Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother, Too) is one of the fascinating films I've seen in the past that redefines summer season in a most sensuous, clever and magnificent way. This movie, splendidly directed by Alfonso Cuaron, was pleased to be advertised as a teen drama. Technically speaking, the surface of the movie can be depicted as such; however, beneath it lays the heart and courage that enables this film to bypass the dumbness of the usual mentioned genre. The unflinching few scenes in the beginning were shocking; at least, that was the normal reaction of people who was raised in an orthodox ways. However, unlike the ones usually dished out by the rampant smutty teen flicks, analyzing those scenes essentially gives one a healthier and franker visions of how sex being made. No questions asked, the movie deserves an R-rating for being too mature, too honest and too sumptuous; but definitely, those were not in a pornographic way.
The story is about two teenage boys whose raging hormones led them to invite an older woman in a pleasure trip bound to a fictitious place called Boca del Cielo (Heaven's Mouth). Two Mexican teenagers, Tenoch and Julio, were in a wedding when they encounter the wife of Tenoch’s distant cousin, a ten-year older Luisa from another Latin-speaking country Spain. Being sexy and playful, the two boys were mesmerized by her and mischievously agreed to do something to hook up with her. As the two buddies were free in that summer from their respective girlfriends who went to Europe, Tenoch and Julio hastily designed a weekend trip that would attract Luisa who at that time was also in a plan to go around Mexico and be a tourist. Luisa was initially delighted by their invitations but then becomes apprehensive. However, when she found out that her husband cheated on her, she unthinkingly decided to go on with the trip and together, the three set out on a lark.
Along the journey, secrets were unfolded, boldness rise along unhappiness, and the end of this one eventful sexy summer trip transcends tenderly into something that nothing would ever be the same again. The plot could simply be translated into rather conventional; but Alfonso Cuaron did a magnificent job of driving the story of a blithely road trip by undertaking the serious level of life and its delicateness and inevitability of death. And having Mexico with its countryside as the grand backdrop, the movie fundamentally utilized the vividness, fluidity and exuberance of this country and its inhabitants in dealing with the counter-parallelism of the characters’ life. On the other hand, the more significant tools applied in this film was the narration. As the journey pushes through, an occasional narrator voiced over providing simple details about the current situation; the soundtrack went muted and it appears that a celestial message has to be announced. The words from the narrator were plain as it seems but the fine points of the recitation enthrallingly absorb the audience more into its heart.
Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal conveys an impressive performance as Tenoch and Julio; not only being wittily rugged but also disarmingly natural. However, the key performance in this film was from Maribel Verdu as the sensuous and clever Luisa. In the progress of their trip, Luisa kids the two boys with their lives particularly about sex, their girlfriends and their “charolastra” or their so-called mischievous manifesto. The tease made by Luisa were in a jocular yet resolute way; leaving Tenoch and Julio with no much further secrets not only to her, but significantly to each other. The tension rises between the two boys regarding what has been revealed and what could be still concealed; and alongside with this, the erotic possibilities with Luisa have been developing. But whether Luisa will end up having sex with either of the two boys was not the point; down the journey, she has become an erudite teaching Tenoch and Julio that the unison of men and women are sacred and that women are not prizes of their bets or targets of their savagery; but the other divine half of that celestial unison. She has become as delighting as she can be being the seemingly impatient sage working into a task of turning the two boys into a real man themselves. Maribel Verdu delivers Luisa effortlessly from both sides of the spectrum which is sexy, wise and complex yet fragile, sad and simple. The movie seemingly starts about the two teenage boys; however, it was her Luisa that serves as the engine driving the film to its poignant conclusion.
They finally arrived at their destinations, with the two boys surprised that their imaginative beach actually existed in a form of an unspoiled paradise. Here, the sexual intrigues brimming along their journey will finally fulfill; having Tenoch and Julio with their friendship turning in an unexpected route. At the end, finally depicting the conclusion, one can revisit some of the circumstances in the film and be haunted on how delicately life summoned to an end. This one will leave you breathless.
No comments:
Post a Comment