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American Me is a 1992 American crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos stars as Montoya Santana, who is loosely based on Mexican Mafia boss Rodolfo Cadena. Executive producers included record producer Lou Adler, screenwriter Mutrux, and Irwin Young. The film is a fictionalized account of the founding and rise to power of the Mexican Mafia in the California prison system from the 1950s into the 1980s. The film received positive reviews from critics but was a box office failure.
In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In juvenile hall, Santana murders a fellow inmate who raped him. As a result, his sentence is extended, and he is moved to Folsom State Prison after he turns 18.
Years later, Santana has become the leader of a powerful prison gang, La Eme. Upon his release from prison in 1977, he tries to relate his life experiences to the society that has changed so much since he was incarcerated. La Eme has become a feared criminal organization beyond Folsom, selling drugs and committing murder. Santana begins a romantic relationship with a woman named Julie, but she becomes repulsed by his violent tendencies and by La Eme's negative influence on their community.
After a drug lord refuses to give control of distribution to La Eme, La Eme retaliates by brutally raping and murdering the drug lord's son in prison. In response, the drug lord targets Santana's community by distributing pure heroin to local users. The pure heroin causes mass overdoses, and one of the overdose victims is Julie's brother. Santana visits his mother's grave, where his father reveals that he always resented Montoya because he might have been the son of his mother's rapist.
Santana starts to see the error of his ways. Before he can take action, however, he is sent back to Folsom for drug possession. When J.D. visits, Santana tells him that he is no longer interested in leading La Eme. However, following a precedent set by Santana himself earlier in the film, his men—including Mundo—murder him to show the other prison gangs that La Eme is not weak and will not tolerate departures from its ranks. Santana is fatally stabbed and thrown off a balcony to his death.
Julie receives a letter from Santana thanking her for opening his eyes. The letter contains his necklace of St. Dismas. Julie gives the necklace to Santana's teen brother Paulito, who then inducts a young boy into the street gang, La Primera by having him commit a drive-by shooting.
Janet Maslin writes in The New York Times, "But Mr. Olmos's direction...is dark, slow and solemn, so much so that it diverts energy from the film's fundamental frankness. Violent as it is, American Me is seldom dramatic enough to bring its material to life." Maslin, Janet. The New York Times, film review, March 13, 1992.
Marjorie Baumgarten, a film critic for The Austin Chronicle, wrote, " American Me is crafted with heart and conviction and intelligence. It demands no less of its audience. It insists that there are no quick fixes, but that solutions are of the utmost urgency."
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 73% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66% based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Actor Danny Trejo said in an interview that he was aware of 10 people having been murdered for their involvement with the film. The first killing occurred 12 days after the film's premiere when one of the film's consultants, Charles "Charlie Brown" Manriquez, a member of La Eme, was killed in Ramona Gardens, L.A.'s oldest public housing project.
Another consultant to the film, 49-year-old grandmother Ana Lizarraga, commonly known as "The Gang Lady", was murdered when she was gunned down in her East Los Angeles driveway while loading luggage into her car the day of her mother's funeral. A federal indictment accused La Eme of ordering the 1992 murder of Lizarraga. Associated Press, October 24, 1996. Lizarraga was a former gang member who was, by the time she was killed, an anti-gang counselor. She played a grandmother in the film. Her murder occurred eight months after American Me was completed.
The original soundtrack was released on April 28, 1992, by Virgin Records.
The CD contains ten tracks and includes songs performed by various artists including: Los Lobos, Santana, Ike & Tina Turner, Bobby Day, Kid Frost, War, and other performers.
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