Desperado

Robert Rodriguez didn’t take long to find his footing after his success with El Mariachi. El Mariachi was Rodriguez’s first film and it was scripted in Spanish. Not long after he was able to get hired for TV movie Roadracers, but his career really took off when he wrote and directed Desperado. Even with the weak financing of El Mariachi, Rodriguez was able to turn a profit and Desperado is a continuation of his original story. Given a much higher budget this time around, though still a modest one, Desperado opened all of the doors to Rodriguez’s career.

Like the film’s predecessor, Desperado revolves around a mysterious gunman known locally in Mexico as ‘El Mariachi’ (played by Antonio Banderas).

Like the film’s predecessor, Desperado revolves around a mysterious gunman known locally in Mexico as ‘El Mariachi’ (played by Antonio Banderas). This time around, he’s searching for the man who ordered the murder of his girlfriend. Bucho, as he’s called, is the drug lord behind the attack and he’s soon informed that El Mariachi is closing in on him. As El Mariachi gets closer to his goal, he learns of how far Bucho’s reach goes and of how many people are actually involved in his enterprise. What he soon finds out is how much he and Bucho actually have in common with one another.

The key thing to take away from Desperado is how Rodriguez and his squad were able to do so much with so little. Their financing was estimated to be around seven million dollars, and believe it or not, that’s not much when trying to shoot a feature film. Some stunt actors were even used in multiple scenes, but Rodriguez did well enough not to make it obvious. His real achievement in this is his storytelling. He created a fitting universe that showcases the underbelly of Mexico and their drug trade. His approach to the film was ‘Tarantino-esque’ in a sense, which is understandable as the two have been long-time friends. There’s lots of interesting dialogue, violence, and more than enough outrageous moments to identify Rodriguez’s method of directing. The film was also crucial in opening Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek to a wider American audience, especially as Desperado was shot in English. The two had commendable onscreen chemistry together, and Banderas on his own demonstrated his ability to carry a film in a leading role. He showed range, at times unguarded with his emotions and in other moments he was a stoic enigma. One could argue this too was his coming out party to Hollywood.

Desperado is designed to be a fun film. There’s not too much to learn from it or too much to think about. Over the years it’s grown and retained a cult following, which is perhaps why it later got a sequel of its own. Whatever it was or will be in the future, it will always serve as Rodriguez’s ticket to the big time. He may not be the most prestigious director, but he’s stayed in the game long enough to make a living at it. That alone, is more than most can say.