El Mariachi gave special mention to director Robert Rodriguez and his ability to merge two separate genres of films—"the narcotraficante film, a Mexican police genre, and the transnational warrior-action film, itself rooted in Hollywood Westerns"—successfully "despite the constraints of a shoestring budget." The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: El Mariachi El Mariachi is a 1992 American contemporary western action film and the first installment in the saga that came to be known as Robert Rodriguez's "Mexico Trilogy". It marked the feature length debut of Rodriguez as writer and director. The Spanish language film was shot with a
Women in Latin music (bars), and their partners destroyed their instruments. Other all-female bands tried unsuccessfully to be pioneers. Four of the six-member Mariachi Estrella de Topeka and 110 others were killed in the 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse. Rebecca Gonzales, who later joined the Los Angeles Uclatlan band, was the first female mariachi violinist. According to Gonzales, the other members of Uclatlan found it "bizarre" that a woman was playing with them and it took the group about a month to accept her. Gonzales was the first female mariachi musician to break through professionally. A role model for female mariachi hopefuls, she was