El Mariachi (1993)

El Mariachi is a 1992 American action film and the first installment in the saga that came to be known as Robert Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. It marked the feature length debut of Rodriguez as writer and director. The Spanish language film was shot with a mainly amateur cast in the northern Mexican bordertown of Ciudad Acuña, Mexico across from Del Rio, Texas the home town of leading actor Carlos Gallardo. The US$7,000 production was originally intended for the Mexican home video market, but executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film so much that they bought the American distribution rights. Columbia eventually spent several times more than the 16 mm film's original budget on 35 mm transfers, promotion, marketing and distribution.

The success of Rodriguez's directorial debut led him to create two further entries, Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). For the two sequels, Antonio Banderas took over from Carlos Gallardo for the main character El Mariachi, though Gallardo co-produced both films. In 2011, El Mariachi was inducted into the Library of Congress to be preserved as part of its National Film Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Synopsis

After breaking out of jail in a small Mexican town, a ruthless criminal, nicknamed Azul (Reinol Martínez), ventures off with a guitar case full of weapons and vows revenge on the local drug lord, Moco (Peter Marquardt), who had had him arrested in the first place. Meanwhile, a young musician (Carlos Gallardo) arrives in town carrying his own guitar case which contains his signature guitar. He hopes to find work in the town in order to pursue his dream of becoming a mariachi like his father.

Actors