Amores Perros (2000) Amores perros (original title)

Director:

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writer:

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)

Release Date:

16 June 2000 (Mexico)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Love. Betrayal. Death.

Plot:

A horrific car accident connects three stories, each involving characters dealing with loss, regret, and life's harsh realities, all in the name of love.

Plot Keywords:

Car Accident | Dog | Dogfight | Money | Mexico

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 54 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Emilio Echevarría	...	El Chivo
Gael García Bernal	...	Octavio (as Gael García)
Goya Toledo	...	Valeria
Álvaro Guerrero	...	Daniel
Vanessa Bauche	...	Susana
Jorge Salinas	...	Luis
Marco Pérez	...	Ramiro
Rodrigo Murray	...	Gustavo
Humberto Busto	...	Jorge
Gerardo Campbell	...	Mauricio
Rosa María Bianchi	...	Tía Luisa (Aunt Luisa)
Dunia Saldívar	...	Mama Susana (Susana's Mother)
Adriana Barraza	...	Mama Octavio (Octavio's Mother)
José Sefami	...	Leonardo
Lourdes Echevarría	...	Maru
Laura Almela	...	Julieta
Ricardo Dalmacci	...	Andrés Salgado
Gustavo Sánchez Parra	...	Jarocho
Dagoberto Gama	...	Alvaro
Gustavo Muñoz	...	El Chispas
Carlo Bernal	...	Javier
Rodrigo Ostap	...	El Jaibo (as Rodrigo Obstab)
Edgar González	...	Bebe Rodrigo (Baby Rodrigo)
Hilda González	...	Cajera (Cashier)
Patricio Castillo	...	Doctor
Ana María González	...	Enfermera (Nurse)
Roberto Medina	...	Conductor de T.V. (TV Announcer)
Ángeles Marín	...	Conductora de T.V. (TV Announcer)
Carlos Samperio	...	Hombre deshuesadero (Man at Junkyard)
Kazuyo Togawa	...	Sra. gorda (Fat Lady) (as T. Kazuyo Togawa)
Gema Aparicio	...	Empleada domestica (Maid) (scenes deleted)
Adriana Varone	...	Amante Luis (Luis's Mistress)
Bruno Salgado	...	Champignon
Adriana Islas	...	Lina
Regina Abad	...	Jimena
Leoncio Torres	...	El Pelón
Luisa Geliz	...	Secretaria Daniel (Daniel's Secretary)
Jean Paul Bierry	...	Hombre junta (Man at Meeting)
Alma Rocío González	...	Mujer junta (Woman at Meeting)
Mauricio Martínez	...	Judicial (Judicial Police Agent)
Juan Manuel Ramos	...	Policia (Policeman)
Ernesto Bog	...	Hombre 1 (Man 1)
José Luis Barraza	...	Hombre 2 (Man 2)
Jorge Arellano	...	Niño cuidador 1 (Boy Caretaker 1)
Jonathan Herrera	...	Niño cuidador 2 (Boy Caretaker 2)
Heriberto Castillo	...	Extraño (Stranger

Directed by
Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writing credits
Guillermo Arriaga		(written by) (as Guillermo Arriaga Jordán)

Produced by
Guillermo Arriaga	....	associate producer (as Guillermo Arriaga Jordán)
Raúl Olvera Ferrer	....	associate producer
Francisco González Compeán	....	executive producer
Alejandro González Iñárritu	....	producer
Pelayo Gutiérrez	....	associate producer
Mónica Lozano	....	associate producer (as Monica Lozano)
Martha Sosa Elizondo	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Gustavo Santaolalla

Cinematography by
Rodrigo Prieto

Film Editing by
Luis Carballar
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Fernando Pérez Unda

Casting by
Manuel Teil

Production Design by
Brigitte Broch

Art Direction by
Melo Hinojosa

Set Decoration by
Julieta Álvarez

Costume Design by
Gabriela Diaque

Makeup Department
Isabel Amezcua	....	hair stylist
Marco Antonio Garcia	....	assistant makeup artist
Eduardo Gómez	....	hair stylist
Marco Antonio Rosado	....	makeup artist (as Marco Rosado)
David Ruiz Gameros	....	makeup artist (as David Gameros)
Gabriel Solana	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Tita Lombardo	....	production manager
Tlacateotl Mata	....	post-production manager
Oscar Reboreda	....	production manager: STPC
Erick Tamayo	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Efren del Moral	....	second assistant director (as Efrén del Moral)
Adrian Grunberg	....	assistant director: second unit
Carlos Hidalgo	....	first assistant director
Julian 'Chico' Valdez	....	second second assistant director (as Julián 'Chico' Valdes)

