Y Tu Mama Tambien DVD

This beautifully filmed, expertly acted movie about two 17-year-old, middle-class Mexican boys on summer break is deceivingly complex. The basic plot of the film is that best friends Tenoch (Diego Luna, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal, AMORES PERROS), who think of nothing but sex, convince a beautiful 28-year-old woman, Luisa (Maribel Verdu), to go on a road trip with them to a nonexistent beach. They get lost. They flirt and giggle and fawn over Luisa hoping to win her over with their boyish charms. And that's about it. But that simple plotline merely provides structure for the poetry and meaning that is woven into the film with photography and narration. Periodically throughout the film, while the action continues normally, the sound stops. A voice over then gives information--sometimes a brief biography of one of the characters (birth date, name of father and mother, consequences of birth, primary childhood experiences), or a note about what each of the characters is really thinking, or a news report or historical comment that brings Mexico's tangled politics into the context of daily life. Never is the voice connected to a character in the film. It simply floats. Meanwhile, underwater photography, roving shots of the Mexican countryside, and affectionate close-ups on the characters communicate a solemnness that is not present in the plot. All of these pieces fit together easily, resulting in an excellent, whole, thoughtful film.

This film screened in September 2001 as part of the 39th New York Film Festival, organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.

Y Tu Mama Tambien Reviews:

"...A film of unexpected richness....Adult, thoughtful, frank, bold..." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"...[Cuaron] works with a quicksilver fluidity, and the movie is fast, funny, unafraid of sexuality and finally devastating..." -- Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

"...Cuaron introduces some deft social commentary about the inequities of his native land....It's delightfully uninhibited..." -- Stephen Farber, Movieline's Hollywood Life

"...Cuaron's hot-blooded, haunting and wildly erotic film revels in the pleasures of the flesh without losing touch with thought and feeling..."-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"...An erotic tale of sexual awakening, a bittersweet coming-of-age story and a commentary on class differences....Visually arresting and heart-rending..." -- Claudia Puig, USA Today

"...It's beautiful to look at; more importantly, it's invigorating to experience..." -- Jose Arroyo, Sight and Sound

"...A smart, spicy road-tripper....Cuaron should be applauded for blending light comedy and dark drama so smoothly..." -- Dan Jolin, Total Film

"...Outrageous without being offensive, provocatively and unapologetically sexual, alive to the possibilities of life and cinema, Alfonso Cuaron's Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN is a sophisticated film..." -- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

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