Y tu mamá también

    Movie Poster
    Release year
    2001
    Director
    Alfonso Cuarón
    Biography of director(s)
    Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born into a comfortable family with two additional brothers, his father being a nuclear medicine physician and his mother a pharmaceutical biochemist. Cuarón studied philosophy at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and filmmaking at Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC), a department within the university. At UNAM & CUEC, Cuarón met influential director Carlos Marcovich and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. During his time at university Cuarón made his first film, Vengeance is Mine. Starting his career, Cuarón first worked as a technician then, sequentially, as a director for television in Mexico. He then had the opportunity to assist in directing large film productions, like La Gran Fiesta, and eventually directed his own film, Sólo con tu pareja, in 1991. From his debut film, directed multiple films in the United States for the remainder of the 90s. Cuarón made his return to Mexican cinema in 2001 with Y tu mamá también, his first of many critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated films. In the 2000s and 10s, Cuarón directed and co-directed many successful films such as Children of Men, 3 Academy nominations, Gravity, 10 Academy nominations and 2 awards, and Roma, 3 Academy awards and 10 nominations. Personally, Cuarón is a vegetarian and has lived in London for the past 22 years. He has 3 children between two marriages and is an aficionado of the Esperanto Language.
    Country
    México
    Original synopsis of the film

    Y tu mamá también is a classic Mexican road film released in 2001 following the lives of Julio and Tenoch, best friends from relatively well-off Mexican families. While both of their girlfriends are away on vacation in Italy, they attend a wedding where they meet Jano, Tenoch’s cousin, and Jano’s wife Luisa, with whom they both are enamored by. In their conversation, Luisa mentions she met Tenoch when he was a child but he doesn’t recall their interaction. Tenoch and Julio mention their upcoming road trip and invite Luisa, who declines the offer originally. The day of the road trip, Luisa changes her mind because of Jano’s telephonic confession of his infidelity, which Luisa later reveals she always knew about. On the road, the boys tell Luisa about a “manifesto” that defines their friendship. At their first motel, Luisa breaks up with Jano, and as a result, Luisa convinces Tenoch to have sex with her. Julio walks in on them, though neither notice. To get back at Tenoch, Julio later confesses to having an affair withTenoch’s girlfriend, to which Tenoch demands details. Because of the conflict between the boys, Luisa has sex with Julio in the car, but this does not ease the tensions between them. Tenoch confesses to having had an affair with Julio’s girlfriend as well, resulting in a huge fight between the best friends. Luisa gives them an ultimatum: unless the two make up, she will leave and find her own way back to Mexico City. The two apologize and beg Luisa to stay, and they continue on their journey to the beach. There, they find a family of fishermen, and go out to sea in a boat. When they return, they find their camps destroyed by pigs, so they head into the nearest town and stay with the fishermen family for the night. With what remains of their night, the three get very drunk, reveal more sexual confessions, and Luisa seduces the two into a threesome, where Julio y Tenoch engage with the other. The next morning, Tenoch and Julio wake up in the same bed without Luisa in it, who has already woken up and started conversing with the fishermen family. She decides to stay with them while Tenoch and Julio return home, embarrassed by their actions from the previous evening. Tenoch and Julio only see each other once more — a year after their trip. They talk over coffee, where Tenoch tells Julio that Luisa died of cancer a month after they left. She had known the whole time of her condition. The narrator reveals that Tenoch and Julio would never see each other again. 

    Film Awards
    New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
    Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
    Independent Spirit Awards: Best Foreign Film
    Film still
    Julio drives, Luisa is seated in the passenger seat, and Tenoch is seated in the back of the car.

    Describes the setting of a scene in a play or a film. It refers to everything placed on the stage or in front of the camera—including people. In other words, mise en scène is a catch-all for everything that contributes to the visual presentation and overall “look” of a production. When translated from French, it means “placing on stage.”

