"Amore Perros" (2000), directed by first-time filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu, with its intersecting storylines and treatment of urban violence and decay, kick-started a renaissance for Mexico's film industry. "Amores Perros" speaks to an international audience while never oversimplifying its local culture. This study of this film opens up that culture, revealing the film's relationship to television soap operas, pop music and contemporary debates about what it means to be Mexican. Having researched into the production records and interviewed key personnel, Paul Julian Smith also shows how the film came to be such a success, before going on to analyse how its outstanding acting, music and cinematography combine to create this powerful work.

Author Biography

Paul Julian Smith is the Professor of Spanish, University of Cambridge, and author of Contemporary Spanish Culture: TV, Fashion, Art and Film (2003). He is a regular contributor to Sight and Sound.