AMORES PERROS a Film by Alejandro González Iñárritu

AMORES PERROS A film by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Distributor Contact:

New Yorker Films 220 East 23rd St., Ste. 409 New York, NY 10010 Tel: (212) 645-4600 Fax: (212) 683-6805 [email protected] AMORES PERROS

CREDITS

Directed by ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU Written by GUILLERMO ARRIAGA Producer FRANCISCO GONZÁLEZ COMPEÁN Dir. Of Photography RODRIGO PRIETO Editor LUIS CARBALLAR ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU FERNANDO PEREZ UNDA Music GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA

CAST

El Chivo EMILIO ECHEVARRIA Octavio GAEL GARCIA BERNAL Valeria GOYA TOLEDO Daniel ALVARO GUERRERO Susana VANESSA BAUCHE Luis JORGE SALINAS Ramiro MARCO PEREZ

www.NewYorkerFilms.com

Mexico, 2000 154 min., Color In Spanish with English Subtitles 1.85, Dolby Dig.

SYNOPSIS

Mexico City, a fatal car accident. Three lives collide, revealing the hounding side of human nature.

Octavio, a young teenager, decides to run away with Susana, his brother’s wife. His dog Cofi becomes a cruel instrument to get the money they need to run off together, further complicating this touching triangle of passion where forbidden love becomes a road of no return.

Meanwhile Daniel, a 42-year old man. Leaves his wife and daughters to move in with Valeria, a beautiful model. On the day they’re celebrating their new life together, destiny pushes Valeria into the tragic accident and she is brutally run-over. What does a man do when he thought he had it all and his whole life changes in an instant?

Daniel and Valeria will descend into their own brand of hell when Richi, Valeria’s tiny dog, is trapped under the apartment’s wooden floor-the perfect metaphor of a love story that bravely assumes the consequences of disenchantment and despair

Finally, el Chivo (“the goat”) arrives on the scene of the accident; he is a former communist guerilla who, after serving several years in prison, is deeply disappointed in life and works as a hired assassin. There he finds a dying Cofi-Octavio’s-dog-which he steals and heals. Paradoxically, this encounter will enable him to come to terms with himself and his painful past.

An exciting film and thrilling story about redemption and the vulnerability and complexity of human experience.

No movie had ever portrayed the chaos of the world’s largest and most populated city with such realism and crudity before.

The circle is never closed; pain is the path towards hope.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

REFLECTIONS ON AMORES PERROS

Mexico City is an anthropological experiment, and I feel I’m part of it. I’m just one of the twenty one million people that live in the world’s largest and most populated city. In the past, no person had ever lived (survived, more likely) in a city with such rates of pollution, violence and corruption, however-incredible and paradoxical as it may seem-it is a beautiful a fascinating city and that is precisely what Amores Perros is to me: a products of this contradiction, a small reflection of the baroque and complex mosaic that is Mexico City. For me, the process of Amores Perros has been a long journey inside. From the time I read Guillermo Arriaga’s first draft (we worked on 36 drafts over three years) it moved, shook and disturbed me.

I could not only see and feel the characters, but I could smell them and feel something profoundly human for them. It was like they stepped out of the paper and stood before me, suffering, with perfectly organic dialogues.

If I’m certain of anything it’s that I didn’t make this film with my intellect, bu by sheer instinct and intuition. I know I didn’t put my heart into it, rather my entrails and a piece of instinct and intuition. I think everybody gave a piece of their lives to the project, there was always a very strange mystique around the set-a silence which sowed mixed feelings are reaped deafening emotions. It was never inspiration, just perspiration; there was no mercy, compassion or compromise, things are what they are, not what we want them to be. Every department- art, wardrobe, music-yielded to the story and to Rodrigo Prieto’s incredible camera work, which I wanted to be a silent but proactive witness of real facts taking place before our eyes. It was something close to documenting a piece of reality, and maybe this is why the film is disturbing and exciting, because the worst we can see in it Is ourselves. Sometimes refusing to accept our nature or going against it is also a part of this very nature.

