Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 31, 2010

Winner of Best Screenplay and Marcello Mastroianni awards at the Venice Film Festival, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's "Y tu mama tambien" a.k.a. "And Your Mother, Too" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include Carlos Cuaron's short film "You Owe Me One" (2001); making of featurette; deleted scenes; cast & crew information; trailers; and more. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Three friends

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron’s Y tu mama tambien, which translates into And Your Mother, Too, is as much of a film about two boys fascinated with sex as it is a film about a beautiful country of extreme contrasts. Some parts of it are incredibly hilarious, some remarkably sad.

The plot: Tenoch (Diego Luna, Nicotina) and Julio (Gael García Bernal, Bad Education) are best friends. Tenoch is from a rich Mexican family; Julio is from a middle class family. Both have serious girlfriends who are getting ready to go on vacation in Europe for a couple of months.

The girls leave and Tenoch and Julio immediately begin celebrating - by getting drunk and smoking as much pot as they can get their hands on. Eventually, they take a break and attend a wedding where they meet the fine-looking, and older, Luisa (Maribel Verdu, The Blind Sunflowers). Fascinated by her figure, Tenoch and Julio invite Luisa to join them on their trip to the beautiful beach Heaven’s Mouth. When her husband cheats on her, Luisa accepts the offer.

Tenoch, Julio and Luisa head to Heaven’s Mouth. While driving through the Mexican countryside, the three begin discussing their partners, sex lives, and ambitions. Terrific stories are told and secrets revealed. A friendship is also tested.

Cuaron’s Y tu mama tambien has two very contrasting sides. One celebrates youth, freedom, and life in an unbridled fashion. The other is fascinated by death.

As the film progresses a narrator (Daniel Gimenez Cacho) calmly informs us about important facts from Tenoch, Julio and Luisa’s lives, as well as some of the people they meet and spend time with during their journey to Heaven’s Mouth. It is to help us realize that real life is a series of events, meetings, and departures, the significance of which most of us realize long after they occur.

For Tenoch, Julio and Luisa this realization occurs at different points in Y tu mama tambien. For Tenoch and Julio it is at the end of the film, for Luisa it is at the very beginning of it.

Y tu mama tambien is an explicit, frank and very unapologetic film, but not an offensive one. Sex has a very important role in it, and Cuaron never uses it to evoke impure feelings or sensations. On the contrary, because nothing about it is manipulated, it is inoffensive and harmless.

The three leads are spectacular. Bernal and Luna play the two young boys who can’t control their sexual urges to perfection. There is a scene in Y tu mama tambien where they masturbate together in front of a giant pool that is beyond hilarious.

Verdú is also sensational, and arguably the key reason why Y tu mama tambien is such a moving film. Her performance is relaxed but remarkably confident. She undergoes a fascinating character transformation that is very effectively captured by Cuaron’s camera.

The hand-held camera footage could be slightly distracting at times but it is nevertheless effective. Also, many of the panoramic vistas from the Mexican countryside are beautiful but at the same time incredibly disturbing.

Note: In 2001, Y tu mama tambien won the Best Screenplay (Alfonso Cuaron and Carlos Cuaron) and Marcello Mastroianni awards at the Venice Film Festival. In 2003, the film also won the NSFC Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alfonso Cuaron's Y tu mama tambien arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment.

This is a somewhat inconsistent high-definition transfer. Certain parts of it look good - fine object detail and contrast levels are pleasing. Elsewhere, however, mild to moderate edge-enhancement is often easy to spot. Some of the daylight scenes also reveal light ringing, which viewers with larger than 50' screens will likely notice it. There are also traces of light denoising corrections. Macroblocking is not a serious issue of concern. The color scheme is good; greens, blues, yellows, browns, blacks and whites look warm and natural. Many of the beach scenes, in particular, look very good. Furthermore, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. While viewing the film, however, I noticed a few minor flecks popping up here and there. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Icon Home Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is solid. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels not overly active but intelligently used, and the high-frequencies not overdone. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable and very easy to follow (the narration, in particular, is excellent). I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review. All in all, even though the Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track isn't likely to test your audio system, it should impress you with its raw dynamics.

Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: The supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

You Owe Me One (2002) - a hilarious short film by Carlos Cuaron about a middle class Mexican family with more than a few dark secrets. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (13 min).

No One 17 And Under Admitted - a humorous jab at the censors containing basically the only "safe" scenes from the film. (3 min).

Deleted scenes - three deleted scenes. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles.

-- Stoned (1 min).
-- Manuela (1 min).
-- Whistle (1 min).

Original trailer - the original international trailer for the film. With imposed English subtitles. (3 min).

UK trailer - dubbed in English. (2 min).

Making of - a hilarious featurette with plenty of raw footage from the shooting of the film. The featurette is narrated exactly as the film is. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (23 min).

Cast & Crew - information about different cast and crew members. In text format.

Note: The back cover claims that the disc contains an exclusive audio interview with director Alfonso Cuaron; soundtrack (four songs); TV & Radio Spots; and promotional materials - posters and awards art. I could not find them.

Y Tu Mamá También Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Alfonso Cuaron's Y tu mama tambien is a raw and beautiful film, perhaps one of the very best to emerge from the Mexican New Wave. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors Icon Home Entertainment, looks acceptable, but there are some minor issues with the high-definition transfer that could have been avoided. For now, considering the very low price tag the disc has, we RECOMMEND it.