Today we look at the film that was a pinnacle in the golden age of independent film-making, the film that launched the career of one of the most talented film-makers in Hollywood today, and the film that was the first in arguably the best gangster movie trilogy of the 1990s. El Mariachi was also the film that first got me interested in film-making when I saw it at thirteen.
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| Gangster on $7,000 |
Something magical happened to cinema in the 1990s. With the advent of computer editing, the rise of videotape and digital formats, and the creation of several film festivals. Independent film exploded into a golden age. Most of the big name directors today came out of this boom in cinema. Some of those names include Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderberg, Spike Lee and Kevin Smith to name a few. However arguably the most talented director to come out this era was Robert Rodriguez with his $7,000 16mm micro budget cinematic miracle El Mariachi. Robert Rodriguez was a young film student who sold his body to science to raise the funds to make this film. Originally made largely as a student film starring Rodriguez's friends and intended for the Mexican home video market. El Mariachi proved to be one of the finest independent films of the 1990s winning the Audience's Choice Award at the Sundance Film Festival. El Mariachi also led to Robert Rodriguez signing a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Pictures to make the sequel to El Mariachi which would eventually become Desperado starring Antonio Banderas. Rodriguez's El Mariachi has stood the test of time and is now remembered as a classic film.
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| Strutting through small town Mexico. |
Shot entirely on location in a small town in Mexico. El Mariachi follows the story of a traveling musician who gets caught up in a battle between two rival gang leaders. The gang leaders were once former partners, however a falling out led to one stealing all the money and the other being imprisoned. However Mexico being Mexico, the imprisoned gang leader is soon running his criminal empire from inside a jail cell. This leads to a war between the two gang leaders in which our friendly mariachi is of course confused for one of the gang leaders. The film stars Carlos Gallardo as the mariachi. Gallardo was Rodriguez's childhood friend and also co-produced the film with Rodriguez. The film co-stars Peter Marquardt as Moco, the white gangster. Rodriguez met Marquardt when the two were housed in a dormitory together while selling their bodies for science. Rodriguez thought Marquardt had the qualities of a good bad guy from watching him deal with other subjects in the dormitory, so he cast Marquardt as the villian in this film. The film also co-stars Reinol Martinez as Azul, the gang leader who's confused with the mariachi.
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| The beginning of genius |
The reason El Mariachi got so much attention is just how ridiculously enjoyable it is to watch. This is such an entertaining film with it's swift actions scenes, well written story, and humorous quirks. El Mariachi had the touch of a master to it. Rodriguez had been making films since he was a small kid. Growing up in a large family, he would utilize his brothers and sisters for cast and crew. Rodriguez would also invent creative and ingenious ways of maneuvering out of traditional money traps in film-making. I would strongly recommend anyone interested in film-making pick up the El Mariachi DVD which Rodriguez made himself. The DVD is basically an entire film school from Rodriguez himself how he made the film and got around problems typically faced by young film-makers.
All in all, this film deserves your attention because it is a cinematic icon of a golden age in film history. El Mariachi also deserves your attention for launching the career of one of today's best film-makers and inspiring an entire generation of film-makers. And El Mariachi deserves your attention for being a very entertaining film popcorn flick. This film also features a few interesting traditional Mexican songs. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this film however is the look into what early 1990s Mexico looked like. Rodriguez shot this film in Gallardo's home town. Gallardo was well known in the area and was pretty much allowed to do whatever he wished. Rodriguez and Gallardo even managed to borrow real sub-machine guns from the local police for this film. Rodriguez even commented that he thought it was funny how they didn't get a second glance running down the sidewalks with sub-machine guns and movie cameras in that small Mexican town. I really can't say enough good things about this film or it's rightful place in cinema history. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
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Strolling down Mexico Way with a Machine Gun
Ain't No Big Thing |
NEXT MOVIE:
King of New York
On monday we'll pick back up with another classic gangster movie from the 1990s.
