El Mariachi (1993) Reviews

Like everyone else, I have been following Robert Rodriguez for many years and I thought it was finally time to watch his directing debut. First of all, before judging this flick, you have to bear in mind the circumstances during which it was directed. Indeed, it was made on one shoe-string budget (allegedly 7000 dollars, although the post-production and promotion did cost 1 million dollars), Rodriguez considered this movie as pure practice and it was actually meant to be a straight-to-video feature. So, of course, it looks cheap, the acting was pretty weak and the plot was rather pedestrian. Still, I did like the damned thing though. Indeed, it is a fun movie and it is just really amazing to see how Rodriguez managed to shoot those action scenes, even though the guy didn’t have any money at all. Since then, Rodriguez has been pretty productive and even though not all his movies were great, he has been a master at making low cost features always generating a profit so I think he is actually some kind of role-model, especially in the current movie environment which is nowadays dominated by the massive expensive blockbusters. To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I still think it is a pretty cool flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Robert Rodriguez’ work.

I actually watched this in Spanish. Unlike reading the Spanish news online.... ("El Pais", mostly-- Spanish elections, American elections, Spanish municipal blah-blah, American elections, artsy people who if they lived in the tri-state (NY,NJ,PA) might never leave NYC, *possibly*, at least-- Jersey, right-- *mocks people who hate Jersey because they never leave their little NYC tribe*-- Spanish movies that I somehow never realized that I was never going to see.... "I have created a movie (about the ETA scum) without ideology (or dialogue, hardy-har-har-har).".... Well, actually, I did see that movie, although it was called "The American"-- since George Clooney is the *only* American, *ever*. And Spanish books that I might have almost read.... "he survived by.... creating, (imagining), other realities." And the occasionally-interesting lets-hear-from-the-listeners: "La vida-- es simple, or complicada?" (And, you know, the inverted question-mark is convenient, somehow, in Spanish, but inconvenient in English.) "Life is simple.... but we make it complicated." And waking up suddenly, not knowing when, or what time of day-- I used to do that alot, I used to do just, work, or do things, until I fell asleep because I didn't even realize how tired I was.... And I wasn't even one who "worked" a whole lot.... And I still work at things too much now, and I don't even have a job.... I should listen to more Chopin, Vivaldi.... But, yeah, I still have this memory of waking up-- I literally lived down in the basement then, that was where they put me, and just sort of waking up in this, maybe sweaty, maybe cold, disorientation of semi-wakefulness, and suddenly realizing that the computer browser was still emitting *Radio Nacional de Espana*.... Yeah, Spain really is different, oh, I'm sorry-- "this country". lol. Yeah, *Spain* is different, and so are.... Not even Euros, just..... Freaks And Geeks! Ha!.... And I had such little skill with the spoken, or verbal, language, why didn't I just let it go, that part of it....}

Yeah.

So, yeah, unlike getting the Spanish news, watching this movie was actually an interesting experience.

'Him. No, not *him*.'

'Sure, sure, later.' (OMG, 'mas tarde', means, 'later'.)

"I only wanted to be a mariachi."

And at least it wasn't....

Frodo, anything. And, you know, I mean-- Wikipedia says, who knows.... But I read that New Line or someone decided that LOTR didn't make any money-- lol, wft?-- so they wouldn't pay anyone, including the Tolkien estate. {One time I was talking with my friend, ".... how much does it cost to....?" "Keep the servers up? I have no idea. But they make alot of money. (I.e., Blizzard for WOW.)"} And I'm sure they got something eventually, because if you defame someone's character, you're supposed to at least get paid for it. You know.

I only wanted to be a mariachi....

*chuckles* And this is technically "independent film-making".

*laughs* *Really*, independent. Like, $7,000, independent.

Like, it's so independent, it doesn't even bother with independent-ism.

*laughs*

And this even led to, "Once Upon A Time In Mexico"-- funny.

Even though, when it started, it was more like, "One Time At Band Camp", you know.

*laughs*

And now, since I have nothing better to do, I'm going to quote from "Dinner for Schmucks". (I'm going to memorize that movie, that way that some people memorize Peter Jackson.) "Do you know how hard it is to get laid when you smell like coleslaw? Not hard. But still."

And did I ever explain how that movie is basically a re-do of "Pretty Woman"? It really is, in a way.

But anyway, I'm not fewking around here.

I'll post another review in two hours.

"Almost nothing like a stock-broker." ;)

"I can't stay on this floor anymore; the people here are pathetic.... Happy birthday, Carol."

"Five. Five dollars."

You know, I told my brother that I would give him a thousand dollars if he would get his friend (whom I call Matrix Mike, or just Matrix) to watch that movie.

"You know what, Barry, this was a very strange way to meet, but I think that everything happens for a reason."

"Well, to the victor goes the spoils."
"Ah, you know my family crest. Our motto continues to inspire...."

"They can talk about beauty; we can talk about business."

"Tim here is the only one who's not either divorced or dating a hooker."

"No, God wants us to move (up) to the seventh floor."

"Actually, she did ask for money. And it wasn't very expensive, either. I had a ton of singles left over from my sister's birthday party.... Hey, do you think that Cinnamon is a family name?"

"You know what they say, (Tim), everything happens for a reason."

"She's been stalking me for three years."

Gosh, if a strange woman had been stalking me for three years, I'd have told my girlfriend.

And, you know, I don't think that Barry is as stupid as he pretended to be.

*smiles* I don't think that anymore. {Not *always*.}

"I intercepted your stalker."

You know, I think that "Dinner for Schmucks" and "El Mariachi" are thematically related.

