The Bottom Line: Y Tu Mama Tambien is a brilliant, evocative masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron who transcends all sorts of film genres into one lovely gem.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Through the hordes of American and British films, whether they're big Hollywood production or indie-films, there's always a foreign film somewhere in the middle that can strike a chord with a wide audience. Many filmmakers in the past thirty years have acknowledge foreign filmmakers as seminal figures like the French New Wave, Akira Kurosawa, or the Italian Spaghetti Westerns. In the 80s, foreign films along with indie-films became the new alternative to the big scale Hollywood blockbuster films that were from many countries and at times, always struck a chord with the American public, most notably Spain's Pedro Almodovar with his offbeat, eccentric films of love and comedy. In 2002, Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron struck a chord through the indie-film circuit and the mainstream with his 2001 masterpiece entitled Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too, in English).
Y Tu Mama Tambien is about two young men who both go on a road trip with an older woman to look for a mysterious, majestic beach. Along the way, they discuss sex and misadventures while testing their bonds on their past misfits and stuff. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and co-written with brother Carlos, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a film that challenges genres and dramatic structures while making it fresh for a young audience. The film borderlines through indie-sex films, foreign textures, coming-of-age dramas, road trip adventures, and teen-sex comedies like American Pie. Unlike American Pie, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a bit more shocking due to its nudity and taboo subjects while it stays important to the film's narrative and storyline. One of the richest and enigmatic films in seminal foreign films, Y Tu Mama Tambien is an elegant masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron.
The film begins with a story of one of the young men, Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) who is having sex with his girlfriend Ana (Ana Lopez Mercado) in front of his poster for the classic 70s film Hal Ashby Harold & Maude. Ana is leaving for a trip to Italy for the summer with her friend Cecilia (Maria Aura) as she makes a promise to Tenoch that she won't have an affair with any Italian men. Tenoch's friend Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) is waiting in Cecilia's house as she is looking for her passport. She asks Julio for help when really, she just wants a quick sex session just to say goodbye. Julio and Tenoch say goodbye to their girlfriends as they look forward to a boring, mediocre summer.
While Julio and Tenoch are very close, the two have very different backgrounds. Julio lives in a working class apartment with his mother and activist sister while Tenoch is the son of the Mexican Secretary of State and lives in a posh environment. To Julio and Tenoch, the backgrounds don't really matter as they are anticipating for college while they decide to get stoned with their friend Saba (Andres Almeida) and swim in the pool at Tenoch's country club. Julio gets invited to Tenoch's sister's wedding, as it's a big event since the Mexican president is a guest at the wedding. Julio and Tenoch decide to get a bit drunk to be less bored as they meet up with Tenoch's cousin Jano (Juan Carlos Remolina), who is a college professor and novelist. Julio accidentally spills a drink on Jano as they meet up with Jano's Spanish wife Luisa (Maribel Verdu). Luisa remembers Tenoch as a kid and couldn't believed how much he's grown since she last saw him.
Julio and Tenoch talk to Luisa about the boredom of the wedding as she asks what they're doing this summer. Julio and Tenoch are considering taking a trip to a mysterious beach called Heaven's Mouth and they ask if Luisa wants to come and she says she'll think about it. Luisa's marriage to Jano unfortunately, is at a point of disintegration as she comes back from a doctor check up and he calls her at home telling that he's had an affair and she is distraught. On the day of the trip, Tenoch gets a call from Luisa about the trip as Tenoch and Julio meet up with Saba about the whereabouts of Heaven's Mouth. Julio asks his sister if he could borrow the car for a few days, which was successful as they pick up Luisa for the trip.
The trio drives through the outskirts of the Mexican mountains and desert as they talk about their antics and stuff as they often call themselves "Charolastras" meaning "Astral Cowboys". Luisa asks what "Charolastras" mean and how to become one as the boys tell them their manifesto of things that included to get stoned a day, not to f*ck anyone else's girlfriends, to whack off every day, to not support the Mexican club team Americas, and all sorts of stuff just to be a Charolastra. They would drive through the city as they look through some of the oppression of the Mexican government (at the time of its long-ruling P.R.I. party) and stopped for a night at a city where the boys talked about their girlfriends as she talked about Jano. Later that night as they all go to bed, the boys decided to see Luisa but they found her crying over her marriage and the boys decided to leave her alone.
The road trip continues as more talks of sex emerged including Luisa's old boyfriend who died at a very young age. Along the way, the trio goes through a city that was once the home of Tenoch's maid/nanny Leo (Liboria Rodriguez), who he called "mother" for the first four years of his life. During the way, the trip comes to a halt since the radiator in Julio's car got overheated and had to be in repair. The trio stays in town for a day as Luisa comes across a doll with her name that belonged to an old lady who lived a very full life and she becomes depressed about it. She cries in the hotel room as Tenoch comes in and asks for some shampoo. She asks for him to take his towel off as he exposes himself and the two have sex as Julio watches. Julio feels confused as he and Tenoch swim in a pool full of leaves as Julio confesses to Tenoch about something that now troubles their friendship.
Luisa notices the tension between the boys during dinner but it doesn't escalate until later in the night as Tenoch is furious at Julio over the confession. The trip continues as Luisa feels she might have done something so she decides to have sex with Julio in the car just to make things even as it upsets Tenoch. After that as the trip continues, Tenoch confesses to Julio about something and all hell breaks loose as Luisa is angry over their behavior and walks out forcing the boys to beg her to come back. She does, only if they listen to her manifesto of things. The trip continues as the boys try to find the beach, they got lost on a dirt road and were wondering if they went on the wrong direction. Later in the morning, Luisa wakes up and learns that they found the beach.
