MovieChat Forums > Y tu mamá también (2001) Discussion > Can someone explain this comment from Eb...

Can someone explain this comment from Ebert's review?

posted 17 years ago by GotaFeeling
33 replies | jump to latest

"Beneath these two levels (the coming-of-age journey, the two Mexicos) is hidden a third. I will say nothing about it, except to observe there are only two shots in the entire movie that reflect the inner reality of one of the characters. At the end, finally knowing everything, you think back through the film--or, as I was able to do, see it again."

If anyone knows exactly what he is talking about, I'm interested.... I have a clue but I'm not 100% sure. If you are, please respond.

[–] hannah_e_jones 17 years ago

*spoilers*

At the end, we realise that throughout the entire trip Luisa knew she had terminal cancer.

Between the wedding scene and the start of the road trip, she goes to the doctor to get some test results back; the narrator talks about the womens' magazine questionnaire she is filling out in the waiting room. The doctor then comes for her and she gets up to follow him.

There are a couple of scenes which show Luisa crying, although I don't know exactly which the 'two shots' Ebert refers to are. We assume she cries because of Jano's infidelity, but really it's because she knows she is dying.

[–] jyanks 17 years ago

In my opinion, the 2 specific scenes that Roger Ebert references, are:

1) The doctor's office scene (as hannah pointed out above)
2) The scene when she is on the phone with her husband for the last time. She basically is making peace with him; she forgives him; she says that she is not mad; she says that she has no hard feelings, & wishes him well. It may seem odd to the viewer how kind & forgiving she seems toward a cheating husband. Yet, at the end, when we find out her health status - that changes our view of that scene. We now understand her phone conversation & see it in a new light.

[–] Raksha_Keller 17 years ago

Very astutely put jynaks.

[–] haewatein 15 years ago

Great post, now I understand a lot more of the film!

I totally ignored the scene with the doctor and would never thought of it that Luisa knew all the time she was sick. Wow, your post made the film even better in my eyes!

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SEUL CONTRE TOUS
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[–] aussula 15 years ago

This.
Luisa made peace with herself and got what she had always wanted in life.
I just went back to the start lol.
Will watch it again - it really helped me with my depression, and gave me a will to live.

[–] hypnosis 17 years ago

Could it also be the shot where Luisa is pretending to sleep in the car when it arrives at the beach?

"It's not like I'm some modern punk, dickhead. It's an obvious, 1977 original punk rock look."

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[–] hypnosis 17 years ago

Haha, very impressive!...UNLESS you used a search engine to find it, in which case you lose all credibility. Either way, it's a great film :)

"It's not like I'm some modern punk, dickhead. It's an obvious, 1977 original punk rock look."

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[–] eL137 17 years ago

that's really interesting that you guys all read ebert's comment as directed toward Luisa. it makes a lot of sense if it's about Luisa and you're probably all right, but for some reason, i saw it differently. to me, ebert's comment was about Julio and the fact that he was in love with Tenoche and whether or not he's gay. and i saw the 2 shots as being:

1) when Julio sees Tenoche and Luisa have sex in the hotel room and
2) when he has tears in his eyes after Tenoche leaves the cafe at the end of the movie

did anyone else see this?

"From now on, call me Nuwanda."

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] tampaMr 16 years ago

yes L137

http://www.matchflick.com/member/3739

[–] mm389907 16 years ago

yeah that julio thing is pretty interesting.

If it has to do with Luisa, then the two scenes are
(1) The doctor's office
(2) When she is sitting on the beach holding the baby and talking to the baby's mother (forget her name-- Chuey's wife..). The woman says something about how Luisa would make a great mother, and that she's the perfect age too. Just look at Luisa's face during this scene, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

[–] blacklives4ever 15 years ago

What's great about the scene with the children is that when you see the look on her face you think it's because she's thinking of Jano and how they probably won't stay together and have children.

"The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall."
-Dario Argento

[–] PhoenixPhuck 15 years ago

yeah i thought ebert was talking about the gayness

Even the most primitive of societies have an innate respect for the insane.

[–] Krustallos 12 years ago

I think the gayness is a fourth level. The Luisa dying storyline is quite a big thing after all, I don't think Ebert would completely ignore it in his review. In fact having seen the film for a third time, there's a strong case for reading the whole thing as Luisa's story, with Julio and Tenoch as supporting characters. There are references to death in almost every frame.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] plasmic_steve 13 years ago

Slightly interesting, but no.

[–] Jakksid 12 years ago

Steve - Don't be a c!nt.

[–] neonfreak52 12 years ago

I've seen the movie several times but never once noticed tears in julios eyes at the end? I guess I'll have to go back and check for that.
does anyone else agree about this? It could be an option, but I still think ebert is mainly refering to Luisa's storyline b/c I - for one- was definitely shellshocked after seeing the film the first time and learning of her cancer. I was completely stunned and couldn't get the movie out of my head.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 11 years ago

Yeah, this revelation at the end definitely gave the movie a little extra something in retrospect. I thought it started well, really flagged throughout the middle, and then--due to that revelation--ended very strongly. But the flaccid middle section still drags it down enough that it only rates a 7/10 for me.

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[–] Godfrey2 11 years ago

Well, Julio's tears could be for Luisa and/or Tenoch.

The tears could also be for his life and his future without either of them...?

[–] praneethmendu 8 years ago

Yup the gayness totally, I thought it was ur dick is ugly scene but this makes more sense

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] PamBaby 11 years ago

People are saying the hidden level was Luisa's illness, but I never thought of that as a hidden element. I thought it was open and obvious, considering that she was at the doctor's office one minute, waiting for test results, and in the next frame she is sitting shell-shocked. And throughout the film, she is seen grieving, completely different from how she was at the beginning.

Also, the levels Ebert refers to are themes, not actual plot points. So I suppose, if Ebert was referring to anything about Luisa, it might be Death in general, instead of the specific death of the character. That would incorporate all the random references to death throughout the movie that another poster pointed out.

Death and endings, perhaps. The end of Luisa, the end of Tenoche and Julio's friendship, the end of adolescence (coming of age would signal the end of one stage and beginning of another), end of a marriage, end of relationships, end of a way of life for the fishermen, on and on.

[–] pontifikator 10 years ago

> there are only two shots in the entire movie that reflect the inner reality of one of the characters.

It's not possible to know exactly what he meant since he doesn't say. My guess on it, though, is that since he refers to only one of the characters, he refers to Luisa. The two boys are a pair. There are no scenes which show us the inner reality of only one of them.

If the inner reality is a reference to the boys' feelings towards each other, we have a view of the inner life of both. Tenoch and Julio are a pair.

Because Ebert never says, eL137's comments concerning the two scenes he proposes can't be disproved, though, even though I disagree. I can't say he/she is wrong. However, as Luisa says to them, it's just chance that she had sex with one first, and not the other. I'm not sure I want to take chance as the determiner of a key scene. However, I still may be wrong.

[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

ebert was a fat useless pig

[–] yajji 8 years ago

I re-watched the film again last night for the first time in a few years. It was even better this time and I think it's because I could fully absorb things that I missed on my initial viewing. For example, the doctor's scene earlier in the film. It just becomes all the more powerful because you know what that meant, and you know that it was the catalyst for Luisa taking that journey. Brilliant.