Title: Rudo y Cursi
Released: 2009
Plot Summary
Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, reunited after Y Tu Mama También, are brothers who live in a rural Mexican town harvesting bananas. Rudo (Luna) spends his free time gambling and losing his wife's blender (licuadora) while Cursi's (Bernal) passion is music, which he sees as his true calling. Both brothers play soccer, and are discovered by an Argentine talent scout named Batuta who take them to DF to try out for division one teams.
Rudo y Cursi is a great story of sibling rivalry, pursuing dreams, and adjusting to success. The acting and storyline are well-done, and is the quality you would expect from a film put together by three greats: Carlos Cuarón (y tu mamá también), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros), and Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth).
Language Learning Notes
Title: Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)
Released: 2000
Plot Summary
From director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amores Perros is an extremely well-made movie from Mexico. The first scene indicates that this movie isn't going to be easy to watch: the film opens with a car chase scene, rushing to the hospital to save a dog that's bleeding to death. While on the surface the movie is about dog-fighting, it also weaves together three stories, while providing a social commentary about life in Mexico at all levels of society.
Amores Perros doesn't provide an escape from reality as many films do, but rather dives into it. Many scenes use rough camera-work, florescent lighting, and show characters as they are, like the arranger of dog fights who is fat, sweaty and scratching himself. Even Gael García Bernal (Octavio) looks like an average guy in this movie.
David Lida's First Stop in the New World is a wonderfully-written look at modern Mexico City, a city he loves not in spite of its paradoxes but because of them. Having lived as an ex-pat in DF since 1990, Lida provides great insight into the culture and its idiosyncrasies from a somewhat outsider's perspective. It's clear that Lida is a journalist always looking for an interesting angle from which to explore the great city, providing tidbits that are unique to DF.
Title: Y tu mamá también
Released: 2001
Plot Summary
This racy film out of Mexico from director Alfonso Cuarón was one of Mexico's greats and was extremely well-received internationally. The story recounts the coming-of-age of the film's two young protagonists: Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael García Bernal), who were recently reunited in 2009 film Rudo y Cursi.
The basic plot is a road trip from DF to Boca de Cielo, a beach Tenoch and Julio have invented to invite Luisa, a thirtysomething Spaniard who happens to be married to Tenoch's philandering cousin.