I think that I'm going to do a documentary about that.

I'm going to curate it.

*shrugs* Or whatever.

"I like to eat penguins."

"Try to keep your mind blank."

"You cannot declare offshore investment losses, against future capital gains. Any child knows that."

"You know what the wise man once said, 'everything happens for a reason.' "

"Join yourself to her, in the name of love."

"Not doing this would be weird."

"Tim Conrad is a dreamer."

"You insult my honor at great risk. I will be leaving. Count yourself lucky that I have spared your life."

"Welcome to my world.... I am a shadow, with a big knife!"

"That was my wife's favorite finger!"

"Since the dawn of ancient times...."

Best. Speech. Ever.

"If we start this fire, we'll burn this world to ashes."

"I guess it's true what they say-- a mind is a terrible thing."

"Stand-in for Mr. Carell"-- oooh, that could be my job.... "Mouseland Seamstress"-- oooh, that could be my girl.... You know, my mom likes "Gran Torino" the way that I like "Dinner for Schmucks".... But is she "The Fool on the Hill"? I don't think so.

BUT THE FOOL ON THE HILL, SEES THE SUN GOING DOWN, AND THE EYES IN HIS HEAD, SEE THE WORLD SPINNING ROUND.

Theodore Shapiro, yeah!

But, anyway.

It was kinda cool how, first, he used the guitar case to carry a guitar, but, later, he used it to carry a gun.

And then he killed dudes with it. And then he put it back in the guitar case.

And old "Cantinero"! That was a cool guy.

.... *starts watching the movie again on a different channel*

"And don't bring a mime; it's cliche."

"Jacobsen brought a mime."

"And you don't see any of his shit around here anymore, do you."

(somewhat later) "I'm texting a lie right now."

(much later) "Tim lost his job, but we remained good friends."

Oh, and yeah, the other movie.

The Mexican action movie.

("And go to Cabo for Christmas."

.... "A thousand years ago, the only people on earth were monkeys.")

It was kinda good.

(I mean, it wasn't even mediocre; it's just that action movies are naturally mediocre; it's what makes them good-- that their average is actually mediocre.)

It was okay.

You know.

(7/10)

Because of the severe financial restraints of this picture, the story is forced to be told thru the creativity of all-out action in it's purest, unadulterated form. I think that there should be a law requiring that all big budget action films be shot & directed with as much energy & fun as in this one, before even one cent of the million dollars of special effects is spent.
Cool, violent & high-octane action-adventure in all it's bared-boned glory.

"All I wanted was to be a mariachi, like my ancestors. But the city I thought would bring me luck brought only a curse. I lost my guitar, my hand, and her. With this injury, I may never play the guitar again. Without her, I have no love. But with the dog and the weapons, I'm prepared for the future."

El Mariachi is an early film directed by now-famous filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. Initially the film was intended to be a low-budget action picture that would proceed directly to video. However the reception was far more positive than originally intended and was picked up by Columbia for a theatrical release. With this film, Robert Rodriguez proves that with an astronomically small budget of only $7,000 (approximately) he can craft a superb little action picture.

El Mariachi is the story of a young Mexican musician (Gallardo) who wishes to carry on the family tradition of becoming a mariachi (a wandering musician who travels to different locations in search of work). Little does he realise that an escaped criminal named Azul (Martinez) has wandered into the same town carrying a guitar case featuring an impressive array of firearms. Azul plans to kill local crime lord Moco (Marquardt). Moco is obviously not happy with the concept of being assassinated; sending every hired gun at his disposal to target Azul. Moco's men mistake the innocent young El Mariachi for Azul due to their similarities in appearance. While being hunted by an assortment of hitmen, the El Mariachi becomes involved with barmaid Domino (Gomez) who assists him in his avoidance of being killed.

No-one ever expected El Mariachi to be very successful, hence the small budget. Although the film was shot in two weeks and was made with virtually zero crew, Rodriguez ended up making a surprisingly fantastic, entertaining action film. This film delivers the goods in its minuscule running time of about 80 minutes. Of course there is plenty of high energy action, and even the film is superior to most stunt-reliant, big-buck Hollywood action flicks. In addition to the action there is a lot of suspense and creative cinematography.

Rodriguez was in charge of lensing and editing the material. It's very evident in the final film that he had a clear vision of what he wanted and achieved his goal modestly. One of the most surprising things is that the film maintains an actual plot throughout its duration.

To save costs of hiring actors, most of the cast was filled with family members, friends and amateur actors. Make no mistake - the acting is sometimes really amateurish. On the contrary, most of the actors are very convincing at times. There is a subtle charm to the great performance from Carlos Gallardo. For the film's final showdown, Gallardo feels very naturalistic and believable. The villains are typically shown to be evil and brooding, with their henchmen unable to shoot properly. Some of these things are conventional, but for the sake of the genre we try to ignore it.

Rodriguez was literally the only person behind the camera. He put so much into this movie and his efforts shine as brightly as the morning sun. The man was determined to do what he could with a small shooting schedule and a miniature budget. As a fellow film student I find his action scenes to be well cut and well shot, abundant in visual elegance. Most of the budget must have been channelled into the fake blood and special effects. The action is always extremely violent.

There are a few minor problems with this movie such as a few poor performances and some dumb action movie conventions; however credit of the highest order must go to director Robert Rodriguez for producing a great quality film made with such a tiny budget that one could barely afford a car with it! Copious amounts of fake blood are well expended here. There is little wonder why the director went on to continue making a lot of violent movies. His reputation began with this little movie. Now his career is very well deserved. Followed by a remake/sequel entitled Desperado.