by Hank Brockett
If producers could single out why Scary Movie drummed up megabucks while the equally terrible Not Another Teen Movie left no mark on the cinematic world, the teen audience would become the ultimate cash cow.
Instead, for every American Pie, there’s a Tomcats. And if you never heard of the latter no one would blame you. School raffles make more money than that Jerry O’Connell dud brought in, and with much better intentions.
The sociologist will tell you the adolescent never wavers in energy, only in focus. The street philosopher interprets that as: “Times change, and so do kids. Try and keep up, hepcats.”
But the movie business is only part of this story. While blockbusters explode and bring in fortunes, frustrated writers always turn to the coming-of-age tale.
We can’t fault the poor fools, unaware of their lost cause. Everyone reaches that point where he or she says, “If I’d only known then what I know now ...”
So, through the eyes of an innocent, a writer tries to Figure Things Out. If there’s such thing as the great American story, it surely must deal with hormones. The teen years have it all: a stranger-in-a-strange-land saga, romantic entanglements, knowledge gained and lost, an epic scope and a reason for immediate change. For if one can shoot up six inches in a year, that can’t be the only transformation going on.
Through all of these adjustments, books and movies and music all try to pinpoint a lifetime’s point-of-no-return, the end of the innocence.
Even in American Pie, amid all the sexual debauchery and deflowering, the movie spins a tale where the characters know much more about life while chatting around the diner table at the fade to black than in the clumsy, scrambled-porn beginning.
These known elements make Y Tu Mama Tambien all the more fascinating. Beyond the sexual nature and cultural barriers, this acclaimed movie - recently released on video/DVD - exemplifies the passion and conflicts of being 18.
And it’s no wonder the movie wasn’t made in Hollywood.
Co-written and directed by Alfonso Cueron, this Mexican film revels in a frenetic style and understated motivations. Those of us who took Spanish 2 know the film’s title means “And your mother, too.” Those of us who were 17 and male know the meaning of that insult.
Two young men, Julio and Tenoch, find themselves on the brink of boredom and sexual frustration. Their girlfriends are off in Europe for the summer, undoubtedly the apples of a suave gentleman’s eye. And the boys, well, they’re doing the things parents don’t want to know about - drugs, booze, parties.
With a bond seemingly inseparable, they are ripe for adventure. Their opportunity comes in the form of Luisa, a relative’s wife, and with frustrations all her own. The husband cheats and Luisa is off, hitting the road on an adventure with two teens 10 years her junior.
The randomness of a trip allows for a mishmash of adventures, but this isn’t a Road Trip retread. With a careful grace, each character slowly unfurls. How that affects the characters’ entwined relationships ... well, that’s always the question, isn’t it?
That Luisa never becomes the tramp and the boys never lose their age makes the film memorable. In lesser films, the tone would shift and the woman would become the surrogate teacher. One gets the sense everyone learns and teaches on this trip.
The movie was made in Mexico despite the director’s good graces in Hollywood. With a handful of acclaimed films under his belt, Cueron actually will direct the third Harry Potter movie. But a knowledge of the current ratings system sent Cueron to the foreign market.
We may think Hollywood oversexes and oversells, but all American movies still must keep the MPAA ratings system in mind. In American Pie, the search for an R rating laughably meant fewer ... lingering shots involving Jason Biggs and a pie. But for films like Y Tu Mama Tambien, moviemakers live in the very real fear of NC-17, the kiss of death for any movie looking for distribution and dollars.
This film eventually found its audience, in art houses and other theaters where an unrated movie (a big difference) isn’t looked at with contempt.
Watching Y Tu Mama Tambien isn’t easy. The dialogue is frank (and all too real) and there’s plenty of both male and female sexuality on full display. All this from a movie with subtitles is just asking for initial scorn.
That the movie breaks through all these hindrances and delivers a memorable story makes all of our efforts worthwhile. Within a single scene, you’ll learn more about lost youth, adolescent angst and the undercurrents of present-day Mexico than three movies’ worth of information.
In the end, Cueron offers us plenty of hints for unanswered questions. And our sightseeing for adolescent understanding has found a destination.
The Internet Movie Database
What other critics think - The Rotten Tomatoes Site