Art Department
Pedro Alanis Alanis	....	decorative painter (as Pedro Alanis)
Luis Blackaller	....	graphic designer
Luis Blackaller	....	set designer
Miguel Cervantes	....	assistant props
Enrique Correa	....	art department
Gilberto Cortes	....	property master (as Gilberto Cortés)
Ernesto Cortéz	....	art department
Ismael Damián Castillo	....	art department
Alisarine Ducolomb	....	art department coordinator
El Flaco	....	art department
Antonio Godínez	....	assistant props
Alfredo Gonzalez	....	assistant decorator (as Alfredo González)
Jesús Hernández Villegas	....	art department
Víctor Hugo Libreros	....	art department
Fernando Llanos	....	storyboard artist
Francisco Javier Moreno	....	art department
Óscar Neri Torres	....	art department
Alberto Piedra Cortés	....	art department (as Alberto Piedra)
Álvaro Pungas	....	art department
Fernando Rodríguez León	....	art department
Carlos Rodríguez	....	art department
Carlos Sanen	....	assistant decorator
Tacho	....	stand-by carpenter
Fernando Ávila Alba	....	art department
Roberto Ávila	....	assistant decorator
Gilberto Avina Gomez	....	art department crew (uncredited)
Gilberto Aviña Gomez	....	art department (uncredited)

Sound Department
Antonio Diego	....	sound
Joaquín Díaz	....	sound editor
Efraín García Mora	....	sound editor
Daniel García	....	assistant boom operator
Martín Hernández	....	sound designer
Martín Hernández	....	sound effects recordist
Martín Hernández	....	supervising sound editor
Carlos Honc	....	assistant sound editor
Carlos Honc	....	sound effects recordist
Samuel Mendoza	....	sound effects recordist
Rudy Pi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy Potvin	....	sound stereo supervisor: Dolby
Alejandro Quevedo	....	sound editor
Adrián Reynoso	....	assistant sound editor
Adrián Reynoso	....	sound editor
Rodolfo Romero	....	sound editor
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	sound re-recording mixer
Leon Sandoval	....	boom operator (as León Sandoval Ortega)
Kaeri Tedla	....	sound effects recordist
Roland N. Thai	....	supervising sound editor
Rigoberto Torres	....	assistant sound editor

Special Effects by
Javier Martínez	....	special effects assistant
Alejandro Vázquez	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Guillermo Franco-Guevara	....	digital artist
Miguel Moreno	....	digital artist

Stunts
Gerardo Albarrán	....	stunt coordinator (as Gerardo Moreno)
Igor Aranda	....	stunts
Ubaldo Bucio	....	stunts
Jorge Luis Corzo	....	stunts (as Jorge Corzo)
Tomás Guzmán	....	stunts
Javier Lambert	....	stunts
Mauricio Martínez	....	stunts
Raúl Martínez	....	stunts
Gabriela Moreno	....	stunts
Rafael Valdez	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Benito Aguilar	....	gaffer
Donald Bryant	....	additional camera operator
Victor Manuel Camacho	....	video assist operator
Arturo Castañeda	....	first assistant camera
Pablo Castillo	....	grip
Joaquin Cervera	....	additional assistant camera
Norman Christianson	....	additional camera operator
Esteban de Llaca	....	additional camera operator
Fernando Díaz Torres	....	second assistant camera
Gerardo Flores	....	additional assistant camera (as Gerardo Julian Flores)
Federico García	....	still photographer
Héctor 'Fito' García	....	additional camera operator (as Héctor Marcos García)
Jesús Francisco García	....	video assist operator
Manuel García	....	electrician
Martín Gaytán	....	additional assistant camera
Jesús González	....	gaffer
José González	....	electrician
Pedro González	....	key grip
José Gutiérrez	....	additional assistant camera
Lorenzo Hagerman	....	still photographer
Edgar Hurtado	....	additional assistant camera
Antonio Jara	....	grip
Luis Lara	....	electrician
Ignacio Martínez	....	grip
Noe Muñoz	....	camera loader
Salvador Orendain	....	grip
Miguel Ángel Pacheco	....	grip
Ismael Parades	....	grip (as Ismael Paredes)
Victor Manuel Ramirez	....	electrician
Antonio Riestra	....	additional camera operator
Erick Sanudo	....	additional camera operator (as Erick Sañudo)
Humberto Sánchez	....	grip
Eduardo Flores Torres	....	additional camera operator (as Eduardo Flores)
Mauricio Vega	....	electrician
Lohengrin Zapiain	....	additional assistant camera

