Wednesday, June 30, 2010

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" is a provocative coming of age tale (4.25/5)


There is an age old adage that says you really don't know a person until you go on vacation with them. Or was it when you live with them? Either way, there is this thought that our knowledge and understanding of a person is merely a mirage until we spend a mass amount of time by their side. This notion of familiarity breeding contempt is further exacerbated when two or more people find themselves confined to one space, where the rising tension has no room escape. I imagine most of you have all experienced this in some capacity and if you watch Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien", you're likely to experience it again, although I imagine this celluloid experience will possess far more sex than your real life moments. Or not. Nonetheless, Cuaron's film is an exploration into the unknown by two teenagers. We could certainly call it a coming of age tale, but I feel the film possesses a complexity and intelligence that goes beyond that classic send up.  Obviously the aforementioned teens learn something about theirselves personally and the world at large, but most of their learning is focused on their sexual nature and their semi-unwavering friendship. 

Cuaron's teen adventure begins with both of his main characters, Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal), engaging in sexual acts with their girlfriends. For Julio and Tenoch, these are the last sexual acts they'll have with their mates before sending them off to Italy. Each sexual performance ends with both men demanding their respective girlfriends not to fornicate with European men. Once their girlfriends have left, both Tenoch and Julio become bored as they waste away their days getting stoned and squabbling about their futures. Yet, the friendship that Julio and Tenoch possess at this time starts to slowly unravel once they meet the stunningly beautiful Luisa (Maribel Veridu), who is the wife of one of Tenoch's cousins. As a means to have fun and anger Tenoch's cousin, the boys approach Luisa with mischief in mind. While conversing with Luisa, both boys try to convince her to travel with them to a beach by the name of Heaven's Mouth, which is merely an imaginary concoction by Tenoch and Julio. Luisa's interest is piqued, but she dismisses the boy's advances and the two parties go their separate ways. As life would have it though, this random encounter with the boys gives Luisa a pipe dream of sorts when things in her life begin to fall apart. More specifically, her husband, while away on a business trip, admits he cheated on her.

With no relationship constraints and a willingness to be free, Luisa takes the boys up on their faux offer. Soon Tenoch and Julio scramble to get a car, half-assed directions, and to pull one off on the reinvigorated Luisa. With all things considered, the road trip  to 'Heaven's Mouth' gets off to a  great start as the threesome drive across the crumbling political landscape of Mexico circa 1999. As alluded to, much of the road trip consists of discussions regarding sex, as well as acts of sex with Luisa. The latter ends up being the most important as Tenoch and Julio end up seeing a rift form between one another as their desire to bed Luisa continues to grow. With  the potential of sex in sight, both boys begin to behave in ways that contradict their friendship. From this also comes a slew of secrets that Tenoch and Julio against one another as a means for revenge. With Tenoch and Julio fighting one another amongst Luisa, both learn each other's true nature, as well as their naive perspective on sex. These revelations are given by Cuaron through out the film  as he suggests that there are many layers of information that Tenoch and Julio don't know about one another. Cuaron exposes these secrets through the use of a narrator who intermittently divulges information about each teen and Luisa. Initially these narrative interjections are a little jarring and can slow the film's momentum, but they ultimately show the little fragments that hinder the bond between Tenoch and Julio, as well as the mental state of Luisa.

With secrets aside, the road trip eventually leads to a sexual encounter at the end that shapes Tenoch and Julio's relationship for years to come. It's in this final sexual endeavor that one can appreciate the ambition and courage all of the actor's and Alfonso Cuaron placed within the film. Back when the film was released, it came under drastic fire for its depiction of sex. But, the misconception with the film is that its look at sex is gratuitous when it's anything but. Instead, the moments of eroticism that Tenoch and Julio take part in are character builders. To say that Cuaron uses sex as a means to solely titillate would be an insult. A film like "Showgirls" would be more in line with that description as it cheaply uses sex to try and make up for its lack of story, whereas the sex in "Y Tu..." is used as supplementary material to further our understanding of the characters. Of course, this doesn't mean the sex scenes constructed by Cuaron aren't erotic, but their importance goes beyond just a sexual act. This is a notion I can appreciate even more when Cuaron's terrific screenplay juxtaposes Tenoch's and Julio's sexual candor against Luisa's lifelong sexual experience. To the boys, sex is a game; to Luisa, it's a form of expressing a human connection. When the descent of  the boy's friendship is placed against the backdrop of a collapsing political landscape and a grave ridden Mexican highway, Cuaron forces his teenage characters to see that there is a lot more going on besides sex once the age of 18 rolls around.

This view is rather melancholic, but it's poignant view that is accomplished by Cuaron using a stripped down style that accentuates the impoverish Mexican roads, and the raw emotions that dissolve even the toughest bonds. Thankfully, all of Cuaron's actors are game enough to go to the lengths to make the film's story and relationships feel authentic. The image of a friendship between Tenoch and Julio is extremely well played by Luna and Bernal even when it's near its demise, while the sexual tension between Luna, Bernal, and Veridu is extremely palpable. The actor's grounded realism brings a lot to the artistic vision Cuaron has for the film which consists of relationships bubbling with chemistry and sex boiling over with thoughtful intensity. Very few films come along and breathe new life into what is a typical plot arc, but that's exactly what Cuaron has done. He's gutted the coming of age tale and has filled it with provocative characters whose perceptions of one another are constantly changing. It's simply not enough for Cuaron to have these characters discover their place in life. Instead, he is anxious to push them in a direction to uncover the temperament of their environment and the people they perceive to be friends. Needless to say, it's a worthy direction to take.

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