Y tu mamá también
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| Y tu mamá también | |
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| Directed by | Alfonso Cuarón |
| Produced by | Alfonso Cuarón & Jorge Vergara |
| Written by | Carlos Cuarón & Alfonso Cuarón |
| Starring | Maribel Verdú Gael García Bernal Diego Luna |
| Music by | Natalie Imbruglia Frank Zappa Miho Hatori (songs) |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Editing by | Alex Rodríguez Alfonso Cuarón |
| Distributed by |  20th Century Fox IFC Films Icon Entertainment Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | June 8, 2001 |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Language | Spanish |
| Budget | $5 million (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Y tu mamá también (literally "And your mother, too", released in English-speaking markets under the original title in Spanish) is a 2001 Mexican film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and written by Carlos Cuarón. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties. The film is set against the backdrop of the political and economic realities of present-day Mexico, specifically at the end of the uninterrupted seventy-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and the rise of the opposition headed by Vicente Fox. The film achieved great success in its native country[citation needed] and received awards and critical acclaim in foreign territories.
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[edit] Primary cast
- Maribel Verdú: Luisa Cortés
- Gael García Bernal: Julio Zapata
- Diego Luna: Tenoch Iturbide
- Diana Bracho: Silvia Allende de Iturbide
- Andrés Almeida: Diego "Saba" Madero
All of the principal characters share surnames with protagonists from Mexico's post-Columbian history – Spanish conquistator Hernán Cortés, Mexican emperor Agustín de Iturbide, Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Mexican president Francisco Madero – or pre-Columbian history (Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital).
[edit] Plot
The film combines straightforward storytelling with periodic interruptions of the soundtrack, during which the action continues, but a narrator provides additional out-of-context information about the characters, events, or setting depicted. In addition to expanding on the narrative, these "footnotes" sometimes draw attention to economic/political issues in Mexico, especially the situation of the rural poor. (This use of narration was most likely inspired by the very similar narration techniques found in Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders.)[citation needed]
The story itself focuses on two boys at the threshold of adulthood: Julio (Gael García Bernal), from a leftist middle-class family, and Tenoch (Diego Luna), whose father is a high-ranking political official. The film opens with scenes of each boy having sex with his girlfriend one last time before the girls leave on a trip to Italy. Without them around, they quickly become bored.
At a wedding, they meet Luisa (Maribel Verdú), the Spanish wife of Tenoch's cousin Jano, and attempt to impress the older woman with talk of an invented secluded beach called la Boca del Cielo ("Heaven's Mouth"). She initially declines their invitation to go there with them, but changes her mind following a phone call in which Jano tearfully confesses cheating on her.
Although Julio and Tenoch have little idea where to find the promised beach, the three set off for it, driving through poor, rural Mexico. They pass the time by talking about their relationships and sexual experiences, with the boys largely boasting about their modest exploits, and Luisa speaking in more measured terms about Jano and wistfully of her teenaged first love, who died in an accident.
On an overnight stop she telephones Jano, leaving a "goodbye note" on his answering machine. Tenoch goes to her motel room looking for shampoo, but finds her crying. She seduces him, and he awkwardly but enthusiastically has sex with her. Julio sees this from the open doorway, and angrily tells Tenoch that he'd had sex with his girlfriend. The next day Luisa tries to even the score by having (equally awkward) sex with Julio; Tenoch then reveals he had sex with Julio's girlfriend. The boys begin to fight, until Luisa threatens to leave them.
By chance they find an isolated beach which coincidentally is called Boca del Cielo. They gradually relax and enjoy the beach and the company of a local family. In the nearby village, Luisa makes a final phone call to Jano, bidding him an affectionate but final farewell.
That evening, the three drink excessively and joke recklessly about their sexual transgressions, revealing that the two boys have frequently had sex with the same women (their girlfriends, as well as Luisa). "Y tu mamá también," Julio jests to Tenoch. The three dance together sensually, then retire to their room. They begin to undress and grope drunkenly, both boys focusing their attentions on Luisa. As she kneels and stimulates them both, they gasp and kiss each other passionately.
The next morning, Luisa rises early, leaving the boys to wake up together, naked. They immediately turn away from each other, and are eager to return home. The narrator explains that they did so quietly and uneventfully, but Luisa stayed behind to explore the beaches. He further relates that the boys' girlfriends broke up with them, they started dating other girls, and they stopped seeing each other.
The final scene follows a chance encounter a year later. They are having a perfunctory cup of coffee together, catching up on each other's lives and news of their friends. Tenoch informs Julio that Luisa died of cancer a month after their trip. Tenoch excuses himself, and they never see each other again.
[edit] Reception
Y tu mamá también was a critical success, garnering awards such as the Venice Film Festival best screenplay award. It was also a runner-up for the National Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay.
The film was a huge success in Mexico, but due to its "C" rating (meaning only adults could see it), there were a number of cases involving student protests, in which teenagers demanded that cinema owners let them watch the film. In one instance in Morelia, there was a group of students that got naked in public to protest not being able to see the film.[citation needed]
Movie rating systems in various countries treated the film very differently. It was released without a rating in the U.S. because the distributors believed that a market-limiting NC-17 would be unavoidable. Ratings boards in countries such as France and the Netherlands regarded the film fit to be seen by twelve-year-olds. The MPAA's presumed treatment of this film based on the depiction of sexuality (especially in comparison to its much more accepting standards regarding violence) prompted noted movie critic Roger Ebert to question why movie industry professionals were not outraged: "Why do serious film people not rise up in rage and tear down the rating system that infantilizes their work?"[1]
[edit] Awards
[edit] Nominations
- Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay (Carlos Cuarón & Alfonso Cuarón)
- BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay (Carlos Cuarón & Alfonso Cuarón)
- BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language
- Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
[edit] Notes
- The DVD includes the short film Me La Debes by Carlos Cuarón.
[edit] References
- ^ Roger Ebert. "Y Tu Mama Tambien", Chicago Sun-Times, 2002-04-05. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
[edit] External links
- Y tu mamá también at the Internet Movie Database
- (Spanish) 2-disc DVD review.
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