HTF REVIEW: "Y tu mamá también" (unrated) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Lew Crippen]

Was there any determination that the R1 DVD was defective due to the missing English subtitles for the commentary? Or was this intentional?

It is not defective. English subtitles are simply not there. I’m not sure if ‘missing’ is an accurate word, as that implies that they were supposed to be present. As far as I am aware that is not the case.

 

[Holadem]

One last thing: Remember when Julio admitted to screwing Tenoch's mother

BTW, did this actually happen?! I don't know, I have a hard time believing it!
--
Holadem

 

[Rich Malloy]

I wasn't THAT impressed with this film. It's not the direction or story that draws you in - both are quite plain really. What gets you is the frankness of the language and the sex. It's essentially what real people say and do unfiltered by Hollywood suits.
Amelie is a far, far, far, far, far, better film.

You don't think it might just come down to taste? Many folks I respect adore "Amelie", but I think it's a predictable trifle. After 15 minutes, my wife turned to me and explained how the narrative would turn. I said "well, yeah, but the shot of the fish looking up through the water was beautifully, poignantly evocative". "All style, no substance" was her reply. "You know as well as I that the focus will turn from the love-lives of others to Amelie's own... and it will be predictable and formulaic and you'll sit there fake-gagging and rolling your eyes at the sticky sweet sentimentality of it all."
"Yes, dear, you're probably right."
(She was.)
So now's the time in the post where one would be expected to mount a defense of "Y Tu Mama Tambien", but I don't even understand why the two films are being compared. So I won't bother. I'll only say it's a far, far, far, far, far, far better film than "Amelie" And you'll notice that I included one more "far" than you did... and I hereby multiply it by infinity.
So, consider yourself bested in this, the greatest movie debate ever in the history of the known universe!

 

[Ike]

I gotta echo what Rich asked-why is this being compared to Amelie? Is it just because they are foreign films Ron has reviewed?

I loved this film, for what it's worth, and it wasn't just for the "sex and language." It's as realistic-about relationships between people (specifically between young men), about the way they interact, about the lower class and the upper class in Mexico, about the politics in Mexico, and about the way Mexico is changing-as it is about 'sex and language.'

 

[Lew Crippen]

BTW, did this actually happen?! I don't know, I have a hard time believing it!

Yes he did Holadem. The explicit statement is toward the end of the movie where Julio and Tenoch are going back and forth about sex and who they have had, and he just casually mentions (almost a throw-away line), ‘Y tu mama, tambien' (and your mother, also). So it’s also a reference to the film’s title.

And a big, big reason why they can’t reconcile.

I think that it helps to speak a bit of Spanish, as I’m not sure how well it comes across as a subtitle.

 

[Holadem]

Thanks Lew. I do remember when and how it was said but I guess I just decided to dismiss that abomination as a joke! I would be scarred forever if I ever heard such a thing. Why am I even thinking about this?
--
Holadem

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I gotta echo what Rich asked-why is this being compared to Amelie? Is it just because they are foreign films Ron has reviewed?

I agree that it all comes down to personal taste. I'm not particular fond of either film, actually, but for different reasons. The best foreign-language film that I've seen in the past couple of years is still Amores Perros, not that it would necessarily be fair to compare that film with these two others, either.