A jail in mexico day its an early friday morning and a patrol car drives up an unpaved road and parks next to a gutted police car on cinder blocks. Robert anthony rodriguez was born and raised in san antonio, texas, usa, to rebecca villegas, a nurse, and cecilio g. It marked the featurelength debut of rodriguez as writer and director. 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. A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a. Interview with mexican director robert rodriguez film. For that tiny sum, there are surprisingly good performances, a lot of energy which at times becomes hyperkinetic and a refreshing absence of sex and abusive language. It is his first feature length film, and the first of the mexico or mariachi trilogy, followed by desperado and once upon a time in mexico. The movie was written, directed, photographed and edited by robert rodriguez, a 23yearold from austin, texas, who shot on location in a mexican border town and tells the story of a young mariachi, or rambling guitar player, who arrives one day looking for work. Hes also one of the most handson filmmakers in the studio system, assuming editing, composing, and cinematography duties on top of directing. Robert rodriguezs film debut is a good little action film that was made on a. Shot, written and directed by a first timer, robert rodriguez, and produced by and starring carlos gallardo, the film won sundance and was picked up for worldwide distribution by columbia. Directed by 24yearold firsttime filmmaker robert rodriguez, this brilliantly naive, low. The other side of the dvd contains rodriguezs followup movie, desperado.
Delivering its own southoftheborder sense of cool despite its limited resources, the film hints at good tings to come for its director and provides a solid experience. I know, i know, i still need to get the cast names in there and ill be eternally tweaking it, so if you have any corrections, feel free to drop me a line. He wanders into a small mobrun town, guitar case in hand. The robert rodriguez ten minute film school the makingof. Interview with mexican director robert rodriguez film the. Financed with earnings from a monthlong stay in a research hospital, this astonishing action adventure was shot with no second takes, using borrowed equipment and a talented cast of unknowns. He is dressed in black and carries a guitar case, and a killer arrives in the same. The mexico trilogy or mariachi trilogy also desperado trilogy on some dvd releases is a series of americanmexican contemporary western action filmsel mariachi, desperado and once upon a time in mexicoall written and directed by robert rodriguez. Robert rodriguezs 10 best movies movie and tv news. Rodriguez explains the tricks filmmakers can use when working with extremely limited budgets. The film is a little unpolished compared to the later ones, but it is very effective nonetheless and provides a good starting point for the subsequent films desperado and once upon a time. What we learned from robert rodriguez on making a movie. The barely featurelength production was pointed squarely at the spanish language video.
The spanish language film was shot with a mainly amateur cast in the northern mexican bordertown of ciudad acuna, coahuila, mexico across from del rio. Because the film was made in mexico on an extremely low budget, some of the guns used in the production were real guns not converted for blanks taken from a local police station while others were either bb guns or other toy guns. Of all the people to be amazed by the images of john carpenters 1981 scifi parable, escape from new york 1981, none were as captivated as the 12yearold rodriguez, who. It is his first feature length film, and the first of the mexico or mariachi trilogy, followed by desperado and once upon a time in mexico a mariachi searching for work in mexico ends up getting mistaken for gangster azul. The style is very raw and messy, yet rodriguez shows some talent for storytelling. A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him. The camera pans with the officer as he exits his car and walks up to a ramp leading to the babay blue jail house. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in mexico and in his home state of texas. Watch all robert rodriguezs 10 minute film school indie. The spanish language film was shot with a mainly amateur cast in the northern mexican bordertown of.
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