El Mariachi
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez Carlos Gallardo
Written by	Robert Rodriguez
Starring	Carlos Gallardo
Distributed by	Columbia TriStar
Release date(s)	September 15, 1992
Running time	81 min.
Language	Spanish
Budget	$7,000 US
Followed by	Desperado
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

El Mariachi is a 1992 motion picture production directed by Robert Rodriguez as the first chapter in his Mariachi Trilogy. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (493x715, 89 KB) movie ensignia for El Mariachi Source: http://www. ... Robert Anthony Rodríguez (born June 20, 1968) is an American writer and film director. ... Robert Anthony Rodríguez (born June 20, 1968) is an American writer and film director. ... Carlos Gallardo, (born in Acuña, Coahuíla, Mexico) is an actor, producer and occasional screenwriter and director and constant collaborator with his good friend, famed director Robert Rodriguez. ... Robert Anthony Rodríguez (born June 20, 1968) is an American writer and film director. ... Carlos Gallardo, (born in Acuña, Coahuíla, Mexico) is an actor, producer and occasional screenwriter and director and constant collaborator with his good friend, famed director Robert Rodriguez. ... Columbia Pictures logo, used only in the early-1990s Columbia Pictures, now Columbia-Tristar Pictures after their merger with the former Tristar Entertainment, is a film production company, and part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Desperado is a 1995 film directed by Robert Rodriguez. ... This is a list of film-related events in 1992. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Robert Anthony Rodríguez (born June 20, 1968) is an American writer and film director. ... The Mariachi Trilogy or Mexico Trilogy (or Desperado Trilogy on some DVD releases) is a series of movies: El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, all directed by Robert Rodriguez, which tell the continuing story of the movies main character El Mariachi. The trilogy was originally conceived...

It was a commercial and artistic success, inspiring a new wave of young producers to film low-budget movies such as Clerks and The Blair Witch Project. This article is about the film. ... The Blair Witch Project is a low-budget American horror film released in 1999. ...

It was shot in the northern Mexican border town of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila completely in Spanish, using primarily amateur actors and on a budget of only US$7,000. It was initially intended only for the Hispanic home video market, and Rodriguez never thought an American release was a possibility. Executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film so much that they bought the rights to it for American distribution. Columbia eventually spent several times more than the film's original production budget on 35 mm film transfers (it had been shot on 16 mm), a marketing campaign and the eventual distribution/release of the film. It was so well received that they eventually chose to finance the second part of the trilogy, Desperado and then the final chapter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, (originally Garza Galán, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of 280 metres. ... Coahuila (formal name: Coahuila de Zaragoza) is one of Mexicos 31 component states. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory[1], the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... The Hispanic world. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Desperado is a 1995 film directed by Robert Rodriguez. ... Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) is an action film by Robert Rodriguez and the final film in the Mariachi Trilogy, which includes El Mariachi and Desperado. ...

Plot

El Mariachi tells the story of an out of work musician (the titular Mariachi) traveling through Mexico, looking for work. He dreams of being a big-time Mariachi as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were before him. He arrives in the small border town of Acuña, hoping to find work in some of the local cantinas and clubs. He is unable to find employment, and decides to check in at a local hotel while he continues his search for work. Unfortunately for El Mariachi, a recently escaped convict, Azul, is looking for revenge against his former partner, named Moco (short for "Maurice"), who failed to give Azul his cut of their criminal profits. Azul has been conducting hits on Moco's men using a stash of weapons hidden in his guitar case. A group of hitmen are dispatched to kill Azul, but they mistake El Mariachi for the criminal they are hunting. In self-defense, El Mariachi kills four of Moco's men. As El Mariachi seeks refuge in a bar owned by a woman, Domino (for whom, ironically, Moco is a suitor), he falls in love with her. She realizes what has happened to him, and attempts to set things right. In the process, El Mariachi is captured and taken to Moco who correctly identifies him as the wrong man, and sets him free. Meanwhile, Azul has taken Domino hostage and forced her to lead him to Moco's estate so that Azul can confront Moco. When he arrives, Moco realizes that Domino has fallen for El Mariachi and, in a rage, shoots her and Azul. Suddenly, El Mariachi arrives to find the woman he loves gunned down. Moco then shoots El Mariachi's left hand, rendering him useless as a guitar player. However, overcome with grief and rage, El Mariachi is able to acquire a weapon and kill Moco, taking revenge for Domino's death. He then sets out to get revenge against all others that he deems responsible for her death. Mariachi is a type of musical group, originally from Mexico. ... Hitman redirects here. ... Self defense refers to actions taken by a person to defend onself, ones property or ones home. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Cast

Carlos Gallardo, (born in Acuña, Coahuíla, Mexico) is an actor, producer and occasional screenwriter and director and constant collaborator with his good friend, famed director Robert Rodriguez. ...

Awards

El Mariachi won multiple international awards, and writer/producer/director Rodriguez went on to gain international fame, being interviewed on such shows as Sábado Gigante, etc; and going on to make more Hollywood-backed movies such as The Faculty and Sin City. Sábado Gigante (Gigantic Saturday) –is one of the longest running shows on television. ... ... The Faculty is a 1998 horror/science-fiction film, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodríguez. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sin City (film) Sin City is a gritty 2005 neo-noir anthology film based on the graphic novel series of the same name, directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez and with Special Guest Director Quentin Tarantino. ...

Trivia

• Rodriguez raised almost half of the film's budget by volunteering for experimental clinical drug testing in Texas.

• Because of the limited budget for the film, every scene in the movie was filmed with no second takes. Several mistakes were left in the final cut, including the Mariachi bumping his weapon into a street pole.

• The firearm wielded by El Mariachi on the DVD cover is an Ingram MAC-10 equipped with a suppressor.

• The second film, Desperado, helped enhance the fame of Antonio Banderas and introduced Salma Hayek to English-speaking audiences.

• The story of El Mariachi's production inspired Rodriguez to write the book Rebel Without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player.

• The movie was shot in numerous locations in Acuña, Coahuila. The intro bar scene was shot inside the Corona Club, and exterior street scenes were shot on Hildago Street. The shoot out was filmed outside at "Boy's Town" the local red-light district.

• In the 'Director's commentary' Robert Rodriguez describes that condoms filled with fake blood were used instead of sqibs in fight scenes due to the low budget of the film.

The Military Armament Corporation Model 10 or MAC-10 is a blowback-operated select-fire submachine gun (more specifically a machine pistol) developed by Gordon B. Ingram in 1964. ... HK Mark 23 with a suppressor AR-15 with Gemtech baffle suppressor (ref) A suppressor (popularly known as a silencer, although no suppressor silences a firearm completely), is a device attached to a firearm to reduce the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon. ... Desperado is a 1995 film directed by Robert Rodriguez. ... José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor who has appeared in several high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Interview with the Vampire, Mariachi Trilogy, Philadelpia and The Mask of Zorro. ... Salma Hayek Jiménez (born September 2, 1966) is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican actress, Emmy award-winning director, and a film and television producer. ... Rebel Without a Crew (subtitle: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player) is a 1995 nonfiction book by Robert Rodriguez. ... Ciudad Acuña, also known simply as Acuña, (originally Garza Galán, later Villa Acuña) is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila, at and a mean height above sea level of 280 metres. ... Coahuila (formal name: Coahuila de Zaragoza) is one of Mexicos 31 component states. ...

External link

• El Mariachi at the Internet Movie Database