In Amores Perros characters forget their divinity and dive deep into their animal nature in order to redeem and survive themselves, their decisions and consequences through pain, but always with great beauty, courage, dignity and hope. This is why these characters are likable and endearing they may be unfaithful but never disloyal.

After reading dozens of scripts, the profound and complex structure of Amores Perros, along with the fortunate and vital empathy that bonded me with Guillermo Arriaga, led me to know I had finally found a story that would allow me to exorcise me terrible fear of the ordinary human experience of day-to-day existence, which has perhaps been hidden behind the frivolous esthetic of TV commercials.

I wanted to touch and to touch myself, to feel alive and make the characters and viewers alive. I wanted to strike, caress, entertain, move and provoke. I wanted to take the viewer up and down the extremes of a roller coaster ride, no breaks.

I wanted to completely strip the characters naked before the camera without them feeling embarrassed, to find the perfect catharsis or the uncomfortable shame of the viewer watching him or herself. With this regard, I think the actors and actresses’ heartrending and incredible work in the film accomplished a lot more than I had imagined.

- ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU

PRODUCER’S NOTE

There are three fundamental reasons why we wanted this film to be made. The first was the originality and strength of the script by Guillermo Arriaga. Set in a city of contrasts, all his characters are deeply human, embodiments of pain and hope. The second was the impressive storytelling ability, the imagination and talent of Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu as director, and his tenacity and leadership as producer in bringing together the best possible cast and crew to help him tell this story in its full dimension. The third is that we believe this film, from its conception, possesses all the necessary elements to communicate with worldwide audiences craving new dimensions in storytelling. As viewers may notice, we took great creative risks in shooting Amores Perros. All of us at Altavista Films are proud to be a means for developing and exhibiting the work of Mexico’s finest talents.

-FRANCISCO GONZÁLEZ COMPEÁN

BIOGRAPHIES

CAST

EMILIO ECHEVARRIA (El Chivo)

Emilio began his career in 1978 when he joined in the creation of ARTE Y SOCIEDAD, an institution, which brought together many artists from different disciplines, and provided a venue for art, cinema, theater, dance and music exhibitions and performances. So far he has participated in over twenty plays including “Querida Lulu”, “Nadie Sabe Nada”, “Los Perdedores” and “Don Juan”.

His film career is also quite extensive: “Bordando la Frontera” by Maricarmen de Lara, “Dia Crucial para Ausencio Paredes” byt Eduardo Herrera, “Los Pasos de Ana” by Marisa Sistach, “Morir en el Golfo” by Alejandro Pelayo, “Intimidad” by Dana Rotberg, “Intimidades en un Cuarto de Baño” by Jime Humberto Hermosillo, “Novia Que Te Vea” by Guita Schyfter, “Ambar”, by Luis Estrada, “Un Volcan con Lava de Hielo” by Valentina Leduc, and “Sucesos Distantes” by Guita Schyfter.

His latest film is “Amores Perros” in which he has the leading role.

GAEL GARCIA BERNAL (Octavio)

My full name is Gael Garcia Bernal, which is also the name I use as an actor. I was born November 20, 1978 in Guadaljara. From an early age I started working with my parents in different theatre plays. When I was eleven I worked in a play called “El Rapto de las Estrellas” written by Alejandro Reyes.

When I was twelve I starred in a soap opera called “El Abuelo y Yo”, which was also the name of the musical that followed with which we toured the country. After that I starred in film school exercises and short films including “De Tripas, Corazon” which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film. I worked in the play “Roberto Zucco” directed by Catherine Marnas. I also worked in a short film in Uruguay directed by Rodrigo Pla, El Ojo en la Nuca”. I’ve just finished studying acting in the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England, where I’ve lived for the past three years. In school I’ve participated in several public theatrical productions which have played in different cultural festivals throughout Europe.

Amores Perros is my first full-length feature film. I am currently working in “Y Tu Mama Tambie” which is a movie directed by Carlos Cuaron and photographed by Emanuel Lubezki.

