Mexico Trilogy

Mexico Trilogy
File:Mexico Trilogy DVD cover.jpg The cover of the DVD trilogy box set.
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez Carlos Gallardo Elizabeth Avellan
Written by	Robert Rodriguez
Starring	Carlos Gallardo Antonio Banderas
Music by	Eric Guthrie Chris Knudson Álvaro Rodriguez Cecilio Rodriguez Mark Trujillo Los Lobos Robert Rodriguez
Cinematography	Robert Rodriguez Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	Robert Rodriguez
Production company	Los Hooligans Troublemaker Studios
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures Dimension Films
Release dates	1992 – 2003 (theatrical) 2010 (complete trilogy)
Running time	289 minutes
Country	United States Mexico
Language	English Spanish
Budget	$36,007,000
Box office	$125.6 million

The Mexico Trilogy or Mariachi Trilogy (also Desperado Trilogy on some DVD releases) is a series of American/Mexican action western films—El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico—all written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. All three films tell the continuing story of central character, El Mariachi (portrayed by Carlos Gallardo and Antonio Banderas). The films were released in theatres between 1992 and 2003, and later on a complete DVD trilogy box set in 2010.

Origins

The trilogy was originally conceived as a way for Rodriguez to make three films for the Spanish-language home video market to hone his skills as a director. Quentin Tarantino, a friend of Rodriguez, is reported to have said to Rodriguez that El Mariachi and Desperado were the start of his Dollars Trilogy, the trilogy of Western films directed by Sergio Leone consisting of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Rodriguez agreed on this idea, and the resulting conclusion of the trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, has many similarities with its Spaghetti Western counterpart. This is often the explanation of, and reason behind, the inclusion of much more screen-time and story centered on different characters other than El Mariachi within Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

The films

Production

The trilogy began with the 1992 ultra low-budget production of El Mariachi. The film was made on a budget of only US$7,000 using 16-millimeter film, was shot entirely in Mexico with a mostly amateur cast, and was originally intended to go directly to the Mexican home-video market (a process detailed in Rodriguez's book Rebel Without a Crew). Reportedly Rodriguez got some funds for the film by offering himself up as a human guinea pig to science labs. Other finances came in the form of prize money won by his short student film, Bedhead, at film festival competitions.

Executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film so much that they bought the rights to it for American distribution and eventually spent several times more than the film's original production budget on 35 millimeter film transfers, 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 subsequently the final chapter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Plots

A recurring theme of the Mexico Trilogy deals with El Mariachi being alone as all of his loved ones die in front of him.

El Mariachi tells the story of an out-of-work musician, known simply as El Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo), traveling through Mexico. He arrives in a small border town, hoping to find work in some of the local cantinas and clubs. Unfortunately for the man, local hoodlums mistake him for a recently escaped convict who has been hunting down his former associates with a guitar case filled with weapons. As the story progresses, Mariachi falls in love with a woman who helps him hide from those who are trying to kill him, and eventually sees her die at the hands of those same men. He seeks revenge for all he has been put through.

Desperado continues El Mariachi's (now portrayed by Antonio Banderas) quest for revenge where he finds a new love and quenches his thirst for revenge.

Once Upon a Time in Mexico revolves around a failed coup attempt on the President of Mexico wherein El Mariachi is the hero who saves him. El Mariachi also seeks revenge on the murderer who killed his wife.

Reception

Box office

All three films were made using Rodriguez's "Mariachi-style" of filmmaking in which (according to the back cover of his book Rebel Without a Crew) "creativity, not money, is used to solve problems." Thus, all three movies have been extremely profitable. El Mariachi was made for $7,000 and went on to gross more than $2 million in its theatrical release. Desperado was made for $7 million and grossed over $24.6 million in US theaters. Once Upon a Time in Mexico was made for $29 million and grossed over $56.3 million domestically and an additional $41.8 million worldwide and holds the box office distinction for being the most improved second sequel of all-time grossing 122% more than Desperado.

Awards and critical reaction

All three films have won various prestigious awards. El Mariachi won the Audience Award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and the 1993 Deauville American Film Festival and Best First Feature at the 1994 Independent Spirit Awards. Desperado saw Salma Hayek nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 1996 Saturn Awards, and was nominated for the Bronze Horse at the 1995 Stockholm Film Festival. Once Upon a Time in Mexico won two Imagen Foundation Awards for performances by Antonio Banderas and Rubén Blades, was nominated for two Satellite Awards, winning Robert Rodriguez an award for Best Song ("Siente Mi Amor") and Johnny Depp a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical and the movie's impressive stunts landed it two Taurus World Stunt Awards nominations.

TV series adaptation

A TV series adaptation of the El Mariachi franchise premiered on March 20, 2014 on AXN.

External links

• El Mariachi at IMDb
• Desperado at IMDb
• Once Upon a Time in Mexico at IMDb
• Mexico Trilogy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mexico Trilogy at AllMovie