Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 18-November-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Y Tu Mamá También (2002*)

Little wonder that "Y Tu Mamá También" ("And Yo' Momma Too") launched the international careers of its cast and co-writer/director, Alfonso Cuarón. It is the kind of film that gets noticed and makes people talk, and not just because of explicit sex scenes. The story is not easily summed up. It does not feel like anything else. It inspires laughter with doings from a frat house flick and then disturbs with doses of reality.

"Y Tu Mamá También" falls in with the road trip genre, albeit without the result of inspired self-realization. The movie begins by introducing Tenoche (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael García Bernal), teenage best friends who live in Mexico City. With their girlfriends gone for the summer, the boys turn their minds to the only other things that interest them, namely drugs, masturbation, and temporary conquest. Tenoche comes from a wealthy and well-placed family, while Julio is decidedly middle-class; yet both display the hedonism of those who have never known or wanted to know a care in the world.

One day they meet an attractive older woman named Luisa (Maribel Verdú), who is married to Tenoche's cousin. She initially refuses their silly invitation to take a holiday with them on the beach but changes her mind after receiving two bitter pieces of news. Off the threesome goes in a beat-up station wagon with various hopes of adventure. Although Luisa's needs are broader than the boys', her yearning for human connection leads to some of the same ends.

As she engages Tenoche and Julio in surprising sexcapades, Luisa intentionally and unintentionally shows them ways to open their minds. For example, she tries to educate them to be better lovers, and in sharing her personal history she reveals the human vulnerability to loss and sorrow. Unlike her fellow travelers, Luisa excels at giving and rarely receives in return. In addition to direct contact with her experience, the boys are exposed to images of social iniquity, cleverly highlighted by Cuarón, which might also serve to enlighten them. They are on the road, on the threshold of manhood. What an opportunity to grow.

Here is where the tale turns grim. Despite the trip and the night of uninhibited bliss that Luisa gives them, Tenoche and Julio return to the city and take up exactly where they left off. Sure, they "mature" by diving into university and finding new (and hopefully more serious) girlfriends, but they do not veer from the path which their upbringing and economic situation dictate. They do not appreciate the opportunity they had or even the friendship they shared. After the amusing, bawdy romp that makes up much of "Y Tu Mamá También," the harshness of life sets in. There is so much beauty and suffering on Earth and so many people who bury their heads in the sand.

*U.S. release date.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.