There's a certain kind of gleeful, almost childish energy to the low-budget grindhouse aesthetic, something that a lot of directors (including Rodriguez) have tried to capture artificially in recent years (to decidedly mixed results, but that's a different story.) El mariachi, however, has the genuine article in spades, and that's probably it's greatest virtue. At heart it's a mistaken-identity comedy about an assassin and a mariachi who get mixed up with tragic results. The central conceit is essentially comedic, and the violence sometimes gets so over the top you have to laugh, but for the most part El Mariachi plays it straight -- which only makes it more fun. I was fortunate enough to see this movie on a big screen with a big audience as part of a film class, and that's really the only way to watch it -- with an audience hooting and laughing along, creating that raucous carnivalesque atmosphere that mainstream movies are too tame and wannabe-respectable for. I suspect El Mariachi might just seem flat if I watched it on my own, however -- after all, there are a lot of parts that are too goofy for their own good, and more than a bit of exploitation. Still, there's something to be said for the communal act of moviewatching, and El Mariachi was able to evoke that experience that none of the classical or art-house movies did for that class. Not one to seriously contemplate, but a fun one to watch with friends nonetheless.
Review of El Mariachi
