Rich On Y Tu Mama Tambien

Rich on Reception goes to the movies

I'm not going to lie to you, I've never liked subtitled movies, I guess it was simply because I'd never actually watched one.

When you're a kid at home and you're flicking through the channels, you're looking for three key things: lots of colours, lots of action and lots of noise. If the show you've flicked over to doesn't meet these requirements, you just keep on flicking. So when a black and white movie or one with subtitles flickers onto the screen, the alarm bell rings and the trusty channel-hopping trigger finger goes into action.

In hindsight, not watching a film just because it requires a little bit of reading is pretty stupid. It goes to show how lazy we can be. Being a child of the MTV generation doesn't help as I get twitchy sitting through a full-length advert. So the thought of going to the cinema to watch a subtitled movie is laughable. Actually parting with my own money to watch a foreign language film? Ha ha ha, no chance.

I did make the effort to look clever once when I took a girl to watch an old Italian war movie about some guy and his bicycle. I haven't got the foggiest idea what it was all about because I spent the whole time trying to keep up with the subtitles. I challenged myself to see how many times I could read each sentence before it came off of screen, and forgot to actually pay attention to what was being said. This became highly embarrassing when the snobbish little uni student I was with started questioning me about the hidden meaning behind the bicycle. Bloody English student (she'd read the book too). I hadn't a clue what she was talking about so I pretended I'd seen something over her shoulder, pointed and, when she turned around, ran away really fast.

Road movie

But when I saw a trailer for Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mama Too!) I thought I'd break the habit of a lifetime and splash out £6 for the privilege of viewing it. Either the trailer was grossly misleading or here was a movie as good as anything I would normally watch, only with a bit of writing at the bottom of the screen.

In simple terms it's a road movie. Two teenagers and a woman, in a car, in the heat of Mexico, looking for a beach. From what I know about foreign films, they don't generally follow the same style of stories as we are used to. They often ramble and hide behind the word Art if you question the meaning, or indeed the point, of what's happening. But I was jumping to conclusions.

The movie gets straight on with the introduction of the two lads, Tenoch and Julio, and what sort of lads they are. To be frank, they smoke pot, screw their girlfriends, talk crap and masturbate a whole lot. You must be prepared for this, it's blunt and to the point. The opening sex scenes are candid and the jokes are very close to the bone.

Besotted

After a few genuinely funny scenes the boys come across Luisa, the beautiful wife of Tenoch's cousin. Unsurprisingly they are besotted with her and, after her husband admits to an affair, she takes them up on their offer to drive her to the most beautiful beach in the world. So off they go in a car, in search of Heaven's Mouth. The beach, however, is fictitious, so they're actually looking for any old beach.

From here on it's a tale of sex-mad teenagers, pot and an apparently broken-hearted girl. The relationship between the trio changes constantly, with the boys' dynamic affected by the real woman who's entered their lives.

Like teenagers all over the world, their interests and worries are universal. This is what makes the film so accessible. Despite the language barrier, nothing is lost in the translation as the jokes they tell and the worries they harbour are identical to every teenage boy's life. For instance, at a petrol station Julio is about to get in the car but Tenoch drives forward a few yards every time he goes to open the door. It's something I've taken pleasure in doing to my mates many, many times (and still do) and it's not only the familiarity of the jokes but the simplicity. It's not slapstick comedy or clever irony, just two funny lads acting like normal lads. One of the few styles Haley Joel Osment would never be able to play.

Arty edge

As it progresses and the novelty value wears off, things get a little more tense and, of course, interesting. The humour and jokes are not as prominent in the second half - which is a good thing. It gets your attention and makes you care about the characters before they all start falling out.

There's also an arty edge to this movie. Every so often there's a break from the action and a voiceover interjects, telling random stories about things that have happened "on this very road" and stories the friends don't even share with each other. I did try and work out the point of this, in typical cynical mode, but I decided it's best to let it lie, simply because I found the stories interesting. Whether it's a clever political comment or a way of highlighting certain elements of the relationships, I wouldn't know. Like I say, it was interesting, so what more do you want?

The performances are very strong. The actors hold the film for the whole time, which I can't imagine is an easy thing for two teenagers to do. But they are totally believable, and the hand-held camera work, combined with the true-to-life characters, give a very documentary-like feel to it. To be very funny and then very touching in one scene is not easy, but it happens time and time again. Mexico comes across looking, well, like I'd imagine Mexico to look.

No gringos

Being a Mexican film we don't have any Hollywood stereotype gringos or carefully positioned cacti. But I do think this could have been set in Scotland or Wales with the moors instead of the desert and a pub instead of a beach and it would still work because it cover subjects we can all relate to. The occasional English-language song blasts out of the stereo and reminds you you're watching a foreign film. And it's comforting, when watching scenes set in a part of the world so alien to most of us, to hear they have crap pub rock too.

I really don't have any major criticisms of Y Tu Mama Tambien. It's either going to interest you or it isn't. There's a moment, toward the end of the film, that I thought was disappointing. It may have been necessary to the story but for me, it left a bitter taste in the mouth. Literally. For a low-budget foreign film I have to say it's the most interesting movie I have seen this year, and I'm fairly certain it will make you laugh and could make you cry. It's loud, rude and crude. Just don't be put off by the title, or indeed, the subtitles.

Rich
Unit 2 Reception
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