Sexo por compasión (2000, Mexico)

I really don't have much to say about this one.

I thought I wanted some more magical realism films in my life, but I'm seriously beginning to rethink this thought. This film was essentially about a small village that had been sucked dry of life. People were moving away, there was only one child, and everything was black and white. Then Dolores's husband leaves her again, and suddenly she starts sleeping with every man in town, and the town is rejuvenated. The color comes back. Everything is rainbows and sunshine. And the woman (who now calls herself Lolita), is not a whore but a saint.

It makes no sense, and I can't even pretend to have liked it. I'm sure there must have been some redeeming qualities (for instance, the use of black and white for part of the movie and color for the other part), but mostly it was just stupid. And I can't be more eloquent than that, so I'm giving up.

Rating: 2.0

Like Water for Chocolate / Como agua para chocolate (1992, Mexico)

Blockbuster loves to recommend movies to me, and sometimes I'll listen, like in this case. After all, how many times did I shelf the novel this film was based on when I worked at GCPL? Also, new foreign film is always nice.

I had mixed reactions to this one. On one hand, it had a really great love story with a twist—very dependent on Mexican culture. The main character falls in love with a man, but because she is the youngest daughter, she must never marry but instead care for her mother until her mother's death. So the man marries her sister to stay close to her. I'm not sure whether that's romantic or messed up, but there you go.

Decades of heartache and drama ensue. One sister runs off with the Mexican revolutionaries, one is married to the other's one true love, and the third tries to forget her heartache through cooking. So while most of the story was quite good, I feel like the cooking was supposed to be a lot more central to the plot. The main character was born on the kitchen table, after all. She does make everyone sad when she cries in the batter of her sister's wedding cake, then she makes everyone horny when she cooks a dish with roses that the man brings her, but otherwise, food takes a backseat to the rest of the story. I believe it was probably more integral in the book, like it was in the film Eat Drink Man Woman.

Overall, it really is a good film. The family drama, the romance, the food, the insight into early 20th century Mexican culture. I especially loved the ending and the use of magical realism throughout. In fact, I think I will start looking for more films that employ magical realism. And I would recommend this, even though I've only given it a mediocre rating.

Rating: 3.5

Y tu mamá también (2001, Mexico)

I pretty much had the same reaction to Y tu mamá también as I did to The Human Stain. It was really quite wonderfully done, and yet I wished there was something more. And again, I couldn't quite put my finger on what that "more" would be.

Let me start by saying that I think Alfonso Cuarón is great. After all, he did direct my favorite of the first five Harry Potter films (Prisoner of Azkaban) as well as the absolutely brilliantly done Children of Men. Clearly, he has some flexible skills.

This film took a road trip sex-fest and turned it into an examination of life, love, and friendship. It's about growing up. It's about living the life you want to live before it's too late. It's about the stuff of friendships, especially those forged from opposite sides of the tracks. And in the background is the beauty of Mexico and traditional life and the changing nature of the country. Yet for all that, it's still funny in addition to being touching and dramatic.

Superb acting. Superb writing. Superb cinematography. I think that only two things are keeping me from giving this one a higher rating. First, the guys were just a little too "teenage" for me. Which was the point, I guess, and it wouldn't have worked any other way, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy the typical behavior of typical boys. Secondly, the ending left me reeling with questions. Mainly, "Why did their friendship turn out the way it did?" Definitely a thought-provoker, from the instant the credits start rolling.

Rating: 3.5