Casting Department
Jorge Guerrero	....	extras casting
Sonia Guerrero	....	extras casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ismael Jardon	....	costume supervisor
Margarita Lozada	....	costumer
Carlos 'Pollo' Munguia	....	assistant costume supervisor (as Carlos Alberto Munguia R.)
Francisco Rodríguez	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Pablo Baksht	....	post-production coordinator (as Pablo Baksht Segovia)
Carlos Bolado	....	editing advisor
Alfonso Cornejo	....	post-production assistant
Mario Sandoval	....	post-production assistant
Guillermo del Toro	....	editing advisor

Music Department
Carlos Arredondo	....	music editor
Carlos Arredondo	....	score recording engineer
Lynn Fainchtein	....	music supervisor
Herminio Gutiérrez	....	music coordinator
Daniel Hidalgo	....	original music
Anibal Kerpel	....	music engineer (as Aníbal Kerpel)

Transportation Department
Julio César Aivar	....	driver
Roberto Alcalá	....	driver
Arturo Ballesteros	....	driver
Eduardo Bonilla	....	driver
Eduardo Cortéz	....	driver
Raúl Escobedo Espinoza	....	driver (as Raúl Escobedo)
Alejandro Galván	....	driver
Enrique Garcia	....	transportation captain (as Enrique García)
Luis Miguel García	....	driver
Alejandro Gasca	....	driver
Urbano Guzmán	....	driver
Edgar 'Chivata' Lezama	....	action vehicles
Alejandro Linares	....	driver
Alfonso Medina	....	driver
Benito Meléndez Chávez	....	driver (as Benito Meléndez)
Mario Moreno	....	driver
Humberto Ochoa	....	driver
Omar Pedraza	....	driver
Antonio Saldaña	....	driver
Pedro Urbina	....	driver
Gustavo Vallejo	....	driver
Alejandro Vázquez	....	driver
Manuel Ávila	....	driver

Other crew
Ernesto Aparicio	....	dog wrangler
Jorge Barba	....	assistant location manager
Ernesto Bolio	....	personal advisor
Ignacio Borja	....	title designer
Tessa Brisac	....	translator: French
Fernando Camarena	....	assistant accountant
Patricia Cano	....	location manager
Larry Casanova	....	dog wrangler
Abel Casillas	....	delegate: ANDA
Oliver Castro	....	title designer: main title
Mario A. Cornejo Ruiz	....	production assistant
Philip Dale	....	translator: English
Adrian Enriquez	....	assistant location manager (as Adrián Enríquez)
Luciano Falcón	....	stand-in
Armelina Fritche	....	wrangler trainee
Mayte Gallegos	....	location manager
Fabio García Montes de Oca	....	production assistant
José Luis Guillén	....	stand-in
Lucero Gutierrez	....	assistant to director (as Lucero Gutiérrez)
Yissel Ibarra	....	subtitle supervisor (as Yissel Ibarra Espriu)
Luciana Kaplan	....	script supervisor
Juan Carlos Landero	....	production assistant
Fernando Llanos	....	making-of
G. Pekas Lozano	....	production coordinator (as Gloria 'Pekas' Lozano)
Paco Medina	....	production assistant
Tavatha Menendez	....	stand-in (as Tabatha Menéndez)
Omar Moctezuma	....	staff
Juan Carlos Navarro	....	stand-in
Rosalba Nogueda	....	secretary to director
Grace Olvera	....	stand-in
Claudia Puebla	....	location manager
Israel Ramos Vargas	....	dog wrangler assistant
Anna Roth	....	production advisor (as Anna Roth Kanarska)
Pablo Rovalo	....	title designer
Timothy J. Sexton	....	additional translator: English
Raúl Torres	....	accountant
Ernesto Trejo	....	set medic
Eduardo Vignon	....	stand-in
Silverio 'Chapu' Vázquez	....	dog wrangler assistant
Aurelia Álvarez Urbajtel	....	additional translator: French

