El Mariachi

After breaking out of jail in a small town outside Jiménez, Coahuila, Mexico, a ruthless criminal, nicknamed Azul, ventures off with a guitar case full of weapons and vows revenge on the local drug lord, Moco, his former comrade who betrayed him and had him arrested. Meanwhile, a wandering young musician arrives in the town of Acuña carrying his own guitar case which contains his signature guitar. He hopes to find work there and ultimately achieve his dream of becoming an esteemed mariachi like his father and grandfather. From the confines of his heavily guarded villa on the outskirts of town, Moco dispatches a legion of Sicarios led by his assistant Bigotón to kill Azul. Because the Mariachi also matches Moco's description of a man dressed in black with a guitar case, the hitmen misidentify him as Azul. Having rented a cheap room at a local motel, the Mariachi escapes into the streets, where he is forced to kill four of the attackers in self-defense. As he seeks refuge in a bar owned by a beautiful woman named Dominó, he explains that he has recently arrived and must lay low until the crisis subsides; she sympathetically conceals him in an upstairs room. Unfortunately, Moco is not only financing the bar, but is also romancing Dominó. Bigotón arrives at the bar a short time later and telephones Moco about an escaped killer dressed in black and carrying a guitar case containing weapons. Once he departs, Dominó, having overheard the conversation, ventures upstairs to the Mariachi's room and holds her letter-opener against his throat, demanding that he open his case; revealing his guitar, he successfully convinces her of his innocence via song, after which she agrees to house him in exchange for his singing services. Following his successful first performance at the bar that night, the Mariachi quickly commences a romantic relationship with Dominó. The following morning, he returns to the motel, intending to retrieve his deposit money. When Azul visits the bar for a beer and information about Moco, he accidentally departs with the Mariachi's guitar case. Three of Moco's thugs ambush him but release him upon discovering that the case he is carrying contains only a guitar. Returning to the bar, the Mariachi realizes what has happened and rushes outside to locate Azul. Confused, Moco's men disperse and pursue both Azul and the Mariachi; the latter uses Azul's weapons to kill several more men. Returning to his hideout, Azul orders two of his friends to retrieve his personal guitar case. That night, Dominó describes her complicated romantic relationship with Moco, who also financed her spacious apartment; the following morning, she lends the Mariachi money for a new guitar so he can continue performing for customers. While he is surveying a shop window, he is incapacitated by Bigotón, who delivers him to Moco; the kingpin identifies the Mariachi as the wrong man and sets him free. Meanwhile, Azul returns to Dominó's bar demanding his guitar case and orders her to take him to Moco, or Moco will kill the Mariachi; she agrees to cooperate to save the Mariachi's life. When they arrive at Moco's gated compound, Azul pretends to take her hostage in order to gain entry. Moco soon realizes that she has fallen for the Mariachi and jealously shoots both her and Azul dead. Suddenly, the Mariachi, having regained consciousness, arrives on Dominó's motorcycle to find her gunned down in the courtyard. Furious at him for murdering his minions and stealing his girlfriend, Moco shoots the Mariachi's left hand, effectively rendering him useless as a guitarist, and proceeds to tauntingly laugh at him. Overcome with grief and rage, the Mariachi grabs Azul's gun with his right hand and kills Moco, avenging Dominó's death. Moco's surviving henchmen, seeing their leader dead, walk off unconcerned and leave Moco's body and the wounded Mariachi behind, as Moco had consistently disrespected them. With his dreams of becoming a mariachi having been shattered, and Azul's former weapons, which he has stored in the guitar case, providing the only protection for his future, the Mariachi mounts Dominó's motorcycle, taking her pit bull and her letter-opener as mementos of her, and departs Acuña, riding into the sunset.

Plot from El MariachiCC BY-SA 4.0