The Three Amigos

Behind three of last year8217;s most celebrated films is the story of a lasting friendship between the directors.

Nearly seven years ago, director Alfonso Cuaroacute;n called his friend Guillermo del Toro and told him to watch an incomplete movie he had just seen. The film, Amores Perros, was directed by a former DJ, Alejandro Gonzaacute;lez Intilde;aacute;rritu. Like Cuaroacute;n, del Toro, a director of elegant, almost religious horror films, was dazzled by the movie. The film aimed to be no less than a fresco of Mexico city, with all its chaos and violence and beauty.

8220;I didn8217;t know Guillermo,8221; Intilde;aacute;rritu recalled. 8220;When he showed up at my door, he said, 8216;I8217;m in love with your movie. I8217;ll sleep on your couch and we can fix Amores Perros in four-five days.8217;8221;

With the editing of that film, the lasting friendship, both professional and personal, of Cuaroacute;n, del Toro and Intilde;aacute;rritu was born. In 2006, the trio created three of the most thrilling films of the year. Babel, directed by Intilde;aacute;rritu; Pan8217;s Labyrinth, directed by del Toro; and Children of Men, directed by Cuaroacute;n. The films are wildly different, but are linked by a common element: horrific violence matched with heartbreaking courage and compassion.

Two days after Babel won the Golden Globe for the Best Dramatic Film of the year, Intilde;aacute;rritu said of the film, 8220;It8217;s a big monster with one heart and one penis, which is a problem.8221; Intilde;aacute;rritu, who is 43, laughed.

When Babel won the Globe, del Toro, whose Pan8217;s Labyrinth was nominated for the Best Foreign Film, jumped out of his seat. 8220;I feel that it is a victory for all of us,8221; del Toro said later. 8220;We are always sincerely brutal about each other8217;s work, but above everything we are friends.8221; It8217;s a distinctly Mexican bond. They no longer live in Mexico city, but their roots are there. 8220;It is a city that is like a civil war,8221; Intilde;aacute;rritu explained. 8220;If you look at our movies, they all have that quality.8221;

While most American films are content to examine simple, narcissistic matters of romance or family, these three directors consistently tackle more existential questions of sin and forgiveness. In Children of Men, Cuaroacute;n deftly depicts a not-too-distant future in which the imminent birth of the first infant in 18 years might save the world. With Babel, Intilde;aacute;rritu is suggesting a similar unification. Del Toro too views his 12-year-old protagonist as a saint.

When Intilde;aacute;rritu completed Babel, he showed a lengthier cut to del Toro, who suggested the final edit. Similarly, when del Toro had difficulty with financing on Pan8217;s Labyrinth, he turned to Cuaroacute;n, who had just directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

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Not since the heyday of the 1970s auteur, when Spielberg, Scorsese and Coppola supported and challenged one another, have a group of directors been this talented and this close.

Lynn hirschberg