VANESSA BAUCHEA (Susana)

In 1999 she got the lead role in the film “Piedras Verdes”, Angel Torres Flores’s first film. In 1998 she co-starred in “Un Embrujo” directed by Carlos Carrera. On that same year she had a special appearance in Gabriel Rete’s “Un Dulce Olor a Muerte.” In 1996 she acted in the films “La Ley de las Mujeres” by Billy Arellano, and “Hasta Morir” by Fernando Sariñana for which she was nominated for an Ariel as Best Supporting Actress. In 1999 she would win this award for her role in Carlos Carrera’s “ Un Embrujo”. In 1996 she won the APT Award for her role in

“Stabat Mater”, a play by Humberto Leyva. Currently, she is working in the soap opera “Ramona” directed by Lucy Orozco.

GOYA TOLEDO (Valeria)

Goya is a Spanish actress. Her movie credits include “Diario de un Volador” directed by Giacomo Battiato, “Dile a Laura que la Quiero” by Jose Miquel Jauez, “Mas Alla del Jardin” by Pedro Olea, “Makaria” by Antonio Betancor for which she received a Goya nomination for Best Actress, “Amores Perros” by Alehandro Gonazalez Iñarritu, and the Austrian production “La Extranjera” directed by Gotz Spielman.

For Television: “Hermanos de Leche”, “Al Ataque”, “Los Ladrones Van a la Oficina”, “Todos Abordo” and she co-hosted the show “El Destina en Sus Manos”,

She was also in a music video with Joaquin Sabina and another with Jean Luc Lahye.

JORGE SALINAS (Luis)

Graduated from CEA in 1990, he began his career by acting in several soap operas like “El Abuelo y Yo”, “Cadenas de Amargura”, “Magica Juventud”, “Vakeria y Maximiliano”, “ Dos Mujeres, Un Camino”, “Morelia”, “Cancion de Amor”, and “Mi Querida Isabel” among others.

For his role in the film “Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas” he was given the Heraldo and Eres awards for Best actor.

He has been a host for the “Nuestra Belleza” beauty contests in the Hidalgo and Guerrero.

His theater credits include the show “Solo para Mujeres” and “El Precio de la Fama”.

“Amores Peros” is his second film.

RODRIGO MURRAY PRISANT (Gustavo)

His film debut came in 1979 with “Para Usted, Jefa” directed by Guillermo Murray. Three years later he won the First Prize in the Colegio Madrid’s First Theater Festival with the play “El Ser Humano”. In 1985 he won the Third Prize in the same festival with Vicente Leñero’s La Carpa”. Rodrigo has played quite a few roles in different plays, working as assistand director and P.A. in several of them. In 1996 he was awarded the UCCT (Theater Critic’s Union) prize for Best Actor. In 1997 he acted in the soap opera “Demasiado Corazon”. The following year he played in the soap opera “Mirada de Mujer” directed by Antonio Serrano.

In 1999 he starred in “Redencion” a film by Jose Antonio and Juan Pablo H. That same year he worked on the film “ En el Pais de No Pasa Nada” directed by Maricarmen de Lara. He also acted in “Todo el Poder” by Fernando Sariñana, “Piedras Vedes” by Angel Flores, and “Amores Perros” written by Guilermo Arriaga and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu.

This year he will be in “Sala de Espera”, a play by Benjamin Gabarre directed by Alejandro Ainslei in La Gruta of the Centro Cultural Helncio. He is rehearsing “El Caso de Caligari o el Ostion Chino”, a play by Hugo Hiriart, which will open in May in the Casa de la Paz theater of the UAM

(Metroplitan Autonomous University) and will be performed in the Cervantino International Festival in October.

He currently hosts the “Todos Habiam” television talk show on channel 40.

CREW

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU (Director)

Born in Mexico City in 1963.

