Amores Perros - 2001 * * * *

Roughly translated as 'Love's a Bitch' or in other places 'Loves Dogs' ( or is it Dog Lovers??) this film was tipped continuously as one of the greatest foreign films of the last decade. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, this film tells three stories that are all connected by a dreadful car crash and explores the feelings, loves and lives of the main characters. I felt that this film started off slowly and I was a one stage considering turning the thing off, but by the time I had seen the beginning of the 2nd story I was hooked, and by the 3rd story I was thinking that this was indeed one of the greatest foreign movies I had ever seen. Towards the end we are shown the series of events that leads each of the characters to that particular point and I must say the direction and fast-packed action really took my breath away. This film really needs persevering with, especially due to the fact that it is longer than many normal movies, but once you have cracked the beginning you will be on the right course for a brilliant movie, painstakingly concocted by a director I have never heard of ( always a joy to discover new talent). The only thing I would say about this film is that there are some horribly gruesome scenes involving dog-fighting and it is quite obvious that the fights are real, therefore a bit of discretion or eye-covering is in order, but do not turn the thing off!