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Culture brief: Cuaron’s provocative classic revisited

This Wednesday January 28, The Film Society will be hosting a free screening of Alfonso Cuaron’s Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) at 7 p.m. at 3475 Peel. In the film, two teenage Mexican boys are looking forward to the pleasures of summer. They’ve just graduated from high school, and their girlfriends are going off to Italy for an extended stay. After biding the girls a fond farewell, the boys set out to have as much fun as they can. At a fancy party, they meet Luisa, the wife of one of the boy’s cousin. The pair are smitten by the older woman, and they impulsively invite her to take a roadtrip with them to a beach they know called Heaven’s Mouth. The problem is that there is no such beach.

A unique coming-of-age story, Y Tu Mama Tambien was widely hailed as a classic by critics upon its release. Its highly sexual content sparked widespread debate with regards to the nature of film rating boards around the world. The dialogue provoked Roger Ebert to ask, “Why do serious film people not rise up in rage and tear down the rating system that infantilizes their work?” Considered to be among Cuaron’s best work, Y Tu Mama Tambien is a controvsial but revered classic.

– The Film Society