Rating: R
Genre:
Action
Release Date: 08/26/2003
SubTitles: English/Espanol/French/KO
Dubbed: French/Espanol
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 81 Minutes
Flags: Graphic Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Filmed in two weeks on a budget of 7,000 dollars,
El Mariachi was one of the singular pleasures of the 1993-1994 movie season. Kind-spirited guitarist
El Mariachi (
Carlos M. Gallardo) simply wants to wander through life as his father and grandfather did, with a song in his heart and a smile on his lips. He wanders into a small mob-run town, guitar case in hand. It so happens that the local criminal element is awaiting the arrival of vicious hit man
Azul (
Reinol Martinez), who is well known for carrying his weapons in...a guitar case. Just when you think you've got a lock on what's going to happen next, director
Robert Rodriguez throws us for a loop, unexpectedly alternating whimsical
comedy with graphic violence.
Rodriguez later retooled the plot of
El Mariachi for his far more expensive (and far less satisfying)
Antonio Banderas vehicle
Desperado (1995).
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
