Happy 57th Birthday, Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too)! Born today in 1963, this screenwriter, film producer and film director is known for telling international stories about the human condition, and his projects have garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades.
Iñárritu made his debut feature in co-conceiving, co-producing and directing the first film of which he is best known.
This was the 2000 Mexican crime comedy thriller/drama film 'Amores Perros'. The film is a bold, intensely emotional, and ambitious story of lives that collide in a Mexico City car crash.
Inventively constructed as a triptych of overlapping and intersecting narratives, it explores the lives of disparate characters who are catapulted into unforeseen dramatic situations instigated by the seemingly inconsequential destiny of a Rottweiler named Cofi.
The stories center on a teenager in the slums who gets involved in dogfighting; a model who seriously injures her leg; and a mysterious hitman.
The stories are linked in various ways, including the presence of dogs in each of them. 'Amores Perros' is the first installment in Iñárritu's Death Trilogy.
The title of the film is a pun in Spanish; the word "perros", which literally means "dogs", can also be used to refer to misery, so that it roughly means 'bad loves' with canine connotations.
The film was released under its Spanish title in the English-speaking world, although it was sometimes translated as 'Love's a Bitch' in marketing.
Later that same year, 'Amores Perros' won the Ariel Award for Best Picture from the Mexican Academy of Film. This occurred at the 42nd Ariel Awards in late July 2000.
The following year, 'Amores Perros' was nominated an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. This occurred at the 73rd Academy Awards in late March 2001.
Five years later, Iñárritu co-conceived, co-produced and directed the second film of which he is best known. This was the 2006 French/American/Mexican/Moroccan/Japanese psychological drama/thriller film 'Babel'.
The film tells of an accident that connects four groups of people on three different continents: two young Moroccan goatherds, a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a deaf Japanese teenager and her father, and a Mexican nanny who takes her young charges across a border without parental permission.
The multi-narrative drama completes Iñárritu's Death Trilogy. For all three films, Iñárritu had collaborated with Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer Guillermo Arriaga.
'Babel' was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 59th Cannes Film Festival, where Iñárritu won the Best Director award in May of that same year.
One year later, 'Babel' won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. This occurred at the 64th Golden Globe Awards in mid-January 2007.
The following month, 'Babel' received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for both Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza, winning for Best Original Score. This occurred at the 79th Academy Awards in late February 2007.
Of the 2010s, Iñárritu co-wrote, co-produced and directed the third film of which he is best known. This was the 204 American black comedy romance/drama film 'Birdman'.
In its exhaustive title, the full name of the film is 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance').
The film covers the period of previews leading to the play's opening, and with a brief exception appears as if filmed in a single shot, an idea Iñárritu had from the film's conception.
The camerawork was provided by Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.
On a budget of $16 million, 'Birdman' went on the gross $103.2 million worldwide.
It also received critical acclaim, with praise for the performances of the cast (particularly those of Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, and Edward Norton), cinematography, and Iñárritu's direction and screenplay.
The following year, 'Birdman' won an Oscar for Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.
This was from a total of nine nominations, tying it with Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' for the most nominated and awarded film with four wins per film. This occurred at the 87th Academy Awards in late February 2015.
One year later, Iñárritu co-wrote, co-produced and directed the fourth and final film of which he is best known.
This was the epic 2016 American Western action-adventure period drama film 'The Revenant'. For the film, Iñárritu again collaborated with Lubezki.
'The Revenant' is based in part on American writer and novelist Michael Punke's 2002 biographical historical Western adventure fiction novel The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge.
It describes American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter, and explore Hugh Glass and his experiences in 1823.
Upon release, 'The Revenant' was a blockbuster success. On a budget of $135 million, the film went on to gross $533 million worldwide.
It also received mostly positive reviews, with praise for Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy's performances, Iñárritu's direction, and Lubezki's cinematography.
The following year, 'The Revenant' received twelve Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Hardy), winning Best Director, Best Actor, (DiCaprio, his first win), and Best Cinematography,
DiCaprio also won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA, and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor.
Among his other credits, Iñárritu is also known for directing '21 Grams' (2003) and 'Biutiful' (2008). The former was the second installment of Iñárritu's Death Trilogy.
Iñárritu is the first Mexican filmmaker to be nominated for either director or producer in the history of the Academy Awards, the first Mexican filmmaker to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the first Mexican filmmaker to win a Best Picture Academy Award.
He is also the first Mexican filmmaker to receive a Best Director Award at Cannes.
Finally, Iñárritu became the first Latin American to become the President of the Jury of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2019.
Later that same year, Iñárritu received the honoris causa doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
A director whose former career as a DJ has instilled in him a spectacular comprehension of pacing and a near-unparalleled ability to weave a compelling, nonlinear tale, Iñárritu stunned filmgoers worldwide with his vital and affecting directorial debut.
Iñárritu has been active from 1984–present.
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