El Mariachi

A film about a mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) made in 1992 and directed by Robert Rodriguez.

It's a nice film, with lots-o-guns and killings and more of those things. Just a shame that it was in Spanish, which I don't speak. It features some weird, yet cheap, scenes and moments. A couple of seconds in fast-forward, or a totally messed-up-makes-no-sense kind of dream.

The mariachi comes into a town and is mistaken for a murderer. Due to a mix-up with guitar cases and several other coincidental factors, Moco's (Peter Marquardt) gang of assassins comes after the mariachi to kill him.

Of course el mariachi defends himself, killing a few bad guys in the process, which leads to agitation with Moco's grunts.

In my opinion, it's not worth a lot of money to see, but certainly a good way to waste a spare evening. A lot like Desperado.

Fun facts you didn't know:

• The bar scene was filmed in the same bar as the one in Desperado, and the bartender was played by a newscaster from a local TV station. He was the closest they got to a professional actor.
• The dolly shots in the movie were done by placing Rodrigues with the camera in a wheelchair, then having a guy pushing him.
• Some of the guns used in the movie were real guns borrowed from a local police station (this wasn't a problem, apparently). An officer was assigned to look after the guns but was badly hung over and can be seen sleeping on a bench in one scene.