Review of Amores Perros (2000) by Aaron B — 07 Aug 2010

I felt much the same after seeing this film as I did after Babel: intrigued, but not very moved. Granted, Amores Perros does a better job of plucking the heartstrings and really taking your breath away than Babel does.

The stories are more intense (and there's less of them- only three in this movie, as opposed to four in Babel) and the strings that tie them together aren't as flimsy. Inarritu is obviously a master of grit and realism; the stories involving Octavio and El Chivo are scary in their urgency, while the relationship between Daniel and the model is frighteningly nuanced and true.

But I still think that they whole hyperlink fad (movies with interconnecting storylines- think Crash) is more distracting than enlightening. Crash did it right with its overarching theme of racism and stereotyping; Amores Perros and Babel fall short because the connections are mostly pointless and distracting.