• Cuaron’s greatest film to date in 2001 and a masterpiece
  • It marks a visual departure of sorts for Cuaron- it’s more naturalistic in the set design and lighting (frankly the entire mise-en-scene)—it’s not loaded in a sea of green
  • It had broad comedy elements like his debut Sólo con Tu Pareja – and the lead there does the voice over here (though this one is much funnier – featuring far superior writing) but there’s a real social texture here- comments on politics and class
  • Certainly it has connective tissue with Truffaut’s Jules and Jim with the two guys going for one girl dynamic— many similar scenes
  • Formally it’s meticulously set forth- we have long takes (largely handheld) most feature tracking shots…. Then the audio drops off and the film goes mute—then we get a voice-over comment on the background of the situation, character motivations, side stories- really well done and a determined aesthetic choice carried on throughout
  • It’s Cuaron’s 4th film, and del Toro had Cronos in 1993—but with this in 2001, Devil’s Backbone (which I don’t quite put in the class of Cuaron’s or Inarritu’s film), and Amorres Perros (2000) we have the Mexican New Wave here and it’s lasted until least 2018 with 4 of the last 5 (and could be another one with Cuaron in 2018) deserved best director Oscar wins and these three doing tremendous work
  • Opening shot- Harold and Maude poster with nudity and long handheld camera take, goes mute and then voice over—sets the tone- and clearly we have a “Maude” here who is going to teach the two protagonists about life- absolutely love it.
  • Great long tracking shot along the car as they talk about their manifesto
  • We touch on the social texture- demonstrations, Maids (which could be connected again to Roma) and how Diego Luna’s character called her mom), cooks—the details of the lives around these central three
  • There’s pain here- tragedy- in Maribel Verdu’s character exorcised through sex- not unlike Brando in Last Tango
  • Three incredibly rich characters- envy
  • The puka shells are very 2001- make me nostalgic
  • One of the social texture sequences that is touching is Chuy- the 4th generation fisherman who had to be relocated and the end of the line of fisherman because of a resort relocation
  • The high-point shot- the hilarious drinking long take which follows her to the jukebox, then her dancing with the camera and looking at the camera- masterful
  • The epilogue meeting in the coffee shop—sobering—different hair—awkward- such a nice touch and the devastating “they will never meet again”
  • Masterpiece