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Once Upon a Time in Mexico: (Robert Rodriguez) Revenge, drugs,
greed, revolution, and a pissed off Mexican dude with a guitar. Sound familiar?
Debate about the viability of the
El Mariachi/
Desperado franchise
often hinges on whether the sequels to
El Mariachi are truly sequels or
simply mutated remakes of the original concept. While many viewers believed that a
dead horse was being beaten in the case of 2003's
Once Upon a Time in
Mexico, other fans of
El Mariachi and
Desperado, those who enjoy
the basic formula of guts and gore in all of its Mexican glory, would see Antonio
Banderas and Selma Hayek however many times they reprise their roles in the
franchise. Anyone familiar with the series recognizes that it is among the most
ethnically identifiable Mexican entries ever to come from the mainstream industry,
a cult, Western concept dripping with Latin flavor and embraced as such. Director
Robert Rodriguez was forced to push back the release of this film for almost two
years due to his continuous (and some would call obsessive) involvement in the
Spy Kids series. Rodriguez is one of the few directors who composes music
for his own films and had slowly been taking the reigns of the music duties on the
Spy Kids series since his sparse involvement with the first film's score.
Because he had relied on John Debney to provide more complex orchestral power to
the second
Spy Kids soundtrack, some film music fans were skeptical of his
ability to handle large-scale scores on his own. In 2003, Rodriguez proved his
musical talents with two solo scores for his films, and while his badly
underachieving music for
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over was certainly not
encouraging,
Once Upon a Time in Mexico was a genre right up his alley. The
film is rich with Spanish melodies, ranging from traditional vocal songs to
techno-influenced modern entries. Rodriguez's score fills the gaps in between these
source songs and underscores key action sequences in the plot. The spirit of the
songs and score in
Once Upon a Time in Mexico goes hand in hand, and film
music collectors should be aware that the songs are just as much of the attraction
on album as the score. For Rodriguez's part, the score is an orchestral extension
of the songs, with traditional Latin elements mixed heavily for the appropriate
flavor. His first two score cues, "Eye Patch" and "Guitar Town," are so well
balanced between this ethnic style and orchestral power that they are among the
most enjoyable cues of all film music debuting in 2003.
Unlike imitations that are often aimed at capturing the same dusty
taste of Mexican folklore, Rodriguez hits the nail right on the head, producing
music that is as authentic as it can get while also making its harmony as such that
non-Latin ears can enjoy it as well. Acoustic guitars, a mature solo male voice, a
distant electric guitar, castanets, and other percussive elements build up to a
glorious Western showdown in "Guitar Town." It's a cue that is perfect in its
portrayal of El Mariachi's task, always staying a step ahead of cliche. In the
following score cue on album, "Church Shooting," Rodriguez proves that he can
write stimulating action music with flamenco rhythms and pull off a rocking shootout
atmosphere while also maintaining that dancing, Latin style. Later cues are more
generic in their orchestral application, with some impressive action underscoring
and occasional electric guitar accompaniment yielding to a solo acoustic guitar cue
for the title character at the end. The score is often punctuated by cool choices
of Western instrumentation from above and below the border, with a tolling bell
accentuating the start of a cue for an on screen duel. The songs are often very
enjoyable, easy-going expressions of lost love, although Juno Reactor's "Pistolero"
fits surprisingly well with the attitude of the score's action cues (think of it as
a sort of
The Matrix Reloaded gone South). Following her performance in
Frida, Salma Hayek offers her voice to the most noteworthy song on the album
("Siente Mi Amor") with both elegance and a snappy spirit. As a soundtrack album,
Once Upon a Time in Mexico is blessed by an excellent overall choice of
songs to include on the product, with a defiant but romantic personality to many of
them. If the album has a weakness, it is a varying mixing quality between some of
the songs. None of them has a distant, archival sound quality, but they do vary in
reverberation. The Rodriguez score selections are also spaced in between the songs;
usually, this drives score collectors nuts, but in this case, the strength and
complete relevance of the songs ease the situation to a great degree. Interspersed
throughout the score are also several quotes from the film, some of which classic
El Mariachi entries. At the end of "Church Shootout," the Banderas line,
"I guess I have no choice but to kill you all," is an undeniable favorite. The
dialogue does not interfere with the music, and often exists at the end of score
tracks once the music has faded away. Overall,
Once Upon a Time in Mexico is
perhaps the most accessible Mexican action album to hit stores in a long while
(especially if you remove dramatic items like
Frida from the equation) and,
of course, it kicks some serious butt when it needs to... just like El Mariachi
himself.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert includes notes from Robert Rodriguez about the score and film.
