Talking To The Screen
Y Tu Mama Tambien :2001
With two movies in the past year to jump the border from Mexico (?Y Tu Mama Tambien? and ?Amores Perros?), Gael Garcia Bernal is poised to become the face of Mexican cinema in the US. This year?s ?El Crimen de Padre Amaro? should only bolster this status, as the film is already generating international controversy and accolades.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? translates to ?And your mother too?. This film follows the friendship of two boys over the summer before their last year of high school. Tenoch (Diego Luna) is the son of a politician. Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) comes from a blue collar home. The two are extremely close, replete with a ?manifesto? outlining the rules of their friendship. Early in the summer, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdu), the wife of Tenoch?s cousin. Julio and Tenoch are intoxicated by Luisa?s mature beauty, and in a wonderfully eighteen year old manner, invite her to come to the beach with them for a week. When Luisa finds that her husband has cheated on her, she accepts the boys offer.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? is a beautifully told tragedy. A major theme of the story is secret transgression. There are rules presented throughout the film; the understood rules of marriage, the manifesto of the boy?s friendship. These rules are broken secretly to no harm. Once the violations are made public, only pain is revealed. Truth brings harm; the outward maintenance of the rules insures the delicate balance of happiness and camaraderie.
This is one of a few movies that has made effective use of the voice over. Where many fail is in describing too much; ?Show, don?t tell?. A voiceover is capable of leading the viewer too much, and superceding in importance the rest of the film making. In ?Y Tu Mama Tambien?, the voiceover serves to inform the viewer of furtive details ancillary to the plot. Julio and Tenoch are stuck in traffic; three or four sentences are said about the cause of the accident and its participants. The accident has nothing else to do with the plot of the story, but the voiceover forces the viewer to acknowledge other forces and action at play in addition to the story being told. The vignettes in ?Run Lola Run? play a similar role.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? is a sensitive look at secrets and truth and their role in friendship. It is beautifully told story demonstrative of Alfonso Cuaron?s expert filmmaking. It?s pace and charged content make this a more enjoyable movie to watch than ?Amores Perros?. Both suggest great movies from Mexico in the future. I?m looking forward to ?El Crimen de Padre Amaro?.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? translates to ?And your mother too?. This film follows the friendship of two boys over the summer before their last year of high school. Tenoch (Diego Luna) is the son of a politician. Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal) comes from a blue collar home. The two are extremely close, replete with a ?manifesto? outlining the rules of their friendship. Early in the summer, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdu), the wife of Tenoch?s cousin. Julio and Tenoch are intoxicated by Luisa?s mature beauty, and in a wonderfully eighteen year old manner, invite her to come to the beach with them for a week. When Luisa finds that her husband has cheated on her, she accepts the boys offer.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? is a beautifully told tragedy. A major theme of the story is secret transgression. There are rules presented throughout the film; the understood rules of marriage, the manifesto of the boy?s friendship. These rules are broken secretly to no harm. Once the violations are made public, only pain is revealed. Truth brings harm; the outward maintenance of the rules insures the delicate balance of happiness and camaraderie.
This is one of a few movies that has made effective use of the voice over. Where many fail is in describing too much; ?Show, don?t tell?. A voiceover is capable of leading the viewer too much, and superceding in importance the rest of the film making. In ?Y Tu Mama Tambien?, the voiceover serves to inform the viewer of furtive details ancillary to the plot. Julio and Tenoch are stuck in traffic; three or four sentences are said about the cause of the accident and its participants. The accident has nothing else to do with the plot of the story, but the voiceover forces the viewer to acknowledge other forces and action at play in addition to the story being told. The vignettes in ?Run Lola Run? play a similar role.
?Y Tu Mama Tambien? is a sensitive look at secrets and truth and their role in friendship. It is beautifully told story demonstrative of Alfonso Cuaron?s expert filmmaking. It?s pace and charged content make this a more enjoyable movie to watch than ?Amores Perros?. Both suggest great movies from Mexico in the future. I?m looking forward to ?El Crimen de Padre Amaro?.