Thanks
Monica Abin	....	thanks
Javier Aguilera	....	thanks
Jorge Aguilera	....	thanks
Eliseo Alberto	....	thanks
Miguel Alemán Magnani	....	special thanks
María Eugenia Armendariz	....	thanks
Antonio Armonia	....	thanks
Marianna Arriaga	....	thanks (as Mariana Arriaga A.)
Santiago Arriaga	....	thanks (as Santiago Arriaga A.)
Patricia Arriaga-Jordán	....	thanks
Fernando Bennazar	....	thanks
Eduardo Berrondo	....	thanks
Rosa Bosch	....	thanks
Lola Bravo	....	thanks
Simón Bross	....	thanks
Constanza Cavalli	....	thanks
Norman Christianson	....	thanks
Ignacio Cobo	....	special thanks
Rodrigo Cortés	....	thanks
Alfonso Cuarón	....	special thanks
Carlos Cuarón	....	thanks
José Augusto Cárdenas	....	thanks
Pedro Cárdenas	....	thanks
Raúl Olvera Ferrer	....	special thanks
Enrique Figueras	....	thanks
Hector Gonzalez Gama	....	thanks
José Luis García Agraz	....	thanks
Octavio García Allende	....	thanks
Juan García Gutiérrez	....	thanks
Ricardo Garza	....	thanks
Eduardo Gavito	....	thanks (as Dr. Eduardo Gavito)
Federico González Compeán	....	special thanks
Arturo González de Cosío	....	thanks
Guillermo González	....	thanks
Guillermo González	....	thanks
Rodrigo González	....	special thanks
Jorge Guerrero	....	thanks
María Eladia Hagerman Jr.	....	special thanks
Carlos Hagerman	....	thanks
Mariana Hagerman	....	thanks
María Eladia Hagerman	....	special thanks
Richard Ham	....	thanks
Yissel Ibarra	....	thanks
Armando Iñarritu	....	thanks (as Armando Iñárritu)
Luz Maria Iñarritu	....	thanks (as Luz María Iñárritu Cervantes)
Alfredo Iñárritu	....	thanks
Alfredo Joskowicz	....	thanks
Eliseo Juan	....	special thanks
Vicente Leñero	....	thanks
Luciano	....	dedicatee
Alejandro López Freixes	....	thanks
Augusto López Valencia	....	thanks (as Augusto López)
Luis Mandoki	....	thanks
Ludwik Margules	....	thanks
Eduardo Martínez Solares	....	thanks
Jorge Martínez	....	thanks
Karla Moles	....	thanks
Jorge Mondragón	....	thanks
Celina Moreno	....	thanks
Carlos Olvera	....	thanks
Lila Ortega	....	thanks
Javier Prado	....	thanks
Ricardo Pérez Teuffer	....	thanks
Raúl Quintanilla	....	thanks
Julio Revueltas	....	thanks
Carolina Rivera	....	thanks
Pedro Rodríguez Garay	....	thanks (as Pedro Rodríguez)
Juan Carlos Rulfo	....	thanks
Alexis Sandoval	....	thanks
Antonio Serrano	....	thanks
Enrique Singer	....	thanks
Alejandro Soberón Kuri	....	special thanks
Héctor Suárez	....	thanks
Alberto Sánchez	....	thanks
Jorge Sánchez	....	thanks
Guillermo del Toro	....	special thanks
Belinda Uriegas	....	thanks
Antonio Urrutia	....	special thanks
Francisco Vargas	....	thanks
Alejandro Villaseñor	....	thanks
Judith Weston	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Altavista Films
• Zeta Film

Distributors

• ArtCam (2001) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Eurocine (2000) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Filmax International (2001) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Optimum Releasing (2001) (UK) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (2000) (France) (theatrical)
• X Verleih AG (2001) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2001) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Benelux Instituto Luce (Italy)
• CCV (Norway)
• CCV (Sweden)
• EDKO Film (Hong Kong)
• Europa Filmes (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Future Film (2001) (Finland) (all media)
• Intigrade Media (South Korea)
• LNK Filmes (Portugal)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2001) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films (2001) (USA) (subtitled)
• Madman Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Maple Pictures (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Nu Vision (Mexico)
• Shari Films (Israel)
• Sunfim (Iceland)
• Tokyo Theaters Company (Japan)
• Triangelfilm
• Umut Sanat (Turkey)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• World Film Magic (2001) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Universal Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Amores perros" - Mexico (original title)
"Love Dogs" - International (English title) (literal title)
"Love's a Bitch" - International (English title) (informal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore, language and sexuality

Runtime:

154 min | Turkey:115 min (TV version)

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Peru:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Colombia:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Mexico:C | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Colonia Condesa, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Altavista Films

Trivia:

The man who plays the bus driver in the scene where Octavio (Gael García Bernal) decides not to get on the bus is Bernal's father, José Ángel García.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the bank robbery scene, both Ramiro and the cop have their guns' slide back (as if out of ammo) and in the normal position change multiple times between cuts.

