BROTHERS BEYOND
exican cinema took the world by storm at the turn of the millennium with the glorious hat trick of Anmres P’rms. The Devil ’3' Backbone and Y Tu Mantri 721mbién. Eight years after that last title — the hilariously raunchy sex comedy And Your Mother Too in translation — seduced cinema-goers from here to Timbuktu. the four key cast and crew members have reunited to make another crowd—pleasing romp. and they‘re bringing it to Edinburgh for its highly anticipated UK premiere.
The film. Rudo y Cursi. stars handsome young Mexican hearthrobs Gael Garcia Berna] and Diego Luna as a pair of football crazy brothers from the backwaters who get a shot at fame and fortune when a sleazy talent scout whisks them off to the big city. However. Rudo (whose name translates as tough. which also describes his character) and Cursi (corny — ditto) suffer from a severe case of sibling rivalry. and that. along with drugs. girls and gambling. threatens to sabotage their dream. Given Bernal and Luna have been pals since childhood. they‘re naturals
16 THE LIST 25 Jun—9 Jul 2009
for playing bickering bros. And given the film is written and directed by Carlos Cuaron and produced by his long-term creative partner and brother Alfonso (who between them notched up a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Y 'l'u Mamri 'l‘anzbién). this knockabout though bittersweet film really gets to the heart of what brotherhood‘s all about.
Rudo y Cursi didn't start out that way. though.
“l had the idea to make a mockumentary about a football player who came from a humble background and made it big and when he was a big success he mysteriously disappeared.‘ says the younger Cuaron. Carlos. ‘I told my idea separately to Diego and Gael during the Yu Tu Mama’ También publicity tour and they both said. “I want to be that guy.“ I realised I had two actors and one character. and there's no bench for a substitute as there is in football. but I wanted to work with both of them again. so I made up the brothers and they liked that idea.’
Although Cuaron has drawn on his own experience as a sibling. the film isn‘t
Latin America's cinematic dream team have been reassembled for sibling comedy Rudo Y Cursi. Miles Fielder meets its maker
autobiographical. (The only thing that is. is the title. which originates from a humiliating encounter at the Grand Canyon with a pair of American kids who were arguing about the then 22-year-old Carlos — ‘He looks tough.” ‘Nah. he‘s corny.’) As Cuaron says. brotherhood is a universal theme. ‘It affects every human being.‘ he says. ‘because you either have a blood brother or you have someone who‘s like a brother to you. So the film is more about my observation of brotherhood rather than my own personal experience with Alfonso. Sibling relationships are power play relationships that shift back and forth. It‘s a very specific dynamic and it‘s the same all around the world.‘
In the film. Luna’s Rudo is a monosyllabic hard-man. while Bernal’s Cursi is a verbose romantic and much of the humour comes from that clash of polar opposite characters. Given the actors‘ previous form. you‘d expect them to have been cast the other way around. Cuaron. however, was determined not to repeat himself. ‘When I told them about the film, Gael‘s first