Mexico hasn't exactly been a hotbed of successful independent film over the last decade, but if every movie they produce in the next ten years is only half as good as Amores Perros, Steven Soderbergh had better start brushing up on his Spanish.  The film, which was nominated for an Oscar and has already picked up awards from numerous film festivals (including a critics' award at Cannes), features three stories united by a car crash on a busy Mexico City street.

Each of the tales would be interesting enough on their own, but cobbled together as uniquely as they are, the film become a devastating story about fate and relationships.  Even the Amores tagline – "Don't worry if you don't see this picture; you're going to live it anyway" – pokes fun at the Fickle Finger.  All three stories feature a seriously flawed character with designs on some sort of prize, but Fate always steps in (here, in the form of the crash) to unexpectedly slap it away.

The first story is about a young unemployed man named Octavio (Gael García Bernal) who is in love with his sister-in-law, Susana (Vanessa Bauche).  She already has one baby, is expecting another and is still a student, but none of this seems to bother Octavio, who feels his gangster brother Ramiro (Marco Pérez) isn't good enough for the beautiful Susana.  He dreams of getting enough money to convince Susana to run away to Juarez with him and accidentally finds it in Cofi, Ramiro's dog.  It turns out Cofi is one hell of a fighter, and Octavio makes mad money pitting him against other dogs in brutal (and illegal) fights.

Amores's second tale, titled "Daniel and Valeria," focuses on a magazine editor and fashion model, respectively.  Daniel (Álvaro Guerrero) is successful, married and has two kids, but that doesn't stop him from moving in with Valeria (Goya Toledo).  After being horribly disfigured in an accident, Valeria's life becomes even worse when her little dog disappears down a small hole in the floorboards of their new apartment.  The dog is trapped in the hole, Valeria is trapped in a wheelchair, and Daniel is trapped in a situation that makes him long for the boring life he just abandoned.

The final vignette shows an old man named El Chivo (Emilio Echevarría) living a life of squalor after walking out on his family to become a revolutionary many years ago.  He has served time in prison but now spends his days and nights tending to a flock of stray dogs...and the occasional contract killing.  El Chivo (or "The Goat"), who looks a lot like DeNiro in Angel Heart, is hired by a cop to kill his crooked partner, but he seems more interested in stalking his estranged daughter, Maru (Lourdes Echevarría).

Other than the crash, the stories don't really intertwine, but, once in a while, you can see characters from one pop up in the background of another. With a gritty, ultra-violent story about hitmen, stickups, a fixed fight and a car crash told in fragmented time, you can't help but compare Amores to Pulp Fiction or, really, anything Quentin Tarantino has written and directed.  There have been several attempts to duplicate Tarantino's style since Fiction was released and, while I don't know if it was the filmmakers' intention to do so, this film is the best knock-off yet.  It's even better than Go, which also featured three uniquely structured stories.  Writer Guillermo Arriaga does a great job constructing the film around stories involving dogs, as well as showing us that we don't get any wiser as we grow old (Octavio is in his teens, Daniel is middle-aged and El Chivo is pushing 60).

Amores would have been an amazing enough film, but learning it's Alejandro González Iñárritu's directorial debut is a little like getting the wind knocked out of you.  Iñárritu, who also produced and expertly edited the film, shows the poise and confidence of a feature-film veteran here and, aided by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and scoremeister Gustavo Santaolalla, has crafted the first great film of the new millennium.  This is, hands down, the most auspicious debut I've seen in years.  Assuming you can get over the subtitles and grisly dog fight scenes (the credit assure us no dogs were harmed during filming, but it's just too intense to believe), you'll probably feel the same way.

2:33 -

for graphic violence, adult language, nudity and sexual content