by Lynda Del Sasso
AMORES PERROS (LOVE'S A
BITCH)
Mexico 2000, Cert. 18
Director:
ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU
Star Rating * * * *
In Mexico City, a car crash and
a rottweiler named Cofi link the lives of three disparate
people. The dog's teenage owner, Octavio, enters him for
brutal dog fights to raise money for his elopement with his
brother's wife but his plans go wrong, culminating in the
desperate car crash. Beautiful Spanish model Valeria, in the
wrong place at the wrong time, crushes her leg in the
accident, changing the path of her life forever. Meanwhile, El
Chivo, a revolutionary turned street rat and assassin, about
to make a hit when the accident happens, rescues Cofi and adds
him to his pack of pet dogs.
This powerful, episodically
structured film owes much to Quentin Tarantino - particularly
in the opening scenes. Like Tarantino, violence is embraced,
and the scenes based around the dog-fighting circuit are
difficult to watch, despite a notice in the credits that no
animals were harmed in the making of the picture. The sight of
limp dogs' bodies after the fights, fur matted with blood,
sprawled on the concrete are more shocking to British
sensibilities than any number of Hollywood heist gunfights.
However, if you can get past the harrowing subject matter of
the first vignette, this bold, intensely emotional drama is
well worth the effort. The strong performances, gritty images
and chilling content create a complex yet surprisingly hopeful
impression of love and life in a dog-eat-dog world.
Duke of York's from June 1
SERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS
US 2001, Cert. 18
Director: DANIEL MINAHAN
Star Rating * * * 1/2
 Five new contestants are chosen
to take part in the ultimate US gameshow, The Contenders. Each
contender is handed a gun and assigned a cameraman who will
accompany them at all times. Their goal: to eliminate the
other Contenders and so win the show. Participation is
obligatory and selection is by social security number. Dawn
(Brooke Smith), the heavily pregnant reigning champion from
Series 6, is desperate and willing to kill everyone to
safeguard the life of her baby. Jeff, a testicular cancer
patient, on hearing of his selection, tries to shoot himself.
Middle-aged ER nurse Connie decides to get on with the killing
with cold medical efficiency.
This clever satire on reality
TV has elements of Big Brother and Survivor, as well as many
US real-life cop shows, and much of the comedy lies in its
familiar televisual style. It's all too easy to sit back,
relax and enjoy as ordinary people chase and kill each other
in convenience stores and shopping malls in small-town USA.
Only a step away from the everyday confrontations of the likes
of Jerry Springer Show, this amusing premise was originally
developed at the Sundance Writers Lab four years ago, before
the major reality gameshows hit our TV screens. Like its
subject matter, Series 7: The Contenders is rather
over-the-top, lacking the subtlety of Man Bites Dog, but there
are some superb comedy moments all the same.
Odeon and UGC from June 1
Duke of York's
Cannes Film Festival Report
Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge
kicked off providing the requisite glamour and spectacle.
Nicole Kidman and co-star Ewan MacGregor impressed as musical
performers in this lurid tale of doomed love at the notorious
Paris nightclub. Songs from Madonna to Elton John make up the
quirky score.
Two war films stood out in
competition. Kandahar by Iranian maestro Mohsen Makmalbaf: a
study of hardships and oppression in Afghanistan after the
Taliban war. Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land -The Bosnian war is
satirised with gallows humour
The Coen Brothers' highly regarded entry was The Man Who
Wasn't There, a dark, existential homage to film-noir starring
Billy Bob Thornton.
The biggest buzz of the
festival was for Tears of the Black Tiger, a kitsch, retro
Thai western with a melodramatic plot illustrated with
surreal, colour-saturated images. An instant cult classic!
Controversy ensued with
director Michael Haneke's film The Piano Teacher. Isabelle
Huppert plays a sensitive yet forceful piano teacher with a
secret life of voyeurism and masochism. Also rated was Clair
Denis' Trouble Every Day with Beatrice Dalle in scenes of
cannibalism.
copyright New Insight 2001
|