Bu age 23 h3 was director, producer and D.J. for the number one rock music radio station Mexico: WFM. In 1987 he was in charge of the MAGIA DIGITAL TV show. Between 1988 and 1990 he produced the score for six Mexican full-length feature films. In 1990 he was appointed creative director in TELEVISA. In 1991 he created production company ZETA FILM. He studied theater direction with Polish director Ludwig Margules and actor direction in Maine and Los Angeles with Judith Weston. In 1995he directed his first medium-length TV feature: “Detras del Dinero” starring Miguel Bose.

Today he is a partner of ZETA Production and Publicity Group, and has received Golden Awards in the New York International Film and TV Festival and the London Film Festival.

In 1997 he was awarded the Grand Prix by FIAP for his WFM campaign.

In 1999 he directed and produced his first full-length feature film: “Amores Perros”.

MARTHA SOSA (Executive producer)

She began her professional career in 1985 working as a reporter, anchorwoman and production assistant for different news and cultural shows broadcast on national Mexican television such as “A Capa y Espada” and “Hoy en la Cultura”. National Journalism Award in 1988.

Her passion for film and filmmaking led her to produce and direct different radio shows specializing on the subject, creating spaces for the promotion of cinema in Mexico. Together with Monica Lozano, Francisco Gonzalez Compean and Yissel Ibarra, she designed Altavista Films as a new option for producing high quality films in Mexico aimed at box-office success, and is in charge of the project search and development area.

Her work on film includes: associate producer for “La Historia de I y O” (1988). A SHORT FILM DIRECTED BY vALENTINA lEDUC; EXECUTIVE PRODUCER For “Amores Perrps” (1999) directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, and associate producer for “Por la Libre” (working title) directed by Juan Carlos de Llaca.

She is currently developing several projects for Altavista Films.

FRANSICO GONZALEZ COMPEAN (Producer and general director of Altavista Films)

Universidad Anahuac Business Administration graduate, he took several scriptwriting courses in NYU and specialized in Film Production at the New School for Social Research where he obtained a masters in Media Studies.

From an early age he worked in radio and television production, both on local and national networks, then went on to develop the creative and strategiv-planning areas of VALEBATES, the international advertising and marketing agency.

In May 1998 he managed to shape the current structure of Altavista Films, the production branch of Estudio Mexico Films, which stands out in the Latin American scene as one of the foremost Spanish-language production companies. During his time as head of Altavista, he has produced and co-produced four full-length feature films: “Todo el Poder” directed by Fernando Sariñana, “Amores Perros” by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, “Por la Libre” by Juan Carlos de Llaca, and “Que No Quede Huella” by Maria Novaro.

He is currently developing and producing five full –length feature films, which will be shot during the year 2000.

GUILLERMO ARRIAGA JORDAN (Scriptwriter)

At the Universidad Iberoamericana he worked as a full-time professor, academic coordinator for the Communications career, and coordinator of television, radio, communication policies and professional services. He has written, directed and produced different radio and television shows as well as videos. In 1987 he was granted a writing scholarship by the National Institute of Fine Artes (INBA). iN 1991 HE PUBLISHED “Relato De Los Esplendores Y Miserias Del Escuardron Guillotina y de como participo en la leyenda de Fransico Villa” (“ A tale of the Splendors and Miseries of the Guillotine Squadron and how it Conrtibuted to the Legend of Francisco Villa”) In Editorial Planeta. The book was reprinted in 1992 and re-edited in 1997 by Editorial Daga. In 1994 Planeta published “Un Dulce Olor a Muerte” (“A Sweet Smell of Death”). In 1999 his new novel El Bufalo de la Noche” and his volume of stories Retorno 201” were published. In 1998 he adapted his novel Un Dulce Olor a Muerte” for the screen; the film was directed by Gabriel Retes and produced by Miguel Necoechea and Pablo Barbachano.

He is currently adapting his novel “Escuadron Guillotina” for film, in collaboration with Spanish author, Rafael Azcona.

In addition to working on a new novel, he is also developing several scripts with Altavista Films.

