Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)

[Michael]

Today at lunch, I got whipped into a movie discussion with my co-workers for the first time since I started working for a corporation last year. They were raving about movies, the ones starring Sandra Bollock or post-Election Reese Witherspoon. And when they turned to me, all I wanted to do was sliding from my chair down to the floor. Y Tu Mama Tambien rolled off my tongue. I just couldn’t help it! Their faces went “ugh?” and I jumped defending it by saying it was directed by the same guy who gave us the best Harry Potters flick. I will never forget that night I came out of the film, a bunch of Mexican guys passing by holding back their tears, as I came out completely new. The cinematography is raw and gorgeous, how it captures every little detail in its full glory – the purple electric fan whizzing, the wild monkeys hopping on cars, the easy-to-miss matching tattoo on the back of both boys, the silver gleaming off a chapel in the distance – calling one of the boys to reflect on the nanny who raised him, not his parents and so much more. The camera floats like a spirit to the back of a country hotel where we see an ancient woman dancing and her family of women cooking and washing. And the same camera finally traps us in its luminous gaze of Luisa as she dances from the jukebox towards the beautiful boys drunk on tequila and Sol by the night ocean. It’s really a beautiful film – bursting with honesty, passion and life. And the ending...so much could be written about that. And the narrating.. geez, so fucking soulful and melancholic.

[franco]

My appreciation of this movie is forever scarred by hearing Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal say in the commentary track that Chinese men are "butt-ugly."

[Michael]

My appreciation of this movie is forever scarred by hearing Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal say in the commentary track that Chinese men are "butt-ugly."

I would be too. I haven't heard the commentary yet but were they goofing around?

The narrating of the film, I really love. It possesses something very magical that Amelie's narrating couldn't. It feels like an old soul throwing comments, reflecting on some things and observations, instead of sitting you down with Once Upon a Time.

[jbeall]

My appreciation of this movie is forever scarred by hearing Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal say in the commentary track that Chinese men are "butt-ugly."

At least we know they were well-cast! Their characters, while otherwise intelligent (or educated, anyway), are completely oblivious to what's going on around them. As Zizek points out in one of the extras to Children of Men, the ignorance of the foregrounded characters to background events becomes intensified in the later film. I don't know too much about Mexican history, but I've always wanted to ask someone who does about his/her reactions to Y Tu Mama Tambien.

[franco]

Yeah, the two boys giggle and goof around the whole time. It's pretty humorless and unappealing. There's probably a reason why the North American disc does not subtitle the commentary . I just wish that they in real life could behave in a less childish way than their characters.

On the other hand, I do love the film, and I began to appreciate the narration after a few viewings.

[Anhedionisiac]

Being mexican myself, I have to say that, yes, they were kidding but that doesn't mean that they weren't, whether they meant it or not, being racist:
it's pretty common for asians to be mocked in mexican popular culture, not to mention real life.
It's awful, really. The jokes are even worse, of the "No tickee, no laundly" variety.

Incidentally: being made in 2001 qualifies as a new film?

[Matt]

Incidentally: being made in 2001 qualifies as a new film?

Yes. Since we regularly talk about films from the first couple of decades of filmmaking around here, we consider films a mere 8 years old "new."

[tavernier]

Incidentally: being made in 2001 qualifies as a new film?

Yes:

New Films
Discuss films of the 21st century including current cinema, current filmmakers, and film festivals.