Once upon a time in Mexico
About the Film
The legendary gunslinging musician El Mariachi has retreated into hiding, haunted by the murder of his wife Carolina and their daughter at the hands of the corrupt General Marquez. He is drawn back into the fray by Sheldon Sands, a charming and utterly amoral CIA agent who is orchestrating events from the shadows: a drug lord, Barillo, is bankrolling Marquez to stage a coup against the Mexican president, and Sands wants El Mariachi to kill the general once the coup is underway.
As the Day of the Dead approaches, a tangle of double-crosses draws in a burned-out FBI agent, Barillo’s ruthless enforcers and Sands’s own treacherous contacts. The scheming spins out of Sands’s control — and costs him dearly — but El Mariachi and his allies converge to topple the conspiracy in an operatic hail of gunfire.
Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp steals the film as Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, a soft-spoken, almost hypnotically calm CIA agent whose easy charm masks a casual, chilling ruthlessness. Depp gives him a deadpan wit, loud tourist shirts and a string of absurd disguises — and, in the film’s most notorious turn, keeps Sands lethal even after Barillo’s men gouge out his eyes. Depp reportedly invented the character’s full name himself, and his scene-stealing performance was singled out by critics as the picture’s highlight.
Cast & Crew
Cast
El MariachiAntonio Banderas
Sheldon Jeffrey SandsJohnny Depp
CarolinaSalma Hayek
Billy ChambersMickey Rourke
AjedrezEva Mendes
Armando BarilloWillem Dafoe
Jorge RamírezRubén Blades
CucuyDanny Trejo
Crew
Director / WriterRobert Rodriguez
MusicRobert Rodriguez
CinematographyRobert Rodriguez
ProducersElizabeth Avellán, Carlos Gallardo, Robert Rodriguez
StudioColumbia Pictures / Dimension Films
“Are you a Mexi-can or a Mexi-can’t?”
— Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Filming Locations
- Querétaro, Mexico
- San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
- Guanajuato, Mexico
More about this film
Trivia
- It was one of the first major features shot entirely in high-definition digital video — Rodriguez was inspired after seeing footage from Star Wars: Episode II.
- Rodriguez wrote, directed, shot, edited and scored the film — and reportedly wrote the script in about six days.
- Johnny Depp came up with Sands’s full name, Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, himself.
- When Rodriguez asked Depp to hum a few notes for a “Sands theme” the guitar-playing actor delivered a fully formed melody.
Awards
- 2003 Golden Trailer Awards — nominated