RODRIGO PRIETO (Director of photography)

Rodrigo is one of the best-known directors of photography in Mexican cinema. In 1999 he was awarded the Mexican Academy’s Ariel for Best Pgitigraohy, as well as the Best Photography Award in the San Sebastian Film Festival for his work in “Un Embrujo”, directed by Carlos Carrera. He also received an Ariel for Best Photography for “Sobrenatural”, directed by Daniel Gruener. His work in “Fibra Optica”, directed by Oscar Athie, received the Best Photography Award in the New York Latin American Festival, while Jorge Ali Triana’s “Edipo Alcalde” brought him the Best Photography Award of the Cartagena Film Festival in Colombia.

Some of his other work as director of photography includes films like “Dama de Noche” by Eva Lopez Sanchez, “Un Instante parra Morir” by Christian Gonzalez, “Perfume Efecto Immediato” by

Alejandro Gamboa, “Ricky 6” by Peter Filardi, and “Amores Perros” by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu. He is currently shooting the film “Dancing in the Dark”, directed by Michael Christopher.

BRIGITTE BROCH (Production design and set decoration)

Nominated for an Oscar in 1996 for Best Art Direction and Decoration for “Romeo and Juliet”, Brigitte has vast experience working in films. Some of her recent work includes Antonio Seeano’s “Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas” and Sabina Merman’s “Entre Pancho Villa y una Mujer Desnuda”. In 1992 she was nominated for Best Decoration for “The Garden of Eden” by Maria Novaro and “Ambar” by Luis Estrada. That same year she received an award for Best Set Decoration for “La Invencion de Cronos” by director Guillermo del Toro. She was also the art designer for Alfonso Cuaron’s “Solo con tu Pareja”. She has worked on “Moulin Rouge” a film by Baz Luhrmann

TITA LOMBARDO (Production manager)

Tita has worked as Production Manager in the films “Mentiras Piadosas”, “El Imperio de la Fortuna” and “El Otro”, directed by Arturo Ripstein. Some of her latest work as head of production includes the films “Que No Quede Huella” directed by Maria Novaro, and “Un Dulce Olor a Muerte” by Gabriel Retes. She has been Executive Producer in Arturo Ripstein’s “Profundo Carmesi”, Guita Schifter’s “Novia Que Te Vea”, Jasmine Humberto Hermosillo’s “Encuentro Inesperado”, and Dana Rotberg’s “El Angel de Fuego”. She has also worked as line producer in several advertising campaigns.

GABRIELA DIAQUE (Wardrobe design)

Since 1978, Gabriela has worked in advertising agencies as member of the creative team, a set designer and dresser, wardrobe coordinator, and sometimes as head of production. She also works designing a beachwear collection as well as the image od several well-known artists like Sasha, Pandora, Oscar Athie, and Alejandra Guzman.

“Amores Perros” is her first film as a wardrobe designer. In 1999 she worked designing the wardrobe for the film “Por la Libre” directed by Juan Carlos de Llaca. She has also designed the wardrobe for the film “Tu Mama Tambien” directed by Alfonso Cuaron.

MARTIN HERNANDEZ (Audio design)

For six years he was the WFM’s Production Director, and the noises he brought into Mexiacn radio can still be heard today in other stations. In 1991, with Alejandro Gonzalez and Joaquin Diaz, he founded ZETA AUDIO. Tow years after inventing the sound for Televisa’s image, he developed the team that would create RADIOACTIVO to which he was devoted from 1992 to 1996 when ZETA AUDIO became involved exclusively in audio post-production for other media. Between 1998 and 1999 he was the General Director of WFM and throughout his career he’s had the opportunity of interviewing more than 250 renowned artists of very diverse musical styles: Elton John and Heroes del Silencio, David Bowie, and Dizzy Gillespie, Bono and Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz and This Mortal Coil, Eric Burdon and R.E.M., Alej Syntek and Santana. His team has provided audio for nearly every production company and agency in Mexico City. Recently, he had the opportunity of designing the audio for “Amores Perros”, Alehandro Gonzale Iñarritu’s first film. He writes regularly for the Reforma daily and Switch magazine.