Film Forum

(2001, Alfonso Cuarón) “Julio and Tenoch (Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna) are old mates - well, as old as their 17 years allow. Hanging out at a ritzy society wedding they try out some moves on the gorgeous, 28-year-old, unhappily married Luisa (Verdú). To their surprise, within days the two of them are escorting their catch out of Mexico City in search of the legendary perfect beach, Boca del Cielo ('Heaven's Mouth'). For most of the movie Luisa is in the metaphorical driving seat - when things get sticky she's quick to lay down the law. Meanwhile the guys' machismo is the butt of most of the jokes; in particular, their competitive and possessive instincts, which Luisa does her best to cure. The film's frank, uninhibited sex is refreshing, funny and true - but there's more. Divesting themselves of all the artifice and affectation, the green-tinted spectacle of their two Hollywood productions, Great Expectations and A Little Princess, Alfonso Cuarón and cameraman Emmanuel Lubezki get their hands dirty here, for a more crisp, direct, objective approach. One side-effect is the trenchant, rueful portrait of Mexico which emerges on the margins: the vast disparities between rural and urban standards of living, old and new world cultures.” – Tom Charity, Time Out. DCP. Approx. 106 min.

Presented with support from the Robert E. Appel Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Language Films

Reviews

“The funniest and most emotionally charged erotic road movie since Bertrand Blier's Going Places.”
– Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture

“Raunchy, smart, ebullient, melancholy, insightful, surprising, funny, frank and sexy as all get-out.”
– Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune

“A voyage of self-discovery and the study of a country in flux… Smashed box office records in Mexico before debuting at the Venice Film Festival… the film’s larger impact resides in the sexual openness it depicted, resulting in the most restrictive rating from the Mexican government; its tacit questioning of traditional masculinity in a culture where machismo is ingrained; and its incisive treatment of class issues in a nation of painful inequalities.”
– Carlos Aguilar, The New York Times