It’s April again, which means that I take a special look at a director. Last year we looked at Denis Villeneuve and the films that helped define him. Now we look at another director, this time from Texas. Robert Rodriguez is what you call a renegade filmmaker, I’ll explain later as to how he got that nickname. To celebrate his work, let’s dive into his cinematic debut film El Mariachi.
1. One Man Film Crew
Just before we talk about the film, let’s set you up with the man himself. Robert Rodriguez was born in San Antonio and a had a panache of film when his parents bought a video camera. His first film was tasked with recording his school’s football team. Only to be let go when he made a simple highlight film too cinematic.
Reading about how he made his feature debut, you just have to admire at every length he made to make the movie. He didn’t have a dedicated crew as far as cameramen or the ones who handle the equipment. Rodriguez did everything. So much so that even the actors had a hand with handling the equipment.
His own style gave him the nickname The One Man Film Crew. It’s easily reflected in El Mariachi. Given how the film is really quick in terms of editing and the overall guerilla style that it has going for. Since it was filmed in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Acuna, which is close to Del Rio, Texas. One last thing, the whole film was shot around the price of $7,000. The Columbia Pictures logo costed more than the whole film itself.
2. Mistaken Identity
Before we see the opening title sequence, we see that criminals are broken free from the local jail. One of them, Azul, contacts the crime boss Moco and tells him that he will kill him for revenge. Meanwhile, an aspiring mariachi drifts into the town to look for work. In the case of mistaken identity, the young musician becomes embroiled in vigilantism.
The film has a style that I most definitely enjoy. One thing that I love is that the quick editing style that Rodriguez uses in the film shows just the quick nature of how things turn south. In one way, the editing works since it has a hyperactive feel to it. Especially in the moments where the film speeds up for comedic purposes. Or when to give us a sort of P.O.V. moment of seeing what the character is seeing.
The action as well gets exciting. There isn’t a full-blown gun fight, I like that given the limitations that Rodriguez had, he made up for it by making his gun fights to the point and bloody. One thing I saw in the behind the scenes was that they had real guns, but the blanks would make the weapon jam. To make up for it, they would shoot the guns once. Only to shoot them again when the camera was positioned in a different way.
Just briefly, I love the character arc of the Mariachi. We see him as just a drifter looking for a job. As the story gets going, he gets confused with an actual killer. And from there we see how he slowly loses his innocence when he inadvertently kills. It wears thin on him, and I like the detail where he goes to the bar and asks for a soda, only to ask for a beer as the film continues. I think it’s supposed to represent his loss of innocence when he goes face to face with the crime boss Moco.
One thing that must be stressed was that this film is indeed an independent movie. It has that distinct indie look to it. And it’s honestly crazy that Columbia Pictures bought the movie and put in 200,000 of their own money to clean up the film and help with the postproduction. Even with that, the movie definitely retains that renegade look since nothing in the film looks like a set. It takes place in actual border town with no paid extras.
3. Legacy
The film was a monumental success. Well, any film that has a 7K budget and grossing a million dollars is a success story regardless. The movie alongside other indie directors ushered in a new phase of American filmmaking in the 90s that helped shaped the new slate of directors in Hollywood. It’s inspiring but really puts it into perspective of how much one inspiring director can put in and still come out with a hit.
It established who Robert Rodriguez is and his certain style of moviemaking. Just after his debut, he followed it up with a sequel that ultimately became a trilogy involving Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp respectively. Having watch some of his movies, I think he pays tribute to a style of film called Grindhouse movies.
In fact, he and Quentin Tarantino made a double feature that was called Grindhouse. Anyways, his movies usually have the emphasis on the action, but it doesn’t have that ‘cheap’ aspect to them and mostly keep itself grounded with what the film has got going for it. And his debut film shows that alongside his action films.
4. Overall
El Mariachi is a great film debut from Robert Rodriguez. It lays the groundwork of the type of film he makes and his attention to action.
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