MEXICO TRILOGY

The '''Mexico Trilogy''' or '''Mariachi Trilogy''' (also '''Desperado Trilogy''' on some DVD releases) is a series of films: ''El Mariachi'', ''Desperado'' and ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'', all written, produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez, beginning in 1992 and ending in 2003 and distributed by Columbia Tristar which tell the continuing story of the movies' main character, "El Mariachi".
The trilogy was originally conceived as a way for Rodriguez to make three movies 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 around different characters other than El Mariachi within ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico''.

Contents

The films

Reception

External links

The films

The trilogy began with the 1992 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.
''El Mariachi'' tells the story of an out-of-work musician (Carlos Gallardo), known simply as El Mariachi, 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.
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''.
''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.

Reception

All three movies 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 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''.
All three movies 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 movies impressive stunts landed it two World Stunt Awards nominations.

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