Alejandro González Iárritu is one of Mexico’s most well-known film exports, alongside fellow Mexicans Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro, as part of the so-called Three Amigos of Cinema group. He was the first Mexican director to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first to win a Cannes Festival Director prize. His films are recognized for being dark, well-shot with memorable soundtracks.
Here are some of his best films.
1. The Revenant
Hugh Glass, a famed frontiersman, is injured by a violent bear assault while exploring unknown terrain in 1823. Glass must use his survival abilities to find a way back home. While dodging natives on their own hunt after his hunting squad abandons him. Glass wanders through the wintry terrain, grief-stricken and driven by revenge. He is in search of John Fitzgerald, his former confidant who deceived and abandoned him.
2. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
Riggan Thomson is a British actor who played the famed superhero “Birdman” for almost two decades. Now in his forties, he’s making his Broadway debut, directing “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”. It is a drama based on a Raymond Carver novel. He’ll play out the show previews with the help of his assistant and daughter Sam, as well as his producer Jake. Even when a talented actor he hired, Mike Shiner, acts arbitrarily, the internal issues between him and the other casts. His useless maximum efforts to critics, and the unexpected voices of his old character- the Birdman. It all conspires to push his sanity until the first debut show.
3. 21 Grams
A horrible accident brings together Paul Rivers, an aging mathematician who is lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, who is harboring a secret history; and Jack Jordan, an ex-convict who has discovered Jesus.
4. Amores Perros
Three intertwined storylines set in Mexico City’s various socioeconomic levels all culminate in a catastrophic vehicle accident. Octavio chooses to engage his dog Cofi into the world of dogfighting in order to raise enough money to flee away with his sister-in-law. Octavio departs in his car when a dogfight goes wrong, running a red light and triggering the accident. Valeria’s newfound happiness is cut short when she loses her leg in a car accident. El Chivo, a homeless man who looks after stray dogs, arrives on the scene to witness the accident.
5. Babel
A shepherd in Morocco buys a strong weapon for his boys to protect his goat herd from jackals. The younger chooses to put the weapon’s three-kilometer range to the test by shooting an American woman in a bus. Her spouse is attempting to reconcile their lives by taking a vacation to Morocco. As a result of the tragedy, their Mexican maid in San Diego travels to Mexico with their children to attend her son’s wedding. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, police attempt to contact the former owner of the firearm, but his disgruntled daughter misunderstands the investigation’s purpose.