Quotes:

El Chivo:At the time, I thought there were more important things than being with you and your mom. I wanted to set the world right, and then share it with you. I failed, as you can see.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Venditori Di Patate (2012) (V)

Soundtrack:

Coolo

Do dogs have personal characters? Or they just try to be loyal to their owners? What if they reflect our personalities by means of their loyalty?

Thanks to contributors, plot synopsis has been very well written. Amores Perros is included in the most important movies for the beginning of the 21st century. It marked a new epoch with its thoroughly life-like vision on a twist of fate. Then in a 5 years' of time within more recognized movies, we started seeing similar plot schemes telling different stories over accidents that binds each person's fate. One of them was Crash, and it won the best picture Oscar in 2005.

The more you see this film over and over again you'll get to a deeper point where the lives and choices of the characters won't matter any more. It's still affecting in the first-time watch, but with an ideational view the next time you see it; you're driven into a vision, a cast of mind.There were 3 main characters and 3 main stories from each one, which are nested altogether. If we look at these stories over the characters' relationships with their dogs, it's intriguing. As if the dogs exemplify their owners:

1' Young and unoccupied Octavio commits crime in order to earn money to make a living. He fights his dog Cofi in dog-fighting tournaments. How Cofi needs to fight for his life, so does need Octavio to commit crime for his life.

2' In the second story, beautiful model Valeria receives a surprise gift from her fiancé to choose a puppy from a pet store. By time, the puppy gets used to live a super-luxury pet life; which is the same life style of her owner. Valeria and her fiancé's apartment unit is under a hardwood flooring construction. One day while alone at home the puppy falls into a gap between the hardwood and the concrete; thus stays stuck there and began to squawk, since she is not used to live without comfort. At the same day her owner Valeria gets involved in a car accident while driving alone, having no one to help her just as happened to her puppy. She loses her leg in this accident and her luxury life comes to an end, as same as the life of her puppy. She begins complaining like her puppy squawking.

3' In the last story, the grim hit-man El Chivo saves the life of Octavio's dog Cofi, after Octavio gets killed in the traffic accident in which Valeria lost her leg. Saving him changes Cofi's life, he no longer needs to fight for Octavio's bets on dog-fighting. His life becomes safe and peaceful. El Chivo starts looking after Cofi beside his other dogs. Among the other dogs Cofi looks very ugly and dirty. One day when El Chivo leaves the dogs together at home, Cofi kills every one of them. His reason of killing all the dogs explains why his owner is a hit-man. As Cofi killed innocent dogs; El Chivo kills innocent people for El Chivo seeing himself ugly,dirty and strange among the people; like his dog feeling himself ugly,dirty and strange among the dogs. El Chivo feels bad about his dogs, when he finds out Cofi has killed them. Yet, he feels worse about himself when he actually realizes that Cofi's attitude gave him a lesson of life. Then El Chivo shaves, cuts his beard and hair, gets cleaned up and turns out looking like a gentleman. Cofi's attitude changes his life; his life becomes safe and peaceful just as when El Chivo saved Cofi's life.

The vision we're getting when we compare these 3 stories is about the public loneliness of an individual. The only person, who can guide and who can help us, is ourselves. This loneliness brings our freedom of choices. With making our own choices, we build the essence of our character: Our quintessences. Life is sum of all our choices. In order to build our quintessences; we always face the risk, fear and pressure of the chance of making a wrong choice. Life makes it obligatory to make choices. This obligatory builds our inner crisis and develops our personality. To find the secrets of our own personality, we try to find someone or something else to lay a burden on the responsibility of self-search. Here in Amores Perros, the 3 main characters are used by their self-search reflection on their dogs.

Doesn't this vision form the idea of Jean Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness"? Since Amores Perros hides the character views through the situations created by dogs; it is a movie that has no characters, but only situations. This is the systematic of Existentialism. If there was no situation or happening, there wouldn't have been any characters. Existence precedes essence. A person is nothing without his actions. So, a person doesn't have a soul(or a character) if he is not alive. Then there wasn't and won't be anything before and after our lives.

If we don't believe in this vision, certainly the signs of fate that we come across in our lives must be delusion.