Films › Editing
Amores Perros
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2000
Editor Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, cutting with Luis Carlos Figueroa, structured the film around a single car crash witnessed from three separate stories that only fully intersect at that moment, and the edit's job is to make each retelling feel complete rather than repetitive. Study how the pacing shifts entirely between segments, the dog-fighting story cut with handheld urgency and short takes, the model's story slower and more static to match her physical confinement after the accident, and the hitman's story measured almost like a procedural. That tonal control through cutting rhythm, rather than through camera or writing alone, is what keeps a three-part anthology structure from feeling like three separate short films stapled together. Notice the use of the crash itself as a hinge point that is shown multiple times from different vantages without becoming redundant, because the edit changes what surrounds it each time. The film also resists chronological cutting within each segment, sometimes withholding information about outcomes to control tension.
What to watch for
Compare the cutting rhythm of each of the three segments and how it matches that character's physical state.
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