Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)

WORTH-IT (Inarritu): Does the title speak truth or what? Taken from a common understanding that love is worth it, but comes with heartache, this film plays on several kinds of love, fleshing them out to the bare bones of what makes a heart tick. A chain of interlinking stories, Amores Perros carries us through the lives of people in love. Every story includes love for a partner and love for a dog, therefore, appropriately titled in pun. Although I think Babel accomplishes more as far as transcendence goes, Amores Perros uses fewer stories to depict his feeling on the topic. We are taking busily through lives of poverty, parenthood, stardom, and loneliness. Witnessing the fast-paced, streamlined mindsets of each character, we see how one's ignorant selfishness can be the breakdown of another. Also revealed is the assumption that no matter who or what you love, there is someone out there, loving another, that will inevitably screw up your scenario. That might be an extreme take, but what would a movie be without extremity. I believe Inarritu intends to shock people into realizing their own self-indulgence, and uses love, the world's most commonly sought after emotion to portray it. The acting is phenomenal, the characters are believable, and the fast-paced story-switching keeps your attention and keeps you intrigued. It is a long movie, be ready for that, but because it is titillating the whole way through, you'll feel like you just exited a hell of a roller-coaster. Especially if you saw and liked Babel, be sure to see this movie.