    Setting
    Props
    Lighting
    Lighting
    Explanation
    This scene pictures the currently inebriated trio dancing intimately in an open air bar. The subjects in the foreground are the most well illuminated and take up just about half of the screen. This foreground is strongly lit with a hard, side light used at eye level just left of the scene's field of vision. This creates bold shadows that grow and shrink in between the already tight spaces between the dancing trio. As the foreground capers to the slow music playing, the shadows created with the key light close the gaps between the trio and blend Tenoch and Julio’s bodies into Luisa’s, conjoining them. Dancing as one, Tenoch, Luisa, and Julio’s physical closeness illustrate how the three of them have momentarily overcome their individual differences in class, maturity, and sexuality to reach what is to be the climax of their brief summer adventure.

    This foreground is overlaid onto a group of older friends with the trio’s fisherman acquaintance, Chuy, seated among them. Although set far into the background, this group of older friends is well illuminated with overhead, fluorescent lighting as well as being partially backlit. Although on the edge of the camera’s depth of field, it is apparent that the figures lit in the background are aware of and partially interact with the characters in the foreground. While this lighting and semi shallow depth of food technique leads the viewer to focus on the trio, the background lighting leads the viewers eyes to recognize the group of older friends as voyeurs to our main characters. This scene bisected by foreground and background uses lighting to draw the viewer's eye to initially to the union of the trio, then, sequentially, to the group of onlookers or witnesses present for the development and climax of the scene.
    Timecode
    01:31:31—01:31:49
    Film Still
    Julio, Luisa, and Tenoch dance drunkenly at a bar.
    Costume
    Costume
    Tenoch, Julio, Jano, and Spilt Red Wine
    Explanation
    In this scene, Julio and Tenoch are attending a wedding, where they run into Jano, Tenoch’s cousin. Jano is an author, and once he finds out that Tenoch also wants to be a writer, he tells him that good writers are rare, and to become one he will need to develop his own style, which will be dependent on life experiences. Jano’s outfit in this shot and throughout the wedding scene is white, meant to reflect two things. Primarily, he is positively received by both Julio and Tenoch, who really take his advice to heart when deciding to go on a road trip. Secondly, in this scene, Julio accidentally spills Jano’s wine on his white outfit, staining it red. This reflects Jano’s lack of innocence, particularly with his relationship with his wife, Luisa, who he regularly cheats on when traveling for various purposes.

    The costumes worn by all three of these characters also reflects the social class of the characters. These men are all present for a wedding of a wealthy and high-ranking government official they all are connected to through Tenoch’s father, a very wealthy economist and public figure. Julio is raised in a middle-class, fatherless household. While Julio and Tenoch’s families differ in political ideologies and class status, the two are strong friends anyway. Both are well aware of their own and the other’s class status, as they both use it towards the other condescendingly when they learn of the other having sex with their respective girlfriends.
    Timecode
    00:14:57—00:15:18
    Film Still
    Tenoch, Julio, and Jano converse at a wedding.
    Hair and Makeup
    Figure Behavior
    Example
    Julio's Confession
    Explanation
    This scene occurs directly after Julio walks in on Tenoch and Luis having sex. Jealous and hurt by his friend’s betrayal, Julio resorts to telling Tenoch that he had sex with Ana, Tenoch’s girlfriend. In this scene, both actors portray excellent figure expressions. Tenoch’s face is riddled with surprise and pain, as he also now feels betrayed by his best friend. Julio, on the other hand, looks completely defeated, a combination of jealousy, confession, relief. Additionally, Julio feels shame, as he is making himself small by approaching the edge of the pool, only remaining afloat by resting his arms and chin on the pavement. He can’t even bring himself to look at Tenoch when he confesses this sin, and Tenoch ultimately can only stare at the back of his friend’s head. He doesn’t get the chance to look him in the eye to know if he is telling the truth, but the two know each other so well that Tenoch doesn’t even need that face-to-face interaction to know that he is being truthful.

