American Cinematographer - May 1992 - 28

American Me Explores "Mexican Mafia"
by Nora Lee

Rarely is Hollywood accused of
having a social conscience. It is,

about tradition and the

after all, a town so consumer-ori¬
ented that most of its executives
would rather recycle the tried and
true than risk new ideas and per¬

brother, and how

market. How,
brutally realistic,
emotionally
disturbing film

haps alienate
then, does

a test

a

passing on

of behavior from father to
live

a

one

son

to

decides to

life.
"A

ever

of our
youth is growing up in a
self-perpetuating lifestyle spent in
and out of prison, resulting in vio¬
segment

nation's

swer

the

a

committed," says Villalobos. "This
is an important story. It's our life.
were more

Hispanic people

really believes in what he is doing
and he wants to make it the best. He

an¬

wants to

help people."
an
adequate budget
inadequate shooting

With

James Olmos.
and

s,

best known for
his role as a

teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and

Deliver, has dreamed of bringing

lent crime, drugs and certain death.
American Me is being made with the

hope that the lives of

some of the
children will be redirected toward
more

positive goals."

mere

movie, but it

That's

American Me to the screen since first

reading Floyd Mutrux' script 17
years ago. With an actor's passion
and an evangelist's fervor, he
eventually recruited director
Robert Young (as producer and
sometime camera operator) and
director of photography Reynaldo
Villalobos, with whom he had col¬
laborated on 1982's powerful The
Ballad of Gregorio Cortez.
In the end, Olmos chose to

co-produce, co-write, direct and
star in American

counts 30 years

an

schedule, American Me commenced

tough-talking lawman on Miami
Vice and his Academy Awardnominated portrayal of calculus

Me, which

re¬

in the life of

Santana, the nominal head of the
Mexican Mafia. Says Olmos,
born and grew up in East

"I was
L.A. I
experienced the subculture, in
which

26

it's

on this show than any I
can think of. We were raised in East
L.A. and we know what this is all
about. Even the people who
weren't Hispanic understood.
Eddie's enthusiasm is catching. He

get

m o

.

working

is Edward

01

.

these are three directors who left
their egos in a storage container in
Burbank. "Everybody was really

There

made? If one
can believe the
unsolicited
words of the
film's cast and
crew,

directors."
Three directors.

concept that boggles the mind. But

like American
Me

operate. It was like having three

a

was

a

clear to

Villalobos that this project was
different. "I've never worked on a
film where there was this type of

collaboration," he says. "Bob, Eddie
and I have known each other for

years and we're friends. As friends
you can disagree and argue.
Sometimes two of us would dis¬
agree with the third. We each rep¬
resented different levels of experi¬
ence. Bob's done a lot of films and
Eddie has just started. Of course,
I've directed

a

few

myself. That's

of the reasons he wanted us
around him.
"In this film, he really

on

June 3,

1991 in Folsom Prison, located near

Sacramento, California. Villalobos
is convinced that much of what the
cast and

crew
accomplished hap¬
pened through the sheer force of

Olmos' will. "That's how we got
into Folsom," the cinematographer
recalls. "Their first reaction was that
it

was

going to be too hard; they

didn't want

us.

But Eddie started

talking about the film and sud¬
denly these people were saying,
'Great! Let's go!"'
The cast and crew spent a
record two weeks in Folsom; most
other shoots have been limited to
two

three

days. It was an unfor¬
gettable experience. "Every day we
didn't know what was going to
happen," says Villalobos. "We
or

one

wanted to know what he

loyalty, friendship and
family become part of a twisted and
deadly code of ethics. This film is

ting through the

American

May 1992

Cinematographer

lofty goal for

principal photography

was

get¬

camera. He's an
actor. So sometimes I would oper¬

ate, and sometimes Bob would

Produced

by Sean Daniel, Robert M.
Young and Edward James Olmos

Directed

by Edward James Olmos
photography,
Reynaldo Villalobos

Director of
American Cinematographer - May 1992

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