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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.
8/10
