Y Tu Mama Tambien Blu-ray Ana López Mercado

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'And Your Mother Too')

directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Mexico 2001

This beautifully filmed, expertly acted film about two 17-year-old, middle class Mexican boys on summer break is deceivingly complex. The basic plot of the film is that best friends Tenoch (Diego Luna, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal, AMORES PERROS), who think of nothing but sex, convince a beautiful 28-year-old woman, Luisa (Maribel Verdu), to go on a road trip with them to a nonexistent beach. They get lost. They flirt and giggle and fawn over Luisa hoping to win her over with their boyish charms. And that's about it. But that simple plotline merely provides structure for the poetry and meaning that is woven into the film with photography and narration. Periodically throughout the film, while the action continues normally, the sound stops. A voice over then gives information--sometimes a brief biography of one of the characters (birth date, name of father and mother, consequences of birth, primary childhood experiences), or a note about what each of the characters is really thinking, or a news report or historical comment that brings Mexico's tangled politics into the context of daily life. Never is the voice connected to a character in the film. It simply floats. Meanwhile, underwater photography, roving shots of the Mexican countryside, and affectionate close-ups on the characters communicate a solemn-ness that is not present in the plot. All of these pieces fit together easily, resulting in an excellent, whole, thoughtful film.

***

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" is described on its Web site as a "teen drama," which is like describing "Moulin Rouge" as a musical. The description is technically true but sidesteps all of the reasons to see the movie. Yes, it's about two teenage boys and an impulsive journey with an older woman that involves sexual discoveries. But it is also about the two Mexicos. And it is about the fragility of life and the finality of death. Beneath the carefree road movie that the movie is happy to advertise is a more serious level--and below that, a dead serious level.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun Times review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 8th, 2001 - Mexico

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Comparison:

Icon Home Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL vs. MGM (Unrated) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Icon - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Thanks to Gregory for the MGM Region 1 Screen Captures

1) Icon - Region 2- PAL - LEFT

2) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Icon - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Icon Region 2 - PAL	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	Icon Entertainment Region FREE - Blu-ray	Criterion Collection Spine # 723 Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:41:06 (4% PAL speedup)	1:45:44	1:45:38.041	1:45:52.596
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.80 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.11 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,624,254,605 bytes Feature: 26,657,452,032 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,371,563,981 bytes Feature: 31,686,948,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Icon
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: Icon Entertainment Blu-ray
Bitrate: Criterion Blu-ray
Audio	Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)	Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)	DTS-HD Master Audio Spanish 1908 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1908 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)	DTS-HD Master Audio Spanish 3915 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3915 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, French and none	English, and none	English, and none	English, and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Icon Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: Audio Commentary With Alfonso Cuarón, Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna You Owe Me One - A Quickie By Carlon Cuarón (11:00) Making Of (22:26) Interview With Alfonso Cuarón (28:04) 3 Deleted Scenes (5:00) Color Bars (:27) Cast And Crew Quotes No One Under Seventeen Admitted (3:00) Awards Trailer UK Trailer UK Radio Spot TV-Spots Posters Soundtrack Portions DVD Release Date: October 7th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 19	Release Information: Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Color, Widescreen, Dolby • Commentary by cast members (in Spanish) • Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s) • Three deleted scenes • Short film "Me la Debes" • Making-of featurette • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: October 22, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: Icon Home Entertainment 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,624,254,605 bytes Feature: 26,657,452,032 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: You Owe Me One - A Quickie By Carlon Cuarón (11:00) Making Of (22:26) 3 Deleted Scenes (5:00) Color Bars (:27) No One Under Seventeen Admitted (3:00) Cast And Crew Quotes Original and UK trailers Blu-ray Release Date: July 26th, 2010 Thick Blu-ray Case Chapters 14	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,371,563,981 bytes Feature: 31,686,948,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Two new pieces on the making of the film, featuring interviews, recorded at the time of production and in 2014, with actors Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdú; Alfonso Cuarón; cowriter Carlos Cuarón; and Lubezki (Then - 10:51, Now - 40:53) • New interview with philosopher Slavoj Žižek about the film’s social and political aspects (9:01) • On-set documentary from 2001 (22:35) • 3 Deleted scenes (3:45) • You Owe Me One (2002), a short film by Carlos Cuarón (12:16) • Trailers (2:24) • TV Spot (:30) • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Charles Taylor and reprinted character biographies by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón 2 DVDs Blu-ray Release Date: August 19th, 2014 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters: 20

