Countries and Movies: Mexico
The best Mexican film, according to FilmGourmand, was recognized as Amores perros (Love's a Bitch), 2000. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu.
It is considered that this film is the first part of the so-called "Trilogy of Death", the subsequent parts of which are "21 grams" (2003) and "Babel" (2006).
The film obtained 55 film awards, of which the British BAFTA as the best foreign film and the Grand Prix of the Tokyo International Film Festival are the most prestigious.
The film also had a major financial success: the box office exceeded more than 10 times the budget of the film.
The film Love's a Bitch also received a lot of laudatory reviews from the most famous and respected film critics. What attracts attention is the fact that almost all of them somehow compared the film with the production of Hollywood, and not in favor of the latter. Or they predicted that many would certainly compare this work of Iñárritu with Hollywood creations. For example, Elvis Mitchell (The New York Times) noted: "The setup of the stories — and the fact that a car wreck is at the center of the picture, an accident that changes of the lives of all of the principal characters -— ill inspire comparisons to ''Pulp Fiction.'' While ''Amores'' is often playful, it is certainly not glib; it's full of the heartbreak found in corridas, featuring an almost mythological suffering that owes much to the traditions of Mexico, with characters trapped in the undertow of Fate." - By Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times, Oct. 5, 2000
According to James Berardinelli: "Without a doubt, the majority of the reviews of Amores Perros, the acclaimed debut feature from Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, will, at one time or another, invoke Pulp Fiction. There are undeniable similarities, although most of them are at the surface level. Amores Perros, like Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-nominated opus, deals with men and women who live on the seedy side of life. The plot unravels episodically and in a non-linear fashion, with characters from one segment occasionally appearing in, or passing through, another. However, one of Pulp Fiction's trademarks was to glamorize the gangster - to make the traditional "bad guy" seem hip and interesting. This was done through clever dialogue and stylish filmmaking techniques. In Amores Perros, criminals are not romanticized. They are exposed for what they are - human beings whose moral compasses have become twisted. So, although the territory may be familiar to viewers of Pulp Fiction, the vantage point is radically different."
Well, the guru of American film critics - Roger Ebert - wrote about the Iñárritu's film: ""Amores Perros" at 154 minutes is heavy on story--too heavy, some will say--and rich with character and atmosphere. It is the work of a born filmmaker, and you can sense Gonzalez Inarritu's passion as he plunges into melodrama, coincidence, sensation and violence. His characters are not the bland, amoral totems of so much modern Hollywood violence, but people with feelings and motives. They want love, money and revenge. They not only love their dogs but desperately depend on them. And it is clear that the lower classes are better at survival than the wealthy, whose confidence comes from their possessions, not their mettle.""
It remains only to express respect for the insight of the mentioned American film critics, because, indeed, after 10-15 years, a dozen and a half negative reviews of Love's a Bitch appeared on the site of Kinopoisk, the authors of which almost unanimously compared the Iñárritu's film movies by Tarantino or Nolan, but, in contrast from the recognized experts quoted above, in favor of Hollywood movie production. However, negative reviews are still in the minority. Most - although they note the controversial nature of the film - nevertheless pay tribute to the non-standard works of Iñárritu. For example: “The film is not for those who want to see a happy ending with the addition of the caramel effects of Hollywood,” or “The film is a masterpiece “because we ourselves are part of those we lost ... ”, or “The film is like a breath of fresh air from a stream of blockbusters, tricks, special effects and superstars", or "Watching this movie is real work, hard and nervous, sometimes just tearing to pieces, taking away all the emotions."
73% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users rated it 8 or higher.
Taking into account the above indicators of the success of the film Love's a Bitch, its rating, according to FilmGourmand, was 9.735, on the basis of which it took 61st place in the Golden Thousand.
In addition to the film Love's a Bitch the Golden Thousand included 5 more Mexican films:
- El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), by Guillermo del Toro. Movie's Rating - 9,110; 139th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Los olvidados, by Luis Buñuel, 1950. Movie's Rating - 8,997; 165th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- El Ángel exterminador, by Luis Buñuel, 1962. Movie's Rating - 8,314; 397th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Nazarín, by Luis Buñuel, 1959. Movie's Rating - 8,209; 464th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- El (This Strange Passion), by Luis Buñuel, 1953. Movie's Rating - 7,889; 862nd Rank in the Golden Thousand.