Goose Egg Marathon Film #25
Y Tu Mamá También
(2001, Alfonso Cuarón)
I love going into a film like this with really no notions of the plot or who was in it. It was a lot of fun watching this story unfold and go it directions I didn't anticipate. I loved the flirtful relationship of our three leads and that dialog was just spot on. Gael García Bernal again has a superb performance for my marathon. No idea he was in this. (I take this spoiler-free thing pretty seriously). He has this knack of playing cool and vulnerable at the same time - very smart but never arrogant.
I was really impressed by the road trip sequences - like a gorgeous travelogue of back-country Mexico. Cuarón has this adoring lens on the countryside and it's people, making me wonder if he himself is a product of this world. It seems he has a pretty cynical outlook on the future for these people and these areas.
What can separate a good film from a great film are little scenes like the stop where they were asked to "donate to their princess".
I kinda half expected the film to wrap up once they got to their destination, but there was great bonus stuff where they hung out, meet this family, and hang out for awhile. As you drive away from home the layers of the protective cocoon you build up around you starts to peel away one by one. I guess the climax (umm literally and figuratively I suppose) was pretty well telescoped from the beginning, but it does put a punctuation mark on this theme.
The voice over...huh...very interesting. I like that choice. I haven't watched this a second time. I'm curious about the specific content of that text and how it was chosen. In some cases we are given what might be considered useless backstory on parents and upbringing...but I have a suspicion this is not by mistake.
We have this interesting thread of death, which might take a rewatch to fully understand. There is this matter-of-factness to it that seems to underline its permanence and inevitability. This is so much breaking down of traditions, right down to the "rules" being broken.
As in all great summer coming of age stories, our characters all change for ever. But here it's not done with some tidy conveniences. Here it is rather poignant and far reaching.
I do think very fondly of this film. I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of gratuitous sex in movies but I do appreciate and totally get what Cuarón was doing with it here. Certainly it had a major point to the story, and was no more meant for titillation than Eyes Wide Shut. But just as earlier in my marathon with Apocalyto, I do find that being somewhat uptight about such things is often at odds with being a film lover. I'm figuring out how to compartmentalize this.
All-in-all, a fun film. I'm finding myself missing these characters already. Another fine film for the marathon
Verdict:
Beautiful to look at, great characters, and interesting thought-provoking themes.
Grade: B+