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Photo By Steve Ramos
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Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón feels that sex isn't
the driving force behind Y Tu Mamá También,
a film of life, love and childhood friendships.
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On a cold January night at the Sundance Film Festival, 200 people packed a hotel banquet room for a screening of the movie Y Tu Mamá También and cheered when Mexican-born director Alfonso Cuarón stepped to the microphone to introduce the film.
"This is the kind of film I would have done before I went to film school and learned there were rules," Cuarón told the audience, laughing.
At the front of the room, Cuarón stood alongside his film's co-star, Diego Luna. The two of them talked and teased with the audience. After the screening, there were plenty of questions. Most of them dealt with the sexy content of the movie. It was getting late, but nobody left the screening room. After it was all over, people crowded around Cuarón and Luna. They looked extremely pleased, but who wouldn't be when surrounded by a loving crowd?
Y Tu Mamá También has broken box-office records in Mexico, and while it won't do the same in the United States, it looks primed to be a sizable art-house hit. Cuarón collaborated with his brother Carlos Cuarón on the film's screenplay, which tells the story of two 17-year-old friends, Tenoch (Diego Luna) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal), and Tenoch's pretty Spanish cousin (by marriage), Luisa (Maribel Verdu), who leave Mexico City for a getaway in search of the perfect beach on the Oaxacan coast.
The movie has earned rave reviews and for Cuarón, who spends much of the year living in New York City, it looks to make him a force in the filmmaking community
The following day, inside a nearby hotel room, I catch up with Cuarón. He sits back on a large sofa and for the first time in days, he takes time to relax. His duties as a festival juror are over. The lighting equipment for a recent photo shoot remains and clutters the room. There are open bottles of wine on a nearby table. Cuarón lets loose a long sigh of relief.
He is fascinated with my digital camera. He turns its lens, taking pictures and staring at his goofy expressions. "I love this." he says laughing. "Especially the one where you can see up my nose."
Up close, Cuarón looks young, almost boyish. He's dressed casually, jeans and a sweater, and his thick black hair juts from his forehead in a punkish spike.
Cuarón is proud of the coming-of-age story he and his brother wrote. When I make comparisons to Jean-Luc Godard's 1966 film Masculine Féminin, about a young man torn between his Communist friend and narcissistic girlfriend, Cuarón's eyes light up.
"I love that film!" he says, excitedly. "Exactly. I was thinking about Godard when I made Y Tu Mamá También."
These days, American audiences, or should I say theater owners, aren't open to films from other parts of the world. Cuarón's sexy road movie is an exception. Y Tu Mamá También bursts onto the scene like a fireball. The idea of a coming-of-age road movie is not a new genre, but in Cuarón's hands, it feels that way.
The box-office appeal of Y Tu Mamá También seems to point to its sexual content as the reason for its success, but that would be a mistake. Cuarón says its tale of life, love and childhood friendships is what ultimately drives the film. The way he sees things, the sex is just a bonus.
"When you're young, sex is always sloppy," Cuarón says, breaking into a wide grin. "That's what I wanted to show. I wanted to show it fast, clumsy, not at all pretty."
Out of his films that have been made in the past 10 years, much of Cuarón's work has been overlooked. The Mexican feature, Love in the Time of Hysteria, and the cable movie, Murder Obliquely, are little seen films. His childhood fantasy, The Little Princess, remains an under-appreciated film.
In fact, many people question how someone who makes A Little Princess, which perfectly captures a child's longing for family, can also make Y Tu Mamá También, a film that grabs hold of a teen-ager's libidinous energy and sense for adventure.
"I consider The Little Princess as my most personal film," he says. "I can't explain why. It's feels the closest to me of all the films that I've done."
Cuarón experienced more than his share of criticism for the extravagant Dickens adaptation Great Expectations, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke. Asked if he regrets making Great Expectations, Cuarón laughs loudly.
"I don't like to tell names," he says. "But I was tired of big films. I wanted to work with a hand-held camera. I wanted to make the type of 1960s movie that I love. I had become sick of what I was doing."
In his mind, Y Tu Mamá También was a chance to return to a purer type of moviemaking, and the experience has paid off handsomely. Storytelling took priority again. It was a faster shoot, unencumbered by intricate lighting and elaborate sets. It was also a reminder that moviemaking can be youthful and daringly sexy. ©
