Desperado (1995)
DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
CAST:
Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Trejo, Carlos Gomez
REVIEW:
In 1992, film student Robert Rodriguez took a group of complete unknowns (his personal friends) and $7,000 to Mexico and filmed El Mariachi. The so-called ‘$7,000 Wonder’ was successful enough for Columbia Pictures to give Rodriguez a Hollywood-scale budget to essentially remake the unpolished indie (although it’s technically a sequel). The concessions to Hollywood influence over indie freedoms are obvious. Unlike the subtitled El Mariachi, Desperado is in English, and unknown Carlos Gallardo has been replaced by sultry sex symbol Antonio Banderas. There’s nothing terribly deep or substantial about Desperado, but Rodriguez (who would later helm Sin City) brings great style and panache to the material, and enough of an undertone of tongue-in-cheek, self-parodying humor to offset the ultra-violent shootouts. Don’t expect some deep message; just sit back and strap yourself in for a slick, stylish shoot-em-up.
Our desperado, known only as El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), a mysterious, black-clothed, steely-eyed angel of death traveling from town to town carrying a signature gun-filled guitar case and on a mission to blow away everyone involved in the death of his lover, has arrived to settle a score with the last of the drug lords, known as Bucho (Joaquim de Almeida). With only a couple allies: his nerdy cohort Buscemi (played by none other than Steve Buscemi) and spunky bookstore owner Carolina (Salma Hayek), he proceeds to take the town apart smoking out Bucho.
The storyline is certainly simple enough. It’s everything Rodriguez brings to the table that lends it distinction. In one scene, as Carolina is sitting in front of him, El Mariachi spots a hitman move into view behind the curtain. He trains the gun on the man, and another appears from the opposite side. As he holds his gun on both men, they converge in the center, and El Mariachi finds both his guns aimed square at his girlfriend’s blissfully oblivious face. It’s typical of how Rodriguez manages both to build tension before the shootouts and maintain a cheeky humor beneath the violence. That Desperado is not taking things very seriously is made clear in the prologue, arguably the funniest scene in the movie, with Steve Buscemi regaling a seedy bar (including surly bartender Cheech Marin) with a melodramatic account of an El Mariachi massacre (‘Just when you thought his face would be revealed, it wasn’t. It was as if the lights dimmed, just for him’). Then we have Quentin Tarantino telling a long-winded pissing joke before buying the farm, and Bucho giving a little pep talk to his men (‘you see someone you don’t know, you shoot him! how hard is that?’) that includes gunning down one of them to make his point. Some scenes are overtly comedic, but the comedy is never too much to detract from the effectiveness of the shootouts, which is where Rodriguez really shines. With the possible exception of John Woo, no one can choreograph violence as stylishly as Robert Rodriguez. His shootouts are like elegant dances, fluid in motion, and the set-ups leading into them drip with atmosphere and tension to rival the best spaghetti westerns, to which Rodriguez occasionally gives a nod or two.
Antonio Banderas may be one of the few actors who has enough of the right look, style, and attitude for a role like this. He’s suitably enigmatic, he has the right intensity in his eyes, he’s fluid and graceful in the action scenes, and he maintains enough dignity to make us root for him despite the swath of destruction he wreaks. Salma Hayek is equally comfortable with both the humor, action, and romance. Joaquim de Almeida has enough gusto to pull off Bucho, and gets plenty of funny bits (he goes into a rage because he tries to call his men driving around town in his bulletproof car, only to find neither he nor anyone else knows the car’s phone number). Other than Banderas, Hayek, and de Almeida, no one gets much screentime, but Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, and Quentin Tarantino all get amusing moments or two. The biggest impression in a cameo role might be Rodriguez’s cousin Danny Trejo as a steely-eyed assassin who doesn’t talk much but has a nasty way with knives. El Mariachi star Carlos Gallardo has a small role as one of Banderas’ friends who join up with him for a climactic shootout.
Desperado goes on for a little too long. The climactic big shootout is a little too over-the-top even by the standards of the rest of the movie, and El Mariachi and Bucho finally coming face-to-face is disappointingly anti-climactic. An eleventh hour attempt to insert a hint of tragedy doesn’t quite mesh either. But if the destination isn’t as entertaining as the journey to get there, what precedes it is wild fun. Rodriguez brings great flair for action and humor, and his cast has the right amount of ‘cool’ to make Desperado easy to enjoy, even if it’s not for everyone and won’t appeal to those who are put off by onscreen ultra-violence.
***