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (August 14'): Compared to the Icon Blu-ray - Criterion's colors are cooler and it shows more information on all 4 sides of the 1.85:1 frame. It is described as a "new, restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki and approved by director Alfonso Cuarón". It is more technically robust than the UK 1080P. The Icon is a little blockier beside the Criterion and generally-speaking the Criterion is superior in-motion as well.

The sound is transferred in a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a healthy 3915 kbps. There is some separation sounds notable in the car engine, party crowds and the Ocean waves. The film has quite a lot of music with pieces of some Mexican pop variety, Frank Zappa, Eagle Eye Cherry, Brian Eno which all benefits with some notable depth in the bass and the higher -end is crisp. There are optional English subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is region 'A'-locked.

Criterion include plenty of extras. The first are two new pieces on the making of the film entitled Then running 11-minutes and Now (produced by Criterion) lasting over 40-minutes. They feature interviews, recorded both at the time of production and in 2014, with actors Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdú; Alfonso Cuarón; co-writer Carlos Cuarón; and Lubezki. There is also a new interview with philosopher Slavoj Zizek who explores the film’s social and political aspects and director Alfonso Cuarón's subtle manipulation of foreground and background in Y Tu mama tambien. It runs just over 9-minutes. There is a 22-minute 'On-set' documentary from 2001, 3 Deleted scenes and a 12-minute short by Carlos Cuarón (co-writer of Y Tu Mama Tambien) made in 2002 entitled You Owe Me One about family secrets hidden behind closed doors. There are both a trailer and TV Spot and the package contains 2 DVDs of the feature and extras as well as a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic Charles Taylor and reprinted character biographies by Carlos Cuarón and Alfonso Cuarón.

Alfonso Cuarón remains one of my favorite directors - Great Expectations, Gravity, Children of Men (although I haven't seen the Harry Potter one). A truly gifted talent. Y Tu mama tambien is brilliant on many levels. The Criterion Blu-ray improves in every area over the UK and the new supplements (over an hour's worth) should be enough of an enticement. Absolutely recommended!

***

ADDITION: Icon - Region 'FREE' - Blu-ray - October 2010: This appears to be a decent 1080P, dual-layered, transfer by Icon that advances over the SD-DVDs in the expected areas with a higher level of detail and providing the visuals with a sense of depth. Colors tighten up and comparatively the DVD image looks flatter and video-like. The matched screen captures should help tell the story.

Audio also gets a bump to lossless status with a DTS-HD Master at about 2000 kbps. There are some relevant effect noises here - many of which establishing locales and a... playful spirit. There is some unexpected separations - overall quite serviceable. There are optional subtitles through your remote but not via the menu and the disc defaults to English - but we can state they are removable. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras, unfortunately, lose the Cuarón commentary and interview but keep the scattered Making of, 3 deleted scenes and "You Owe Me One" short by Carlon.

Even getting past the gratuitously visible sexual relations - this is still a great film. I'm a huge Cuarón fan and this held up well after almost a decade. It was great to revisit in 1080P - which caused me to recall what a solid command of the medium this gifted Mexican director has. Unfortunately, after this he did a Harry Potter - probably for a large amount of money - but returned with the impacting and unforgettable Children of Men. My favorite film of his - is still Great Expectations - an opinion shared by, recently passed, film journalist Robin Wood. Y tu mamá también is a marvelous film - and the Blu-ray is region free with a solid transfer - priced well for excellent value. Absolutely recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: There is not a lot of difference in the two version in regards to the image quality. Both are anamorphic and both are very good... Please note that audio commentary is in Spanish and is not subtitled on the MGM disc - where it is subtitled in English on the Region 2 disc. The menus on the Icon DVD are extremely elaborate and well thought out. The Icon offers a choice of 5.1 or 2.0 sound. In the end the commentary is the swinging factor and so we recommend the Region 2 release.