An entertaining genre mash-up that borrows freely from gangster, caper and war movies, Saving Private Pérez (Salvando al Soldado Pérez) already has drawn big crowds in Mexico.Reportedly one of the most expensive Mexican movies ever made, the film, which opens in the United States on September 2, stars Miguel Rodarte as Sinaloa drug kingpin Julián Pérez, who’s charged by his mother to find his brother, an American soldier who’s disappeared in Iraq. Julián’s mom and sibling have been living in the U.S. for years.
Julián rounds up a “combat team” to help him out: an aging Vietnam vet, a contract killer, a drug courier and an Indian tomato grower who happens to be one of the kingpin’s oldest friends. The clueless group, none of whom knows exactly where Iraq is, heads off to the combat zone. But first they land in Istanbul, where they meet their interpreter and local weapons contact, a lanky, blond-haired European named Sasha, whose name no one can pronounce, so they take to calling him “Chacha.”
Next, they mount camels and head to Iraq and the killing fields of Karbala, where the Mexicans have a number of run-ins with insurgents and Americans. Then comes the climactic rescue and fire fight.
Saving Private Pérez is told in a deadpan comic style that relies more on the story’s basic absurdity than shtick or comic set pieces. Just the sight of these Mexicans wandering around Iraq in cowboy hats, shirts and pointy-toed boots—looking like a norteño band whose tour bus driver got very, very lost—is enough to elicit chuckles.
There also are a number of amusing cultural riffs, like the time one of the team wonders if hot peppers might work better than electric shock as a torture device.
But at 105 minutes, the film is about 10 minutes longer than it needs to be. And director Beto Gómez is definitely no stylist; Saving Private Pérez could have used a bit more pizzazz in the visual and editing departments. The pacing can be sluggish and the action scenes in the film would have gained from more camera movement and faster-paced editing.
Yet a concept this inspired has a definite upside. The film touches on everything from martial arts movies to narcocorridos, from The Godfather to classic horse operas like Once Upon a Time in the West. (One shot is an almost direct lift from the Sergio Leone classic).
“Mexicans?” asks an American military officer incredulously when he discovers who’s in the mysterious team running riot through his war zone. And it’s that sense of utter ridiculousness that makes Saving Private Pérez click.
The adventure of Saving Private Perez is the result of combining Beto Gómez’ experience as an independent director with Lemon Films (a Mexican production company which has 8 successful blockbusters under its belt) Via Media and Terregal Films. Together, they join forces to create an unprecedented feature in the history of Mexican cinema: “Saving Private Perez”, a national idiosyncrasy film with an array of global meanings.
Beto Gomez was born in Culiacan, Sinaloa. He has lead projects such as “El Agujero” (1997), “El Sueño del Caiman” (2000), “Puños Rosas” (2004), and “Hasta el Último Trago… Corazón” (2005), all of them presented in international festivals as well as in commercial Movie Theatres.
Brothers Billy and Fernando Rovzar create Lemon Films in the year 2004. They released their first feature film, “Matando Cabos”, distributed by Videocine, a black humor film that raised over 62 million pesos in the Mexican box office and at the time was the Mexican best selling DVD. For their second Movie, Lemon Films took the horror route with “Kilometro 31” and manages to lure over 3 million Mexicans into theatres. In December 2007, “Matando Cabos” co-production creative team and Warner Brothers Mexico, brought to screens “Sultanes del Sur”, a spectacular and adrenaline packed action movie filmed by Mexican Producers.
Released last year, “Amor, Dolor y Viceversa” was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival and sent to compete in the International Film Festival of Morelia, with outstanding artistic talent and an extraordinary skilled production team.
In Saving Private Perez, an experienced staff will develop both the technical and narrative history that is required in order to deliver a clear message and provide a broad time entertainment for the viewer. In addition, the cast is composed by actors who can represent the characters and also bring add personality without losing the transcendental essence that each profile requires.
It took 8 filming weeks in locations such as the Desert of Coahuila and Mexico City, and was supplemented with 2 weeks of filming in Los Angeles and Turkey. The crew of more than 80 people faced complex challenges to be able to achieve the fidelity in the representation of an international armed conflict such as that suffered in Iraq.
This story demanded high production values; a production ensemble was created consisting, in part, of the recognized professional musician Mark Motherbaugh, Devo´s Band lead singer, Grammy and Emmy, award-winner and well known for the musical development of films like “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Lluvia de Hamburguesas”.
Under Lynn Fainchtein´s tutelage, renowned music producer, the movie had a theme interpreted by the legendary Mexican female singer Chavela Vargas and another one written and performed by Los Tucánes de Tijuana exclusively for the film.
The special effects were made by Alejandro Vazquez and the digital part is provided by The FX Shop, a company led by experts who created the effects of such films as “Navidad S.A.” and “Kilometro 31”; this time around, their challenges involved having to recreate helicopters, tanks, explosions and dozens of Arabic landscapes. The rest of the visuals were conjugated with a level of sublimity that also build a true picture of northern Mexico (with its trademark attire) and an art design that perfectly recreated the Middle Eastern environment.
Ever since Lemon Films’ first feature, Matando Cabos, a current theme has always been present in its following productions: HISH Quality. No matter the genre or style, Lemon Films continues to raise it’s own standards regarding their productions, always keeping in mind that the Mexican Film Industry becomes a profitable business. This way, we are certain that audience all around Mexico, and the world, will enjoy the most ambitious project Lemon Films has produced.
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