Desperado
Short description
A former mariachi musician, once a travelling performer in Mexico, now carries a guitar case filled with weapons instead of an instrument. After a drug lord named Bucho had his girlfriend killed and his hand shot, ending his playing career, he devotes himself to hunting the man down. His search takes him into the border underworld, where he tracks Bucho through a small town in the grip of drug trafficking. Joining him are a friend and a bookstore owner, Carolina, and he must work his way through Bucho's men to reach the man himself.
Desperado was released in 1995, directed and written by Robert Rodriguez, who also produced it with Bill Borden. It is the third of 24 films he has directed, following Roadracers in 1994 and preceding Four Rooms in 1995. Antonio Banderas plays El Mariachi, with Salma Hayek Pinault as Carolina, Joaquim de Almeida as Bucho, Steve Buscemi as Buscemi, Cheech Marin as Short Bartender and Carlos Gómez as Right Hand. The credited cast numbers 29 and the credited crew 103.
The film was made for 7 million dollars and took 25 million dollars worldwide. It holds a 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from 208,000 votes and a 6.9 out of 10 on TMDB from 3,252 votes, while its critics' rating stands at 6.8 out of 10 from 56 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The character Steve Buscemi is named Buscemi because the role was specifically written for Steve.
- "Desperado" was the only film in the Mariachi trilogy where the main character smokes, which contradicts his own statement in the first film: "I don't smoke because my voice is my life."
- Filming took place in the USA and Mexico in 1994. The main filming locations were Ciudad Acuña in Mexico and Del Rio in American Texas.
- Towards the end of the film, we learn that Bucho's real name is Cesar. Bucho calls the Musician "Juan", and then adds "manito". This is a shortening of "hermanito", which means "little brother".
- In the scene where Bucho tells his men, "If you see a stranger – kill him. What's so hard about that?" he is holding a Desert Eagle .50AE pistol.
- Raúl Juliá was cast in the role of Bucho, but he had to leave the project due to health complications.
- When the Musician enters the hospital, you can notice a sign with a pistol with a silencer in a red crossed-out circle.
- The bar where Steve Buscemi and Chich Marin are talking is a real bar called “Corona Club.” The bar is much cleaner and larger than it appears in the film. Numerous photos of the actors and the crew of 'Desperate Measures' also hang on its walls.
- Jennifer Lopez auditioned for the role of Carolina.
- Antonio Banderas played the guitar himself in all scenes where his character was required to do so.
- The pistol, attached to the groin, that Carolina is examining so closely is exactly the same one used by Sex Machine (Tom Savini) in Robert Rodriguez's film "From Dusk Till Dawn".
- "Desperado" was the only film in the Mariachi trilogy where the main character smokes, contradicting his earlier statement in the first film: "I don't smoke because my voice is my life."
- The film was originally going to be titled "The Gunman" (El Pistolero). However, the title was changed at the studio's request. In Mexico, the film was released under the title "El Pistolero."
- Robert Rodriguez wrote a rock version of the song "Malagueña Salerosa." It can be heard during the end credits of "Kill Bill Volume 2."
- According to a commentary on Robert Rodriguez's DVD, the entire film crew came to watch the bed scene between Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. However, only the director and the script supervisor remained in the room during filming.
- Initially, the film did not include a character for Quentin Tarantino, but when he expressed a desire to participate, Rodriguez immediately offered him a role.
- Scenes involving Steve Buscemi and Cheech Marin were filmed on a very tight schedule, as Steve was only available for seven days of shooting and Cheech for six.
- Due to the small budget, almost all the stunts in the film were performed by two stunt performers.
- Production of the film began in February-March 1993, immediately after the release of Robert Rodriguez's previous film, 'El Mariachi'. 'Desperado' was not planned as a direct sequel to the first film but was intended to be a high-budget remake. However, Quentin Tarantino suggested several changes to the plot, so that Rodriguez could create his own 'Mexico Trilogy', analogous to Sergio Leone's famous 'Dollars' spaghetti western trilogy, which also lacks a direct connection between parts, but many characters appear in all of them. The title of each film in the series was to illustrate one of the protagonist's nicknames.
- Towards the end of the film, we learn that Bucho's real name is Cesar. Bucho calls El Mariachi 'Juan', and then adds 'manito'. This is a shortening of 'hermanito', which means 'little brother'.
- In the scene where Bucho tells his men, "If you see a stranger – kill him. What's so difficult about that?" he is holding a Desert Eagle .50AE pistol.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
