Amores perros (2000)

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu in his feature directorial debut, Amores perros (2000) is a Mexican psychological drama film. It was written by Guillermo Arriaga, based on a story by the pair. The first installment of González Iñárritu’s Trilogy of Death, it is followed by 21 Grams and Babel. Using the multi-narrative hyperlink cinema style, the film features an ensemble cast. Constructed as a triptych, it consists of three interrelated stories connected by a car crash in Mexico City. These stories revolve around a teenager involved in dogfighting; a model with a serious leg injury; and a mysterious hitman. Despite their differences, these stories are linked through various elements, including the presence of dogs in each one. The title itself is a clever play on words: ‘perros’, which translates to ‘dogs’, can also mean ‘misery’ in Spanish, giving the film its rough translation of ‘bad loves’. Although often marketed as Love’s a Bitch, the film was released under its original Spanish title in English-speaking countries.

Octavio y Susana. Octavio has strong feelings for Susana, his brother’s wife who is mistreated by his brother Ramiro. He tries to convince her to leave with him. After watching his dogfighting winnings, Jarocho, a local bully, unleashes his dog on some stray dogs and is confronted by a threatening vagrant armed with a machete. However, things take a dark turn when Jarocho’s own dog ends up being killed by Octavio’s rottweiler named Cofi. Seeing the potential in Cofi, Octavio and his friend Jorge become involved in the underground world of dogfighting. With the money he earns from this cruel sport, Octavio plans to run away with Susana and even pays Mauricio, the owner of the dogfighting venue, to have Ramiro beaten up. Fearing for his safety, Ramiro steals the money and runs off with Susana.

Daniel y Valeria. After moving in together, magazine publisher Daniel and Spanish supermodel Valeria face a series of challenges. First, Valeria suffers a broken leg in a car accident caused by Octavio, rendering her unable to work as a model. As she recovers at their shared apartment, her beloved dog Richie goes missing under a broken floorboard and causes tension between the couple. As they argue and question their relationship, Valeria attempts to rescue Richie but re-injures her leg in the process. Hours later, Daniel finds her and rushes her to the hospital where she ultimately has to have her leg amputated due to severe arterial thrombosis and gangrene. During Valeria’s hospital stay, Daniel is finally able to retrieve Richie from the floorboards.

El Chivo y Maru. The occasional vagrant mentioned in Octavio’s story is actually a hitman named El Chivo. He used to be a teacher at a private school but was imprisoned for terrorist activities with guerrilla groups. El Chivo is trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Maru, who believes he is dead because of his involvement with the guerrillas. As he prepares to carry out a hit on a businessman, Octavio’s car crash interrupts him and leads to chaos. In the midst of it all, El Chivo takes advantage of the situation and steals money from Octavio before taking care of the injured dog, Cofi, at his hideout. One day while El Chivo is away, Cofi kills the other dogs under his care. At first, El Chivo wants to kill Cofi but changes his mind. Meanwhile, during an attempted bank robbery, Ramiro (Octavio’s brother) gets shot and dies.