Capturing the spirit of a city within three interlocking storylines is like trapping sunlight in a butterfly net. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, with his first film, comes as close as you can. His secret is to trust the gut, not the intellect, and let the camera roam free. Amores Perros translates as Love's A Bitch. Suffering has its own energy and here, in Mexico City, life is cheap.
Violence runs through the veins, as passion drives men to madness.
The unifying force that brings these disparate characters together is not love, but death. They move into a new apartment, where her pet pooch disappears through a hole in the floorboards. She is distraught. He is aggravated. This is only the first in a series of calamities, reinforcing the adage that beauty is only skin deep.