Post by klep on Jun 24, 2019 6:54:35 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/24: Y Tu Mamá También
SUMMER WEEK!
It would be easy to get turned off by a brief plot synopsis of Y Tu Mamá También. "Two horny teens go on a road trip with an older woman, hoping to have sex with her," it might go. You might think such a movie would be inconsequential and possibly even kind of gross, and it would be hard to blame you. But a brief plot synopsis of Afonso Cuarón's 2001 film would do it an incredible disservice. More needs to be said to give a fuller idea of what Cuarón is doing.
For example, you might add "The trip is backgrounded by a tender video essay on the class struggles of everyday life in Mexico." That would clue people in to the way Cuarón contrasts the hedonistic pleasures of the journey with the troubles of the people around the trio, as well as some of the barriers between them. Periodically Cuarón drops the audio out to replace it with narration (by Daniel Giménez Cacho) dealing with minor characters. A worker lying dead in the street because the pedestrian walkway would take him over a mile out of his way on the way to work. The hometown of Tenoch's (Diego Luna) live-in maid/nanny, whom he called "Mama" until he was four. A fisherman doomed to be evicted - and his livelihood destroyed - to make way for a luxury hotel.
Cuarón beautifully weaves these narrated moments into the film, which is also populated with shots of things like decaying towns, random police arrests, and other depictions of poverty. It shows us that even as people like our protagonists are able to live their lives idyllically, doing so requires a certain degree of willful blindness to the struggles of those around them. There are two Mexicos, Cuarón is telling us, and one is suffering.
That's not all his film is contemplating. Unfortunately adding another line might spoil things. But if you were reading that synopsis and thinking "Why on Earth did this woman go on this trip with these boys?" then you'd be on the right track. Cuarón spends at least as much time on Luisa (Maribel Verdú) as he does the boys, and the film bit by bit lets us into her head.
At first we think she's going with the boys to get revenge on her cheating husband. We see his phone call to confess the evening after she apparently received some unwelcome news from the doctor, and she decides to go the next day. But that doesn't seem to be the whole story - eventually she reveals he was a serial cheater she was hoping would change. She breaks up with her husband over the phone, but it's not a breakup she wants to be angry or bitter. Something else pushed her over the edge. Something that could send her into terrible crying jags, and that left her scared in the car at night of something nameless beyond whatever was there in the dark. What is it that could cause such pain, yet push her to live with such lust (for the boys and for life)? What causes her hesitation when another woman suggests she should have her own kids?
In a haunting final scene, we learn that she died of cancer a month later. The boys having gone back home, she stayed at that beautiful stretch of coastline enjoying herself as much as she could with what little time she had left. In her own way, she was pushing the people around her to live their lives better in her wake; to get the boys to get over their adolescent immaturity, and to help the husband she loved in spite of everything to start moving on before he even knew she was sick. "Life is like the foam, so give yourself away like the sea," she told the boys before they left. It was more than advice; it was her own personal mission statement.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/1: The Passion of Joan of Arc
1920s WEEK!
To celebrate the cinema of the 1920s, we've selected The Passion of Joan of Arc. Generally considered to contain one of the finest performances ever committed to film, The Passion of Joan of Arc is celebrated as part of Sight & Sounds top 10 movies of all time. Join us next week for our discussion! The Passion of Joan of Arc can be found on Kanopy and Criterion channel, and for rent on Amazon Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/25: Men In Black
The podcast crew tackles the ends of another franchise in their next pairing starting with 1997's Men In Black. Join us Wednesday for our own discussion thread! Men In Black is available for rent in the usual places.
SUMMER WEEK!
It would be easy to get turned off by a brief plot synopsis of Y Tu Mamá También. "Two horny teens go on a road trip with an older woman, hoping to have sex with her," it might go. You might think such a movie would be inconsequential and possibly even kind of gross, and it would be hard to blame you. But a brief plot synopsis of Afonso Cuarón's 2001 film would do it an incredible disservice. More needs to be said to give a fuller idea of what Cuarón is doing.
For example, you might add "The trip is backgrounded by a tender video essay on the class struggles of everyday life in Mexico." That would clue people in to the way Cuarón contrasts the hedonistic pleasures of the journey with the troubles of the people around the trio, as well as some of the barriers between them. Periodically Cuarón drops the audio out to replace it with narration (by Daniel Giménez Cacho) dealing with minor characters. A worker lying dead in the street because the pedestrian walkway would take him over a mile out of his way on the way to work. The hometown of Tenoch's (Diego Luna) live-in maid/nanny, whom he called "Mama" until he was four. A fisherman doomed to be evicted - and his livelihood destroyed - to make way for a luxury hotel.
Cuarón beautifully weaves these narrated moments into the film, which is also populated with shots of things like decaying towns, random police arrests, and other depictions of poverty. It shows us that even as people like our protagonists are able to live their lives idyllically, doing so requires a certain degree of willful blindness to the struggles of those around them. There are two Mexicos, Cuarón is telling us, and one is suffering.
That's not all his film is contemplating. Unfortunately adding another line might spoil things. But if you were reading that synopsis and thinking "Why on Earth did this woman go on this trip with these boys?" then you'd be on the right track. Cuarón spends at least as much time on Luisa (Maribel Verdú) as he does the boys, and the film bit by bit lets us into her head.
At first we think she's going with the boys to get revenge on her cheating husband. We see his phone call to confess the evening after she apparently received some unwelcome news from the doctor, and she decides to go the next day. But that doesn't seem to be the whole story - eventually she reveals he was a serial cheater she was hoping would change. She breaks up with her husband over the phone, but it's not a breakup she wants to be angry or bitter. Something else pushed her over the edge. Something that could send her into terrible crying jags, and that left her scared in the car at night of something nameless beyond whatever was there in the dark. What is it that could cause such pain, yet push her to live with such lust (for the boys and for life)? What causes her hesitation when another woman suggests she should have her own kids?
In a haunting final scene, we learn that she died of cancer a month later. The boys having gone back home, she stayed at that beautiful stretch of coastline enjoying herself as much as she could with what little time she had left. In her own way, she was pushing the people around her to live their lives better in her wake; to get the boys to get over their adolescent immaturity, and to help the husband she loved in spite of everything to start moving on before he even knew she was sick. "Life is like the foam, so give yourself away like the sea," she told the boys before they left. It was more than advice; it was her own personal mission statement.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/1: The Passion of Joan of Arc
1920s WEEK!
To celebrate the cinema of the 1920s, we've selected The Passion of Joan of Arc. Generally considered to contain one of the finest performances ever committed to film, The Passion of Joan of Arc is celebrated as part of Sight & Sounds top 10 movies of all time. Join us next week for our discussion! The Passion of Joan of Arc can be found on Kanopy and Criterion channel, and for rent on Amazon Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/25: Men In Black
The podcast crew tackles the ends of another franchise in their next pairing starting with 1997's Men In Black. Join us Wednesday for our own discussion thread! Men In Black is available for rent in the usual places.