By Reena Dutt
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 16, 1997

Double Feature - Double Action

Photo courtesy of Voyager: The Killer Web Site Arizona Daily Wildcat John Woo's "The Killer" has become a cult classic.

The Screening Room (127 East Congress St.) has already hosted a Latino Film Festival and a poetry, film and music variety show, the Doublewide Showroom, during this semester. Now it's time for action. Starting Oct. 16, the Screening Room will bring the public an action-packed four hours of film from two parts of the world - San Antonio, Texas, and Hong Kong, China. John Woo's "The Killer" and "El Mariachi" by Robert Rodriguez will be taking the screen.

Though a somewhat crazy plot, it is interesting enough to say that the story of "The Killer" is guided by a blinded singer, Jenny (Sally Yeh). Another character, renamed John for Western audiences, takes on his old job as an assassin to pay for an operation that will give Jenny her sight back. She doesn't realize that he's the one responsible for her losing it in the first place, though. Of course, they fall in love, while at the same time a deepening cop/killer bond between John and another character, played by Danny Lee, is formed. Although they're supposed to become arch-enemies they end up becoming "pals" of a different sort.

As in any action flick, there is not an excessive amount of thought required to watch this movie. It's made for pure entertainment value and brings back several elements from old, dubbed Ninja movies such as melodrama and the impossibly outrageous moves in some of the choreographed action. However, Woo is one of the masters of the genre and even Quentin Tarantino claims him as one of his greatest influences. His stylized approach to film-making and fame from his Hong Kong days have even turned him into a Hollywood commodity, with such blockbusters as "Broken Arrow" and last summer's "Face/Off" under his belt.

Photo courtesy of the Unofficial Desparado/El Mariachi Home Page Arizona Daily Wildcat John Woo's "The Killer" has become a cult classic.

The second movie being shown, "El Mariachi," is another action film that will delight you, despite its mere $7,225 budget. Taking place south of the border, this is also a story of mistaken identity. Involving actors such as Peter Marquardt, the story is about a mariachi musician who is looking for work performing in the small towns of Mexico. Failing to find a job in the first bar he tries, he reaches success at the second; little does he know that a mariachi-disguised hitman is also in the same town, wearing practically the same clothes. Of course, a mix-up occurs and the action begins.

Coming from a poor family in the Southwest, Rodriguez built his career up by winning a competition that got him into film school, then eventually making this feature-length movie that was rejected by the local production companies, yet accepted by Columbia (US). As in any low-budget action production, low-budget violence takes place throughout the movie. But, like Woo, Rodriguez also takes a highly-stylized approach to filmmaking, and often uses skilled and unusual camera work to bypass the lack of resources he had in making the film.

Although some of the scenes in both movies seem too unrealistic to watch with a serious face, the intentional elements of humor in these films mean the directors are often laughing along with you.

Both movies are filled with the kind of action the public loves, highlighted with a cultural twist. The films will be showing back-to-back tonight through Sunday, and a $4 admission fee gets you in for both shows. English subtitles will be provided for the linguistically impaired. Call 622-2262 for showtimes.