“Selma Hayek!!!!”

The Scoop: 2001 R, Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Ana Lopez Mercado, Diego Luno, Gael Garcia Bernal and The Bumblebee Guy

Tagline: La vida tiene sus maneras de enseñarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de confundirnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de cambiarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de asombrarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de herirnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de curarnos. La vida tiene sus maneras de inspirarnos.

Summary Capsule: Two guys. One girl. Lots of you-know-what.

DnaError’s rating: An orgasm of a movie

DnaError’s review: I’m not the type of person who goes to art-house movies. I don’t wear black turtlenecks or stroke my goatee or know who Wim Wieners is (Note: I do). So, it takes a lot to make me see a forgein movie playing in a small theater. “Come on!” Simon said. “It will be fun! It’s Mexican! You love tacos!” and so on. Finally I agreed on the condition that he pay for the popcorn and coffee.

I couldn’t believe what I almost missed.  Y Tu is, without a doubt, the most daring, weird, funny, wild movie I have seen in a long time. The kind of movie that makes you think about movies in another way, makes you blink at the world differently.

So, what is it about? Sex. Hot naked sex. Not in the exploitative teen romp kind of way, but in the way you always wished movies would treat sex, as a real, complex, dangerous, thrilling part of life. The movie pulsates with erotic engery, inches of warm flesh and wet lips. The heat almost comes off the screen in waves. While American movies portray hedonistic teenagers as decadent nihilists (while shaking a finger at them at the same time),  Y Tu showcases the naked glory of lust and youth, how powerful and playful and joyous it is.

If it sounds like a porno, it ain’t. (Or rather, the funniest, smartest porno ever made). Rather, the movie just refuses to ignore or downplay sex. Sex is here to stay and there might as well be movies about it. Its a drunken Technicolor affirmation about life refusing to succumb to boredom or decay. And about if that is even possible?

Potent, crude, funny, wild, and beyond anything seen in the States,  Y Tu Mama Tambien should be required watching for anyone with reproductive organs and a love of life.

Intermission!

• Well, I don’t want to give it away…but watch the movie again after Tencoh and Julio discover the secret. Some things are much clearer.
• The last names of all the principal characters (Zapata, Iturbide, Carranza, etc.) are those of important figures in Mexican history
• Several scenes edited out of the final movie were made available for public viewing on the movie’s official Web site. The director claims to have created multiple edits of this film to satisfy censorship rules around the world. According to the director, one of these edits, allegedly intended for Mexican distribution in protest of that country’s heavy censorship, runs less than 10 minutes.
• US R rated version runs about 5 minutes shorter than the uncut version. Both versions are available on DVD.
• Broke Mexican box office records on June 8th, 2001, grossing $2.2 million in its first week, the biggest opening ever for a Mexican film.

Groovy Quotes

• Luisa: You have to make the clitoris your best friend.

Tenoch: What kind of friend is always hiding?

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Doom Generation
• American Pie
• Threesome