12 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 30, 2002

-ARTS

'Y Tu Mama Tambien' is more
than just another teen movie

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By Tony Ding
Daily Arts Writer
Mexican-born filmmaker Alfon-
so Cuaron has turned a potential
teen-flick into an artistic, powerful-
ly portrayed masterpiece of human
emotions and society. For Cuar6n,
the key ingredients included a
batch of young talents as captivat-
ing characters, who develop in a
convincing story and marvelous
cinematography by notable photog-
rapher Emmanuel Lubenzki
("Sleepy Hollow").
The film's opening shot is an
instant close-up of raw, lewd,
teenage sex. The main characters,
high school graduates Tenoch Itur-
bide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata
(Gael Garcia Bernal), live in Mexi-
co City, and the best buds are faced
with a long, dull summer before
college. Their respective girlfriends
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2002-2003 academic year. Responsibilit
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are vacationing in Italy (thus the ality, synchronizing each word spo-
ragged puppy-love before their ken with jaw-dropping imagery. Its
departure). "Boca de Cielo" (Heav- non-stop quickies, watched with
en's Mouth) is the place of refuge jealousy, performed with passion
for the two amigos, a little secluded and lusted over afterwards. The
paradise beach they invent. Along slang used by the teens is slurred
for the ride is an allur- out with such speed
ing Spanish cousin-in- and accentuation that
law, Luisa Cortds even the most fluent
(Maribel Verd6), 7k**** I Spanish speaker may
whom they pick up ,I find it difficult to fol-
from a family wed- YTUAMA low. For the English-
ding. Thus begins the TAMBItN subtitle audience, the
"journey" of the road- At State Theater chaos at times may
trip trio, traveling in a divert attention from
borrowed, overheating IFCFilms taking in all of the
station wagon. visual eye-candy of
"Y Tu Mama Tambien" ("And the 105-minute film for the transla-
Your Mother Too"), in its unhin- tions flash by in the same breath-
dered, unbridled portrayal of the less fervor as the action.
power of human emotions, tramples One dramatic strength in "Tam-
taboo. Its broken loves, tested bien" is the unique development of
friendships and innocent, unapolo- each intrinsic character, be it the
getic youthfulness transpires sensu- main characters, a peasant peddler
or a fisherman. Abstractly, the pic-
ture, if striped of its touching story-
i Journalism........? line, whirlwind cinematography
gram is currently seeking a journalism and detailed character portrayals, is
if the Dow Journalism Program for the borderline soft-core pornography.
ies will include teaching two courses in Alas for the porn aficionados, the
g reporting, copyediting, and opinion raunchiness and teen-age humor
overseeing student internships; and grace only the surface of this road
s of the director. Applicants should hold movie. The more overbearing effect
least one year's reporting and of the film deals with the dreams
ism; ideal for the recent graduate. and realities facing two maturing
y Lee Simmons or Mrs. Lora Murfin, boys in a society riddled with polit-
dale Michigan 49242; ical foray, poverty, inequality and
du) or telephone (517) 607-2615 discrimination.
Cuar6n, who both directed and
produced the film, sidelined each
momentary transition in the story
with subtle reminders of class
1pus struggle and political messages
regarding the adverse effects of
globalization. It's a very honest,
critical, but un-pessimistic take on
the dystopia of present-day Mexi-
co, exemplified between the two
boys: Tenoch, being the little
emperor of a millionaire with close
ties to the ruling party and the
AM country's leader, and in contrast,
Julio, who is of the middle-low-
class and lives with his single
mother, brothers and sisters in a
tenement. Tenoch is surrounded by
friends who are chronic marijuana
users and alcoholics, while Julio's

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Bernal,looking for his watch.
sister is a Marxist revolutionary
who wages demonstrations. It is a
fragile and fragmented friendship,
held together by unclear attractions
that the boys eventually end up
questioning.
Also playing an important role in
the movie is the excellent narration
by Daniel Gimenez Cacho (star of a
previous Cuaron film, "Solo Con Tu
Pareja"), who in a monotone voice
devoid of emotion, states matter-of-
factly the hidden messages in each
scene. It is an important aspect of
the film that pours cold, unnerving
reality on the comedy and juvenile
antics. It serves as an intelligent
essay to the lives of every character
seen in the film, their social stand-
ing and the discovery and re-discov-
ery of personality. "Yu Tu Mama
Tambien" is uniquely effectual in
this sense because of its ability to
touch our own soul, forcing upon us
the revelation of who we are and
what we have become over time.
The film also boasts eye-opening
and hauntingly accurate portrayals
of a Mexico often unseen and
untouched by "gringos." It is obvi-
ous that Cuaron hit home with "Yu
Tu Mama Tambien," when immi-
grant Mexican-Americans in the
theater burst out cries or laughter,
unaccompanied by the rest of the
audience, to seemingly random
scenes. Cuar6n was able to capital-
ize on the ordinary reflections of
location and metaphorical acts to

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symbolize the barriers between his
characters, and their ability to love
each other.
"Yu Tu Mama Tambien" is a tes-
tament to the bliss of adolescence
that eventually transpires to the
reality of human relationships and
its innate "standard operating pro-
cedure." For Julio and Tenoch, the
road-trip is a pretext to their self-
discovery of their true nature,
friendship, sexuality.
Alfonso Cuar6n has been previ-
ously successful in the U.S. with
equally beautifully mastered pic-
tures such as "Little Princess" and
"Great Expectations." This film has
been likened to Alejandro Gonzalez
Inarritu's "Amores Perros" on its
social impact in Mexico, not to
mention brilliance in filmmaking
and story-telling. Of note is Gael
Carcia Bernal ("Mama"'s Julio),
who also won the Ariel, the Mexi-
can Academy Award, for his dra-
matic performance in Amores
Perros. Like "Amores Perros",
Cuarn's tale allows us to care
about his characters, care about
their problems, and at the end, care
about our own society.

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