Rating: 3.5/5
Criterion Challenge 2023 | 6/52 | Animals in the Collection
This is what it sounds like when dogs fight.
Two boys, Octavio and Jorge, are speeding down the road. There’s a bleeding black dog in the backseat. A big yellow SUV is chasing after them, handguns pointing out the windows. They try to lose the SUV. They end up in a car crash.
The movie follows three stories about people making major transitions in their lives. The stories intertwine throughout the film. They all converge at the car wreck scene.
Octavio and Jorge introduce Octavio’s dog, Cofi, to the world of dogfighting after discovering that Cofi killed another dog in a fight. He intends to save up and run away with his brother Romero’s wife, Susana. Life doesn’t play fair, though, especially when you’re unfaithful.
In the following story, Daniel leaves his wife and two kids to start a new life with a supermodel named Valeria. No sooner than when they move in together, Valeria gets in a car wreck. The wreck breaks her leg and effectively ends her modeling career. Daniel cares for her in their new apartment together. Things get worse for the couple when Valeria’s dog, Richie, falls through a broken floorboard and gets stuck under the apartment floor.
In the third, a hitman and former guerrilla named El Chivo is trying to reconnect with the daughter he abandoned 20 years ago. Before he can complete a hit, he witnesses a car wreck. He saves Cofi from the wreckage.
Of the three stories, the middle story is the weak link. The car wreck is the only link between this story and the others. By focusing on the other two stories, we can cut 30-40 minutes and have a stronger ending.
The movie’s most notable success is making it look like dogs fight and die. Iñárritu discussed using clever editing and sound design to make all the scenes with dogs fighting look real. The dogs were actually playing with one another. Once you know that, it’s easier to tell in the movie.
Time has diminished the movie’s sheen since 2000. But it’s still a wonderful movie.