Bound by Honor
Short description
Bound by Honor follows three young men in East Los Angeles from 1972 onward. Miklo, whose mixed heritage leaves him distrusted by some around him, is taken in by his cousins Paco and Cruz and joins their gang, the Vatos Locos. A violent act against a rival gang sets off consequences that separate the three and reshape their lives: one ends up in San Quentin, one pursues a talent for art while struggling with heroin, and one joins the police. Their paths diverge and then cross again, with loyalty and blood ties pulling against the choices each has made.
Taylor Hackford directed and produced the film, the sixth of the twelve features he has directed, arriving between White Nights and Dolores Claiborne. It was written by Jeremy Iacone, the poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, whose life partly inspired the story, and Floyd Mutrux. Damian Chapa, Jesse Borrego and Benjamin Bratt play Miklo, Cruz and Paco, with Enrique Castillo, Victor Rivers and Delroy Lindo among a credited cast of eighty. Made for about 35 million dollars and released by Hollywood Pictures, it returned roughly 4 million worldwide.
Audiences rate it highly, at 7.9 on IMDb from some 37,000 votes and 8.2 on TMDB from 1,643. Critics were far less enthusiastic, giving it 5.7 from 14 reviews, a clear split between professional and popular response. The 190-minute running time, action, crime, drama and thriller genres, and its US production round out a film that remains best known for its long, grim look at gang life.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original version of the film lasted over 5 hours. During editing, it was decided to divide the five-hour film into three parts, with the first part ending with Paco shooting Miklo. The second part would tell the story of prison, and the third would focus on the growth of Montana's daughter, how she learns to distribute drugs, which ultimately leads her to Miklo.
- Edan Hernandez painted thirty paintings for the film, and also appeared on screen in a cameo role in the gallery opening scene.
- Work on the film began in the mid-1980s under the direction of Harold Becker.
- "The Pino," or the famous tree shown in the film and symbolizing brotherhood, is still alive. It is considered a historical monument, and cutting it down is prohibited.
- During filming, no special effects or prosthetics were used for the legs of Damian Chap's character. A stunt double with a prosthetic leg, very similar to the actor, was filmed (in these scenes, this character's hair appears darker and thicker than usual). In one scene, it is clearly visible that it is not Chap.
- As part of preparation for filming and getting into character, Damian Chapa, Benjamin Bratt, and Jesse Borrego spent three months living in Los Angeles with real gang members.
- The director's cut has a runtime of 190 minutes.
- "La Onda," a gang of Spanish-speaking criminals in the film, is a product of the imagination of screenwriter Jimmy Santiago Baca and producer Taylor Hackford. However, its image is based on a real-life Mexican prison gang. The film also features two other gangs – the "Black Guerrilla Army" and the "Aryan Vanguard" – which bear resemblance to the real "Black Guerrilla Family" and "Aryan Brotherhood."
- The finished film sat on a shelf for 2 years because Disney questioned whether to release it in light of the Los Angeles riots and the release of Edward James Olmos's controversial drama "American Me" (1992).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
