Screening 3: Amores Perros (2000)
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Country: México
Release Year: 2000
Genre: Thriller/Crime
Language: Spanish with English Subtitles
Runtime: 154 min
Amores Perros is a seminal 2000 film that marked the directorial debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu and launched the international careers of both the director and actor Gael García Bernal. It marked a new era for Mexican cinema in the 21st century. The film’s 25th anniversary was celebrated throughout 2025, with a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
Amores perros contains domestic violence. No animals were harmed during the making of the film, and the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, has explained the techniques used to stage the realistic dog fights. This includes using muzzles, making the dogs appear bloodied and dead through makeup and sedation, and employing a respected animal trainer who used his own dogs.
Synopsis: On the brink of the new Millennium in the bustling City of Mexico, one horrible car accident intertwines inextricably the lives of three perfect strangers. Octavio, a rebellious adolescent who is secretly in love with his sister-in-law, dreams of escaping his miserable life, and for this reason, he enters reluctantly the obscure world of dog fighting with his lethal dog Cofi. And then unexpectedly, Valeria, a stunning woman and famous supermodel, will cross paths with Octavio, while in the meantime, her pampered little dog Richie manages to vanish into thin air in the confined space of her apartment. Lastly, Chivo, an ex-guerrilla vagabond, after abandoning his little daughter, unable to make up for lost time, he channels his love to the city’s strays and a mortally wounded Rottweiler. In the end, even though all the weary characters, men and beasts, wish for a bright future, in this life-changing journey in the pursuit of love, sometimes infidelity, sin and death can get in the way.