AMORES PERROS

The release of Amores Perros in 2000 heralded the arrival of a master of modern cinema. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s debut feature presented the fierce realities of Mexico City’s underworld through three interlocking narratives of hope and fear, desire and revenge, played out by Emilio Echevarría, Goya Toledo, Gael García Bernal, and Marco Pérez. The film’s luminous and gritty visual language is translated to the page in this new publication, which marks the film’s twenty-fifth anniversary with an unprecedented deep dive into its making. Here Iñárritu brings together stills, on-set photography, behind-the-scenes materials, and cuttings from its critical reception to weave a thrilling narrative of the film’s immense production and influence. The intricate construction of the film’s tripartite structure is tracked through stills alongside Iñárritu’s handwritten notes devising the subtexts, driving forces, and characterisation of each scene, interleaved with original storyboards by Fernando Llanos. Combining drama, brutality, suspense, and pathos, Iñárritu’s fragmentary but propulsive original tale is reflected in the collaged arrangement of the book’s design. Completed by a new text by Iñárritu himself, contributions by renowned directors Denis Villeneuve and Walter Salles, award-winning novelists Jorge Volpi and Wendy Guerra, film critic Elvis Mitchell, and the film’s storyboard artist Fernando Llanos, Amores Perros offers a rich insight into the practice and process of one of the world’s leading filmmakers.?