El Mariachi (1992)

A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.

Director:

Robert Rodriguez

Writer:

Robert Rodriguez

Stars:

Carlos Gallardo, Consuelo Gómez, Jaime de Hoyos

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carlos Gallardo	...	El Mariachi
Consuelo Gómez	...	Domino
Jaime de Hoyos	...	Bigotón (as Jaime De Hoyos)
Peter Marquardt	...	Mauricio
Reinol Martinez	...	Azul
Ramiro Gómez	...	Cantinero (as Ramiro Gomez)
Jesús López	...	Viejo Clerk (as Jesus Lopez)
Luis Baró	...	Domino's Assistant (as Luis Baro)
Oscar Fabila	...	The Boy
Poncho Ramón	...	Azul's Rat (as Poncho Ramon)
Fernando Martínez	...	Azul's Rat (as Fernando Martinez)
Manuel Acosta	...	Bodyguard
Walter Vargas	...	Prisoner
Roberto Martinez	...	Prisoner
Virgen Delgado	...	Female Bodyguard

Storyline

El Mariachi just wants to play his guitar and carry on the family tradition. Unfortunately, the town he tries to find work in has another visitor...a killer who carries his guns in a guitar case. The drug lord and his henchmen mistake El Mariachi for the killer, Azul, and chase him around town trying to kill him and get his guitar case.

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Plot Keywords:

female bartender | attempted rape | female prison guard | love triangle | bikini | 

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Taglines:

He didn't come looking for trouble, but trouble came looking for him.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actor playing Azul was at the time studying to be a doctor.

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Goofs

When Azul kills a man hiding in the bathroom, the shadow of a crew member briefly goes over the door. Likewise, when Azul returns to the bar to finish his beer and leaves, the camera's shadow passes over the door after it shuts.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mauricio: Good morning, Azul. Know who this is?

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Crazy Credits

Turtle... Tito La Tortuga

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Alternate Versions

In addition to the subtitled version, Columbia had an English dubbed version prepared for home video release in the United States.

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Connections

Referenced in Rebel Without a Crew: The Series (2018)

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Soundtracks

Maldicion
Written and Performed by Mark Trujillo (as Marc Trujillo)

User Reviews

This First One Still The Best In The Trilogy

This movie put director Robert Rodriguez "on the map." He followed up with two sequels: "Desperado" and "Once Upon A Time In Mexico." Not surprising, the best of the three was this low-budget opening film. As Rodriquez had more and more money to spend on the sequels, the stories got more and more carried away with too many explosions and special-effects, losing the charm of this first effort.

Unlike the sequels, this Mexican-made, so it is in Spanish with English subtitles. Don't let that scare you away. There isn't a great deal of dialog so keeping up with the subtitles is very easy.

The movie has very interesting camera closeups and angles as Rodriquez showed he was going to be a stylish director. The story is simple but effective, suspenseful and even with some humor. Unnlike his subsequent films in this trilogy, the action is not overdone here.

The length is also is a plus. At 80 minutes you can be thoroughly entertained in less than an hour-and-a half. The only disappointment to me was the print quality on th DVD, but I got an early edition. There might be better editions out since. It's not fuzzy but it's not sharp, either.

Anyway: highly recommend for actions/crime buffs who like style in their photography, or saw the sequels and would like to know the history of this particular "Mariachi."

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

26 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

El Mariachi

Filming Locations:

Coahuíla, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$312,528, 28 February 1993

Gross USA:

$2,040,920

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,040,920

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Los Hooligans Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1