Screening for Tuesday 18 August: Amores Perros

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Country of origin: Mexico
Year of release: 2000
Running time: 158'
Language: Spanish, with English subtitles

The debut feature by director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amores Perros features three linked stories based in and around Mexico City. The first tells of Octavio, a young barrio-dweller who is in love with his sister-in-law, Susana. Determined to win her away from his brother Ramiro, a thief, Octavio resorts to using his dog Cifo in dogfighting circles to raise enough money for him and Susana to run away together.

The second story concerns Daniel, an editor who abandons his wife and two children for a supermodel, Valeria. When Valeria is involved in a car crash (the other car is driven by Octavio) and becomes handicapped, Daniel is forced to take care of her. Then Valeria’s beloved dog Richie becomes lost under the floorboards of her and Daniel's new apartment. The relationship strains the longer the pitiful dog's whines are heard without his rescue.

Finally comes the story of El Chivo, a bitter ex-guerilla turned hit man, who is given a contract to kill a wealthy, powerful businessman. A witness to the fateful car crash, El Chivo rescues Octavio’s dog, Cifo, whom paramedics have placed on the street—and who will teach the dehumanised El Chivo a shattering lesson.

Considered the film that launched the recent new wave of Mexican cinema, Amores Perros is marked by interconnected plots, dizzily fast pacing and gritty realism. In its structure and style (if not necessarily its content) it anticipates a number of films from the past few years, including Crash, City of God, and even Slumdog Millionaire.

Screening for Tuesday 11 August: Affair in Trinidad

Director: Vincent Sherman
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1952
Running time: 98'

In 1948 Rita Hayworth wed Prince Ali Khan (the third of her five marriages) and unofficially retired from the movies. Four years later, the marriage at an end, Hayworth made her comeback to the silver screen with Affair in Trinidad, a romance thriller that reunited her with Glenn Ford, her co-star from the very successful, highly infamous Gilda (1946).

Hayworth stars in Affair in Trinidad as Chris Emery, a sexy, hip-grinding dancer who works in a sleazy Port of Spain nightclub owned by her husband. When he dies in mysterious circumstances, Chris' life is turned upside down, especially after the police pull her into the investigation.

Her brother-in-law Steve (Ford) then arrives, and the two are drawn deeper into the mystery and, eventually, each other's arms. What Steve doesn’t realise, however, is that Chris is keeping a dangerous secret from him, one that could have fatal consequences for them both.

Affair in Trinidad features steamy dance sequences (Hayworth first appears dancing barefoot to a “calypso” number called “Trinidad Lady”) and dazzling evening gowns (for which the film won a Best Costume Design Academy Award). Even better is the tempestuous pairing of the “Love Goddess” Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Finally, the film offers the irresistible appeal of seeing what Trinidad was like in the early 1950s—as viewed through the eyes of Hollywood.