Octavio is pining for the affections of his brother's wife. When his brother's neglectful ways show no sign of improvement, Octavio sees the opportunity to use his dog to make money through dog fights. With every win, he gets a wad of cash which he willingly gives to his sister in-law, Susana. At first, Susana doesn't seem interested in Octavio's advances, but does hide the money he gives her and even eventually begins having a romantic affair with him. They agree that they will run away together after one last dog fight against his arch rival, Jaricho.Meanwhile, Daniel, a husband and father of two, is cheating on his wife with a young beautiful model, Valeria. He eventually abandons his family to move in with Valeria and continue his new life in a new home with his young, energetic girlfriend.
The third story involves the vagrant dog collector, El Chivo, who abandoned his family long ago. He's working as a hitman, but after attending his estranged/ex wife's funeral, he seems like he wants to change his ways and reconnect with his daughter. El Chivo is offered a hit for 150,000 dollars, and while at first he insisted he wasn't going to kill anymore, he does eventually take 50,000 and agree to kill the man.
As Octavio is about to leave for his final dog fight, he discovers that Susana has left with Ramiro and all of their money is gone. He takes the $20,000 he has and goes to the match anyway. As Octavio's dog appears to be winning the fight, Jarocho quickly pulls out a gun and shoots the dog. Octavio is given his money back and he rushes the injured dog to his car. Full of vengeance for not only his dog, but Susana abandoning him, Octavio rushes back in to stab Jarocho. This is where the car chase begins.
When the car chase ends, we find out that Octavio has crashed into Valeria's car. The first person on the scene is ironically El Chivo. He
proceeds to steal Octavio's cash from his pocket, and takes his injured dog with him too. Valeria, the successful model is left with a broken leg that is eventually amputated, more or less ending her career, while Daniel is having second thoughts about leaving his wife and family.Octavio is hurt in the accident, but he recovers to find out that his brother was killed while he was attempting to rob a bank. He attends the funeral and talks to Susana again, telling her that he is leaving on a bus and that he will wait for her. When the day finally comes to hop on that bus, Susana does not show up, and Octavio does not get on the bus.
After nursing Octavio's dog back to health, El Chivo returns home one day to find all of his other dogs killed by him. While he is upset and ready to shoot the dog in the head, he has a change of heart. He also has a change of heart about the hit he agreed to do; instead El Chivo kidnaps both of the men involved, ties them up, takes the money he's owed, and leaves them to sort out their differences themselves. From here, he breaks into his daughter's apartment, and leaves her a large stack of money under her pillow. He then leaves her a voicemail trying to explain why he hasn't been around, but that he loves her.
It's clear that an important theme in Amores Perros is betrayal. Octavio betrays his brother, and then is betrayed by Susana. Daniel betrays his family with his affair, El Chivo is betrayed by the dog he saved, and then betrays the man he agreed to do a hit for, while this man appears to betray his own brother that he wanted killed. But amongst all of this betrayal is love. Octavio's love for Susana, Daniel's love for his girlfriend, but also the second thoughts he's having for his wife, and El Chivo's love for his daughter.
I really enjoyed Amores Perros. I'm easily swayed by actors, and I do have a new found love for Gael Garcia since viewing Bad Education, but once again I was left to hear the annoying
complaints of FILM STUDENTS hating the fact that dogs were fighting in a movie. Their whiney discussion before class made me so excited to see this film. How are 20-25 year old men going to complain back and forth about how they love dogs and they don't appreciate having to view this film? It had to be bad, so I was ready to see the most grotesque violence against dogs imaginable, and it turns out, dog fighting wasn't even the point of the movie. It was a film that tied three different lives and three different stories together. It was interesting, it was entertaining, and it kept my attention easily. Besides the storyline, I really enjoyed the cinematography, with the hand held cameras, and interesting shots through windows. Both of these techniques really make the movie feel real, and like you're really watching these events unfold in people's lives.
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