Everything becomes a blast as the trio meets up with a fisherman named Chuy (Silverio Palacios) who feeds them and takes them on a trip on his boat and gives them shelter for some cash. They meet with Chuy's family and play football (soccer for you Americans) as the boys briefly re-bond and find excitement with Luisa but with a tragic foreshadowing lying ahead.
Though not a typical, raunchy sex movie in comparison to many art-house sex films, Y Tu Mama Tambien stands out thanks to Alfonso Cuaron's eye-wielding direction. Using almost entirely handheld cameras with a bet of steadicam, the film has a wandering, realistic look of Mexico from the view of two young men and a Spanish woman. Cuaron's directing style is breathtaking with angles and shaky camera work while his script with brother Carlos is well structured in its momentum and theories on sex and life. Another strength of the script that really shines is the social and political commentary done in the narration by Daniel Gimenez Cacho that shines on the changes of Mexico and its political and social oppression as well as the background of its characters. In some ways, the film is served as not just a criticism towards Mexican politics but also the chauvinist lifestyle of young Mexican men.
Helping Cuaron out with the film's spectacular, dreamy visuals is cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki who definitely gives a lush, colorful look into the exterior, sunny world of Mexico while providing dreamy textures into each shot, especially in the interior and underwater scenes. With Cuaron and co-editor Alex Rodriguez helping out with the film's editing that uses elements of jump cuts to give the film an idiosyncratic rhythm, while art director Miguel Alvarez helps Cuaron and Lubezki with giving a detailed look into Mexico and its lower-class look. The film's soundtrack is also diverse with not just music ranging from mariachi, ranchero, and modern Mexican groups like Molotov but experimental stuff like Bran Van 3000, Frank Zappa, and Brian Eno along with more contemporary like Eagle-Eye Cherry and Natalie Imbruglia.
In the performances, the film is top-notch with chemistry whether it's funny, romantic, or chaotic. Maribel Verdu gives an elegant, sexy performance as Luisa, a young woman crumbled by her disintegrating marriage and her own identity as she tries to find new life without her husband. Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal are amazing as the two teenage horn dogs with their brash manifestos, sexual antics, and misadventures. Luna and Bernal in real life are best friends and they brought in great chemistry, even in the scenes where they want to kill each other is very believable. When they're with Verdu, the chemistry heightens to something more sensual and compelling while they develop from immature horn dogs to men towards the end.
The supporting performances of Andres Almeida and Silverio Palacios in their respective characters are the film's best comedic performances. Almeida is hilarious as the stoner Saba while Palacios is enjoyable as Chuy, even when he imitates star goalie Campos during a football game. The smaller performances of Ana Lopez Mercado and Maria Aura as the girlfriends are sexy and fun while Juan Carlos Remolina as Jano is excellent as this unlikable husband who never cared for his wife.
When Y Tu Mama Tambien was released in 2001 in Mexico, the film got into a lot of trouble with the Mexican government over the graphic sex and language of the film. Cuaron sued the government over the release and won but the film was only supposed to be seen by those of age. Still, Y Tu Mama Tambien became a big hit in Mexico and in Europe where it got the attention of IFC (Independent Film Channel) that wanted to release the film in the U.S. but like Mexico, the MPAA wanted the film to be re-edited or cut just for an R-rating but Cuaron refused. The result led to the MPAA releasing the film as it is in 2002 and it became a surprise hit in the indie-film circuits as Cuaron became a renowned filmmaker in his own rights as he is currently finishing up the third Harry Potter film Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban set for a summer 2004 release.
***Updated 12/9/04, DVD Tidbits Features***
The Regional 1 DVD with its 16.9 Widescreen format and 5.1 Surround Sound in both English and Spanish are filled with several enjoyable features. The film features three deleted scenes that included Cecilia trying to seduce Julio behind her parents' car as they're leaving for the airport and two extended road scenes where they stop to meet an old man and one with the trio as they discuss more about sex. The DVD also includes the film's trailer and a TV spot plus an audio commentary track with Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Andres Almeida where though it's in Spanish, the track remains funny where the three young men discuss a lot of the sexual scenes in funny detail.
The two best features in the DVD are the Making-of special and a short film directed by Carlos Cuaron entitled Me La Debes (You Owe Me One). The Making-of special is as raunchy and funny as the film itself. With Alfonso Cuaron, Lubezki, and producer Jorge Vergara (who played the role of the Mexican president) in the film have the time of their lives with the cast yelling out curse words and playing jokes on each other. With the narration from Cacho like in the film, the Making-of is filled with laughs. Carlos Cuaron's short film Me La Debes is a 10-minute comedy about a man who returns home from work to join his wife for bed as she is hiding her daughter's boyfriend in his closet as the father is having an affair with a maid in this funny, unapologetic short from Carlos.
***End of DVD Review***
Y Tu Mama Tambien is a rich, genre-bending masterpiece from Alfonso Cuaron that redefines the possibilities of what a teen-sex comedy, drama, and a foreign film can do. With its great performances, modern take on Mexico, and graphic sex scenes, Y Tu Mama Tambien is ensured to have a seminal place in indie films. Though it's clear that Cuaron's Harry Potter film won't have the edge that Y Tu Mama Tambien has, at least it's a step into making Cuaron a fearless director. For a film with some hilarious moments, real drama, and great sex, Y Tu Mama Tambien is the film to see.
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