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"The truth is cool but unobtainable." Raunchy road trip
An astute film bares Mexican society
HIFF scheduleBy Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comIt's part of a so-called manifesto that Julio and Tenoch take to heart. It's a life credo they've adopted as brash "charolastra;" horny, teenaged "astral cowboys" bonded by their mutual passion for recreational sex and drugs. But that principle is put severely to the test with the introduction of Luisa in their lives.
Luisa's pretentious writer of a husband has cheated on her, and the relatively meek dental technician is looking for a way out, something to spice up her life. Julio and Tenoch meet her at a party and tell her of their intentions to go on a summertime road trip to a magical beach called Boca del Cielo, or "Heaven's Mouth." So why not join them? Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
That's the general storyline for the Mexican box office and American arthouse hit "Y Tu Mamá También." But director Alfredo Cuarón's film is more than a Spanish-language version of a teenage sex/road trip comedy. Much more.
With two literary period films to his resumé (1995's overlooked "A Little Princess and '98's "Great Expectations" that starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke), the New York-based Cuarón seems to have turned his filmmaking 180 degrees around with this raunchy and naturalistic story of three self-absorbed characters wandering through a country of societal and political upheaval.
What could've been a pretentious cinematic treatise on sex and politics in Mexico is instead an astute and genuine film. Give credit to Cuarón's screenplay (co-written with his brother Carlos), cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki ("Ali") and especially a trio of excellent lead actors in popular Spanish actress Maribel Verdú and young up-and-comers Diego Luna ("Before Night Falls") and Gael Garcia Bernal ("Amores Perros").
Luna plays the puka shell necklace-wearing Tenoch, the spoiled only-child of a wealthy and corrupt politician, and the charismatic Bernal is Julio, the adolescent "peasant" of a lower-class mother, with a left-activist sister. The two boys love the sex they have with their girlfriends, plus the weed and Ecstacy they regularly trip on, but they're reckless only to the extent that they won't be caught by their parents.
Verdú plays the alluring and exotic "older woman" who, while troubled by her husband's infidelities, never lets on to her feisty travel companions the reason behind her grief.
In the tradition of French New Wave films of the '60s, an omniscient and dispassionate narrator comments throughout the film, his voice in stark relief to the heated goings-on between the three. Cuarón and Lubezki skillfully uses contrasting handheld and static, wide-angle shots, always allowing the country of Mexico to be part of the characters' story. After an expository scene, the camera might follow a party's maid carrying a tray of food to a parking lot filled with hungry chauffeurs leaning against their limousines, or peer into a cafe's kitchen crowded with women washing and cleaning. The film is quite socially telling when you least expect it.
Cuarón lets scenes play out to their natural end. There are two long, single-take scenes at opposite ends of "Y Tu Mamá También" that show the developing relationship between the three. The first happens at Tenoch's father's party for the presidente (where dark-suited, sunglass-wearing guards nearly outnumber the guests) as Julio and Tenoch eagerly try to persuade Luisa to join their escapade. (Bernal's body language is very expressive and revealing in this scene, as he hangs off a railing, wineglass in hand, leaning toward the woman he so desires.) The other is a raucous moment at a rundown beachside bar, as their inhibitions are finally let down on a tequila-fueled evening (with Verdú shining in one riveting handheld shot as she dances to the sounds of a jukebox).
And sex is depicted in both of its absurd and stirring ways. It makes for great moments of comedy (watch what happens when Luisa one-ups the boys' so-called sexual prowess while in the car) and erotically charged scenes of awkward tenderness.
"Y Tu Mamá También" is indeed a coming-of-age film, for both its characters and the country of Mexico. It's ironic that, by film's end, Julio and Tenoch find that the truth is indeed obtainable. It's just that the veneer of "cool" has been shattered -- sexual, social and political rebellion reveals itself to be so much affectation -- and it's too much for them to handle.
(And Your Mother, Too) "Y Tu Mamá También"
Not Rated (restricted to those 18 and over due to explicit sex scenes and language)
Plays 8:45 p.m. Thursday
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