Y Tu Mama Tambien Review
by Mark R. Leeper (markrleeper AT yahoo DOT com)April 17th, 2002
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Most of this Mexican film is a road trip with two teenagers and a woman in her 20s. Much of the trip is discussion of sex and some minor sexual adventures. On a deeper level this film is really about the uses
of sex in relationships. There is more going on than
meets the eye and when all is revealed the viewer will certainly think back over what has been said. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4 to +4)
Tenoch and Julio (played by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal) are two Mexican teens having a long boring summer even more so with their girl friends visiting Italy. Their time is spent hanging around, taking drugs, and talking about sex. They invite Luisa, the young and attractive wife of Tenoch's writer cousin, to join them on a trip to visit a secret beach, Heaven's Mouth. At first she refuses politely, amused by the boys. But when she discovers her husband has cheated on her she changes her mind and offers to accompany the boys. The beach does not really exist, but the boys set out with Luisa to find a similar spot they can call Heaven's Mouth.
The film becomes a road picture for most of its length as the trio travel the interior of Mexico. They see the poverty and the crime in Mexico's back country. But most of what is on the boys' minds is sex. As they travel Tenoch and Julio whisper to each other little sexual thoughts, mostly about their girlfriends. But Luisa is inquisitive and soon the three are talking openly about sex. They start revealing secrets and each talks about their sex lives. The boys even do a little spying on Luisa, which she seems not to mind. Luisa is suffering great pain when alone and does a little flirting with the boys. She seems anxious to share her wisdom of about ten more years of age with the boys. Not everything she is doing or why will be obvious until the final scenes of the film and perhaps not even then.
Alfonso Cuaron directs a script he co-wrote with his brother Carlos. By American standards the style is a little raw. American films doing a similar story would try to titillate with language, limiting the nudity, and showing what nudity they had artistically. Cuaron opts for a more natural approach, freely showing frontal male and female nudity. He seemingly just puts the camera on his characters and lets them do what they would do in the scene. If the camera catches full frontal male or female nudity, so be it. It is neither to be flaunted nor avoided. What the car passes on the road and the passengers see is given the same realistic feel. What appears to be a police drug bust is passed without comment. One stylistic touch: occasionally the story is narrated by Tenoch, apparently from a point of view years later.
Cuaron gives the film a light and frivolous feel as if it is a throwaway. It appears to be almost a teenage sex comedy. That is because the Cuarons know something about their characters that the audience does not. Puzzle pieces that the viewer did not realize were puzzle pieces fall into place at the end, turning the film from light to bittersweet. I rate Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected] Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper
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