MARIACHI GRINGO – SLIFF Review

Review by Dana Jung

For those (like me) who always thought of mariachi music as light party-time songs performed by fellows sometimes dressed in fun outfits, the new film MARIACHI GRINGO should open up a whole new world of musical education.  Steeped in more than a century of Mexican cultural tradition, mariachi actually has more in common with the travelling balladeers of old Europe in the way they drew on a huge repertoire of folk songs for almost any occasion.      

Shawn Ashmore (X-MEN, TVs LOST GIRL & WAREHOUSE 13) plays Edward, stuck in a small Kansas town living with his parents.  Without any details about his history, we can immediately sympathize with the sadness bordering on despair he feels.  A dead-end job and an over-protective mother are testing the limits of this young man’s psyche, but events are about to change his life forever.  When he withdraws to a local Mexican restaurant—more to drown himself in tequila than to sample the burritos—Edward luckily witnesses the restaurant owner singing mariachi.  Something stirs inside him, and he begins a tentative friendship and tutoring with the singer that will soon lead to a life decision to pursue a dream, a dream of becoming a mariachi gringo.

Director Tom Gustafson, working with a script by Cory James Krueckeberg, lets this story unfold with a nice eye for detail and a real love for the musical heritage of mariachi.  Edward’s musical knowledge is revealed in a few brief economical scenes.  His first attempts at mariachi in Guadalara are told with humor and an element of suspense at how this will turn out.  When Edward meets an attractive Mexican girl who helps him realize his dream, we are expecting the usual love story to unfold.  But this tale, like life, is full of gentle surprises that are both enlightening and poignant.  

Ashmore is excellent portraying a character following an obsession, without it seeming mentally unbalanced or even eccentric.  The undercurrent of emotion on Edward’s face during the climactic mariachi number literally leaves us holding our collective breath.  As Lilia, the young woman who believes in Edward, Mexican actress Martha Higareda is a revelation.  So full of life, yet touched by a melancholy that Edward only slowly understands, Higareda imbues Lilia with an underlying sorrow that is utterly real. 

Finally, a movie with “mariachi” in the title simply has to have a great soundtrack, and MARIACHI GRINGO does not disappoint.  Recording artist Lila Downs, herself a student of musical anthropology, is stunning in several numbers.  Lots of real-life singers and musicians fill the background of many scenes with their wonderful music.  Whether happy or sad, to tell a timeless story, or simply to bring a sense of nostalgic belonging to everyday existence, the mariachi tradition still lives on to enrich the lives of others—even a simple gringo.

MARIACHI GRINGO screens as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival Wed, Nov 14th at 9:30pm at Plaza Frontenac Cinema and Thu, Nov 15th at 2:00pm at Plaza Frontenac Cinema