Cast: Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gómez, Peter Marquardt, Reinol Martinez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producers: Robert Rodriguez and Carlos Gallardo
Screenplay: Robert Rodriguez
Cinematographer: Robert Rodriguez
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Spanish with English Subtitles
The title character of El Mariachi is the mariachi (Carlos Gallardo), an itinerant musician who goes from town to town in Mexico looking for a new place to play his music. Dressed in black and carrying his guitar in a case, he inquires for employment at various bars and restaurants. Unfortunately for the mariachi, Azul (Reinol Martinez) has just broken out of prison and is on his way to kill crime boss Roco (Peter Marquardt). No one except Roco has seen Azul, so the description of the escaped criminal is sparse: he dresses in black and carries a guitar case (which, instead of containing a musical instrument, has a selection of knives and guns). An obvious case of mistaken identity arises as Roco's thugs think the mariachi is Azul and try to gun him down. Fortunately, he finds a sympathetic ear in the person of Domino (Consuelo Gómez), but her introduction into his life only adds new and previously unforeseen complications.
El Mariachi is the $7000 wonder. For less money than it costs to film a major television commercial, Robert Rodriguez took his crew to Mexico and filmed a gripping, tautly-paced action flick that outdoes most of Hollywood's similar output. This is clear evidence that film quality often has little to do with a production's budget.
El Mariachi is an old-fashioned thriller based on a case of mistaken identity. It's the kind of film that Humphrey Bogart would have been at home in. The only noticeable difference between this movie and something produced in the 1940s is the level of graphic violence. Rodriguez doesn't pull punches when it comes to showing people getting shot. There's enough blood and gore in this film to earn it the R rating.
Thrillers are expected to deliver a lot of pulse-pounding action, and El Mariachi complies. The elements of exploitation are kept to a minimum -- on Rodriguez' budget, anything else would have been impossible. For the most part, the characters are not three-dimensional, but they have enough quirks to give them more personality than the average stock action film creations. Frequent moments of irony and humor keep the movie from descending too deeply into grimness.
On only a few occasions is it obvious that Rodriguez is a novice director working with almost no money. El Mariachi doesn't look like something out of Hollywood -- the subtitles and the cleverness of the script make that much obvious -- but neither does it look like the $7000 project of a film student. The actors, all complete unknowns (and friends of Rodriguez), have some ability, especially Consuelo Gómez. But whether they make another film appearance or not, we can look forward to the director's next project, and see whether he can do as much, or more, with a bigger budget (Columbia has signed him to a contract). Until then, El Mariachi is an excellent introduction to the talent of Robert Rodriguez.
© 1993 James Berardinelli