Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, readers. To to those that have noticed, I've added a new feature to the blog page. With the email notifier, it should from now on notify you when I put up a new post. It's located in the top right corner of the page, so feel free to subscribe whenever you're able to. Having said that, let's move on to Tuesday's video pick of the week. This week's pick is phenomenal foreign language film out of Mexico and the first feature length film of critically acclaimed director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. It's also the first film of Inarritu's "Death Trilogy", the next two films being 21 Grams and Babel.

      Amores Perros focuses on three distinct stories all connected by one car accident. The first story deals with Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his sister-in-law Susana (Vanessa Bauche). Susana is in an emotionally and sometimes physically abusive relationship with Octavio's brother Ramiro. Octavio's in love with Susana and wants to give her the life he feels she deserves. To do that, he winds up making some quick cash by diving into the underworld of dog fighting. The second story deals with an affair involving Daniel (Alvaro Guerrero) and Valeria (Goya Toledo). Valeria is a famous supermodel, obsessed with her pet dog Richie, and Daniel is a magazine publisher with a family of his own. Valeria's life is turned upside down when she ends up in a car crash that may have ended her career in modeling. The third and final story deals with "El Chivo" (Emilio Echevarria). Once a former private school teacher, "El Chivo" wound up serving twenty years in prison for his involvement in some guerrilla movements. Now he's seen as a vagrant, pushing a junk cart through the city accompanied by his pack of dogs.

      This is a perfect example of an A+ film. The way this story unfolds throughout its two and a half hour running time and the way the lives of three unsuspecting individuals intertwine together is nothing short of brilliant writing and directing. You know you have a great film when a movie well over two hours is able to captivate you for each and every minute of its length. While the rough translation of the title means "Love's a bitch", director Inarritu has been quoted saying there's more to the title than just its rough translation. There are a variety of angles you could look at with this story. The fact that love is such a powerful emotion, capable of both making us stronger or breaking our spirit. The fact that love is capable of making us do crazy things at times in the heat of the moment, similar to a dog in heat. There's also the dog angle. Dogs are a very key component to each of the three main characters within the story, dealing with themes of loyalty (as dogs aka "Man's best friend" are) and disloyalty (seducing your brother's wife, marital infidelity, etc.). There are a number of different angles you could take away from this movie. That's what makes this story so strong and keeps your eyes glued to the screen from the opening to closing credits.With writing as strong as this, direction that is perfectly spot on, and extremely sublime performances - including an Oscar worthy supporting performance from Emilio Echevarria that will terrify one moment, then move you to tears by the end - this is a must see. Rent it, put it in your Netflix queue, it's even worth buying to own. By far one of the best films 2000 had to offer, Amores Perros is a film you will never forget.