scratching the tablecloth. Many of the people involved in the project were first-timers. He smiled at my confusion and excitedly explained his appearance: he was preparing for a film role as a guerrilla turned street scavenger. It took me a little while to recognize Emilio Echevarría, the marvelous actor I had worked with on a number of projects. Who was this man who seemed to have fallen from grace? His shaggy, graying mane and scraggly beard made him look like a prophet of the apocalypse his fingernails were long, sharp, and worn from use, as though he had arrived there by clawing through the walls. I was walking to my table when a person who appeared to live on the streets approached and greeted me with strange familiarity. The year 1999 was several months old when I entered Los Guajolotes, a restaurant that, like so many others in Mexico City, has now disappeared.