Online Discussion

I wanted to find out just how popular this year's three Mexican films were with audiences and so I decided to send out a post on the message board for each one, asking people to say which film they liked the best out of the three. I also then asked which director they preferred to see who was generally the most popular. I hoped this may give me an insight into what it was people liked / disliked about these films. The results so far are as follows:

"Children of Men" proved to be the most popular film - also the most widely seen film
"Pan's Labyrinth" was close behind in terms of popularity, however, it had had the least viewings
"Babel" was the least popular (many were very critical of it, surprisingly)

Alfonso Cuaron was also the most popular director, largely due to the fact that he had made a variety of different films
Guillermo Del Toro was not far behind, however, not everyone was a fan of the fantasy / horror genre
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was the least popular - criticised largely for using the same idea too often - with "Amores Perros" regarded as his best

The results show that audiences seem to prefer Cuaron's movies the most - perhaps because the other two directors use very extreme styles, where as he is a kind of in-between - however, the fact that he has come into Hollywood, and really made Hollywood movies, whilst still applying his Mexican style, has proved to have been a success. Cuaron appears to make movies for audiences - ensuring that they will appeal to whoever he is targeting. Del Toro was not far behind Cuaron in terms of popularity, maybe because he too has made Hollywood films, however, unlike Cuaron, Del Toro tends to stick to the fantasy / horror genre. Therefore, there are a segment of people who do not like his films as this genre has no appeal to them. Inarritu, like Del Toro, also sticks to one genre, however, he also uses the same ideas each time - and this has been his downfall. Of all the directors, Inarritu is the least Hollywood-like, sticking to his roots, and refusing to adapt to Hollywood conventions as much as the others (except for the casting of a few Hollywood stars) - which is not neccessarily a bad thing. It is not that a film such as "Babel" wouldn't go down well in Hollywood - it is just that people are getting tired of the same ideas - and "Amores Perros" is still clearly regarded as his best.

Theorist

http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/spanish/staff/pjs1001/

Link to the contact details for theorist Paul Julian Smith (writer of "Amores Perros (BFI Modern Classics)" book and "Y tu mama Tambien" article in Premiere Magazine).