About to go off to university two teenage boys mourn the loss of their girlfriends to a post-graduation Europe trip and decide to impress the more mature female cousin of one by taking her on a road trip to “Heaven’s Mouth”, a beach several days away. During their journey the men fight over the woman and she manipulates them finally culminating in the carnal distraction she is after due to the dissolving of her marriage.
Y Tu Mama Tambien is a movie I respect because of the skill put into it by director Alfonso Cuaron, but it is not a movie that I can say I enjoy. The subject matter is quite dark and sexually charged, which I understand that Cuaron was making a very real movie about the complexity of betrayal, relationships and life, but I am not someone who will watch a film this heavy over and over. I truly appreciate the genuinely directed and written situations between these three characters, but seeing their journey once was enough for me to absorb it.
What I genuinely loved about Y Tu Mama Tambien was the use of the omniscient narrator; I can’t recall the last film I saw an omniscient narrator in that fit and made sense, but it worked perfectly for Y Tu Mama Tambien. For those who don’t know what an omniscient narrator does is totally different than what a regular narrator does; a traditional narrator will tell you what’s happening now, what our characters are thinking and the standard fare. An omniscient narrator does much more, he is an all seeing film-centric god who can tell you anything from the standard fare, past and future facts or even things seemingly unrelated to the story unfolding on screen. For this film Cuaron has the narrator tell the audience of the past of our characters and begin to tell us the future that lies ahead of them. It’s a fascinating look at how their backgrounds affect their present, and how their present will affect their future.
Y Tu Mama Tambien is the film that launched Cuaron’s career internationally and it’s pretty easy to see why. This is the kind of film that is so well put together it attracts attention from scholars, critics, the industry and film coinsures; it’s a film with a clear message about the fleeting nature of life and that is a message that is universal.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Writers: Alfonso & Carlos Cuaron
Tenoch: Diego Luna
Julio: Gael Garcia Bernal
Julio: Truth is cool but unattainable... the truth is totally amazing, but you can't ever reach it.
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