So, El Mariachi is the movie that got Robert Rodriquez his big break! He’s even got a book out entitled “Rebel without a Crew” which is a publication of his diary during the course of making the film.
I read the book. It was a GREAT read. So often you hear people putting down the art of filmmaking, telling aspiring filmmakers about how difficult it is to break in and how you’re likely to never make it. So it was refreshing to read a book that took the TOTAL OPPOSITE approach! It was funny as hell, too!
At the end of the book is the script for El Mariachi. It too is a great read. Since the script was so good, I HAD to see the movie. I rented it for free from Ellis Library.
It sucked.
I mean, ok, sure, it was good for the fact that it was made with a mere $7,000 and a crew of one (Rodriquez was the writer, director, DP, camera operator, sound mixer, syncronizer, and editory)… but a point he made in the book was that the movie should be good on its own accord, not for its price.
Well, the movie is not very good at all. The script itself was far better! The fact that this film made so much buzz when it debuted in 1992 boggles my mind. I saw nothing enjoyable about it… not even the critically acclaimed editing style it has.
I’ve never seen that movie, but I feel the same way about Clerks. Everyone loves it, but I can never get past the terrible acting.