    Both actors also portray figure behaviors particularly well. After the two race through the pool, which is typical of their friendship, they pause to evaluate the results. The constant racing by the two boys is a metaphor for their unspoken competition in many aspects of their lives — relationships with their parents, having as much sex as possible, class and social status, educational and social freedom. The two both envy the other in some aspect, and the two come to terms with that throughout the film. After Julio reveals that he had sex with Ana, Tenoch gets out of the water and runs away, completely broken and lost from this revelation. Julio remains in the pool, and when he finally gets out, he is cleansed of his past sin through honesty, though he still deals with consequences later.
    Timecode
    00:57:55—00:58:41
    Film Still
    Julio confesses to Tenoch that he had sex with Ana.
    Tenoch is in shock that Ana and Julio had sex.
    Representative Clip

    This is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, film selection, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, color, exposure, and filtration. Cinematography sets and supports the overall look and mood of a film’s visual narrative. Each visual element that appears on screen, a.k.a. the mise-en-scène of a film, can serve and enhance the story—so it is the cinematographer’s responsibility to ensure that every element is cohesive and support the story. Filmmakers often choose to spend the majority of their budget on high-quality cinematography to guarantee that the film will look incredible on the big screen.

    Point of View
    Comments
    In this scene, the narrator is talking about Tenoch’s connection to this small town. As a road movie, many times in which they drive by new areas, the characters view the more rural areas from a higher point of elevation. This directly shows the privilege that the three characters have, not only racially but also financially. Earlier in the film, their power is not only explicitly mentioned by the narrator, but also shown through the President’s attendance of a wedding they are also present. Tenoch’s housekeeper is from this small town they drive by, and the narrator mentions she migrated to the capital city to improve her life when she was only 13. It is often the case that more indigenous Mexicans work for richer, white Mexican families, and this is most certainly the case in this movie. The point of view here is important because it serves as a way to remind Tenoch of his immense privilege, which is something he never notices unless given the opportunity to travel and interact with those less privileged than him, even if from a distance and with a biased and judging eye.
    Timecode
    40:30 — 40:39
    Film Still
    Scene overlooking Tepelmeme
    Quality
    Framing
    Scale
    Movement

    Editing is the process of putting a film together–the selection and arrangement of shots and scenes. Editing can condense space and time, emphasize separate elements and bring them together, and organize material in such a way that patterns of meaning become apparent. In addition, editing can determine how a film is perceived: for instance, quick, rapid cuts can create a feeling of tension, while a long take can create a more dramatic effect. The first photoplays generally had no cutting, owing to the fact that they were single-reel films; once filming began, you could not stop until the film ran out. (https://filmglossary.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/term/editing/)

    Coherence, Continuity, and Rhythym
    Editing Style
    Transitions
    Match
    Expansion and Compression of Time
    Editing General Comments

    Sound is an integral part in a film. It refers to everything that the audience hears including sound effects, words and music. Sound is used in films for various purposes, including: providing the information to the viewer about the location of the scene, heightening the mood, telling the audience about the characters and advancing the plot. Every person who watches a film realizes that the choice of voices, soundtrack and music present in a film affect the way that the viewer perceives a particular film. As a result, the sound is an important and integral element of the film, one that determines the way that the viewer experiences and understands a film as a visual experience.

    Sound Type

    Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. A narrative can be considered to be the chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. In order to analyze the narrative of a film, we need to first make the distinction between the plot of the film and the story of the film. This is sometimes referred to as the discourse and story of a film. Narrative may also be called the story thought story mainly refers to the events that describe the narrative.

    Plot Comments
    Story Comments
    Narrator Type
    Narrative Structure

    Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films. (Genre comes from the French word meaning "kind," "category," or "type"). These provide a convenient way for scriptwriters and film-makers to produce, cast and structure their narratives within a manageable, well-defined framework. Genres also offer the studios an easily 'marketable' product, and give audiences satisfying, expected and predictable choices. Genres refers to recurring, repeating and similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, styles, themes, syntax, templates, paradigms, motifs, rules or generic conventions.

    Category