El patrullero (1991)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alex Cox

Writer:

Lorenzo O'Brien (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 December 1991 (Mexico)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

An episodic look at a young man's life in Mexico's national highway patrol. We follow Pedro Rojas from...

Plot Keywords:

Mexico | Drugs | Surrealism | Police | Desert

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Roberto Sosa	...	Pedro
Bruno Bichir	...	Anibal
Vanessa Bauche	...	Maribel
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez	...	Griselda
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Sargento Barreras
Malena Doria	...	Abuela
Towi Islas	...	Emilio
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Comandante Navarro
Mike Moroff	...	Comandante Sanchez
Jorge Russek	...	Sr. Mateos
Ana Bertha Espín	...	Sra. Sánchez
Eduardo López Rojas	...	Sr. Rojas
Maricruz Nájera	...	Sra. Rojas
Adyari Cházaro	...	Isabel (as Adjari Cházaro)
Carlos Álvarez	...	Luis
Karl Braun	...	Gringo #1
Alex Cox	...	Gringo #2
Ron Stoliar	...	Gringo #3
Guillermo Ríos	...	Teniente Perez
Arturo Farfán	...	Camionero
Damián Alcázar	...	Sospechoso #1
Alejandro Bracho	...	Sospechoso #2
Gabriel Pingarrón	...	Ayudante de Estacion
Jorge Fegán	...	Chofer Exploradores
René Pereyra	...	Mecanico #1
Mauricio Rubi	...	Conductor Ebrio
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Guardian (as Gerardo Zepeda 'Chiquilin')
Sergio Calderón	...	Pasajero Simon
Moisés Iván	...	Hijo del Gobernador
Alonso Echánove	...	Doctor Bolaños
Magda Rodríguez	...	Bellisima Mujer
Regino Herrera	...	Cantinero Viejo
Gerardo Moscoso	...	Gobernador
Claudia Becker	...	Madre Consuelo
Dolores Heredia	...	Despachadora de Radio
Victorino Porcayo	...	Operador
Ana Rittner	...	Reportera

Directed by
Alex Cox

Writing credits
Lorenzo O'Brien		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jean-Michel Lacor	....	co-producer (as Jean Michel Lacor)
Sammy O. Masada	....	executive producer
Kuniaki Negishi	....	executive producer
Lorenzo O'Brien	....	producer
Brant Reiter	....	associate producer
Naoki Tachikawa	....	co-executive producer

Cinematography by
Miguel Garzón

Film Editing by
Carlos Puente

Casting by
Claudia Becker
Miguel Sandoval

Production Design by
Cecilia Montiel

Art Direction by
Omero Espinoza		(as Homero Espinoza)
Bryce Perrin

Set Decoration by
Brigitte Broch

Costume Design by
Manuela Loaeza

Makeup Department
María Eugenia Luna	....	makeup artist
María de los Ángeles Rico	....	makeup artist (as Maria de Los Angeles Rico)

Production Management
Alejandra Liceaga	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Javier Durán	....	first assistant director: STIC (as Javier Duran Escalona)
Joaquin Silva	....	second assistant director
René Villarreal	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Adriana Aimo	....	art department assistant
Manuel Barrera Oliver	....	construction (as Manuel Barrera)
Ana Barreto	....	painter: El Oasis mural
Arturo Baston	....	art department assistant
Hernandez Fernando	....	scenic artist
Angélica García	....	art department assistant (as Angelica Garcia)
Ignacio Guzmán	....	art department assistant (as Ignacio Guzman)
Celso Peña	....	props (as Celso Peña Vilchis)
Jorge Rodríguez	....	assistant props (as Jorge Rodriguez)
Ivan Romero	....	art department assistant
Eligio Trujillo	....	scenic artist
Roberto Valdenegro	....	art department assistant

Sound Department
Shimon Alkeslasy	....	sound apprentice
Peter Brancaccio	....	sound editor
Betty Burkhart	....	sound editor
Dane A. Davis	....	sound effects supervisor
Salvador Enríquez	....	boom operator (as Salvador Enrique Bautista)
Gonzalo Gavira	....	sound effects
Tommy Goodwin	....	adr mixer
Zigmund Gron	....	sound editor
Stanley Kastner	....	re-recording engineer
Kini Kay	....	sound editor
David Mullen	....	sound apprentice
Roberto Muñoz	....	sound engineer
Bruce Murphy	....	stereo engineer
Stewart Nelson	....	sound editor
Mark Ormandy	....	assistant sound
Carlos Puente	....	sound supervisor
Charles W. Ritter	....	sound editor (as Charles Ritter)
Christopher Sheldon	....	sound effects supervisor
Greg Steele	....	re-recording engineer
Todd Toon	....	sound editor
Daniel W. Victor Jr.	....	stereo engineer
Lisa K. Wolf	....	assistant sound

Special Effects by
Alfredo Antonio	....	special effects assistant
Alejandro Castillo Barros	....	special effects assistant (as Alejandro Castillo)
Federico Farfán	....	special effects (as Federico Farfan)

Stunts
Alejandro de la Peña	....	stunt double
Noel León	....	stunt double (as Noel Leon)
Sammy Ortiz	....	stunt double
Russell Towery	....	stunts: Robocop footage (archive footage)

Camera and Electrical Department
Elfego Alaniz	....	electrician (as Elfego Alaniz Duran)
Eika Aoshima	....	still photographer
Francisco Sanchez Ayala	....	grip
Alex Cox	....	still photographer
Javier Enríquez	....	lighting technician (as Javier Enrique Bautista)
Carlos García	....	electrician
Miguel Garzon Jr.	....	second assistant camera
Aristeo Hernández	....	assistant camera
Felipe Morales	....	grip
Jesús Rodríguez	....	chief grip (as Jesus Rodriguez)
Jorge Russek	....	still photographer
Miguel Urbina	....	first assistant camera
Shoji Usui	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tolita Figueroa	....	costume designer: uniforms
Cristina Salgado	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Ruben Guerrero	....	color timer
Edgar Pavon	....	first assistant editor
Alain J. Romi	....	second assistant editor (as Alain Romi)

Music Department
Killer D.	....	musician: drums and vocals
Philip Miller	....	composer: theme "Noticiero del Norte"
Carlo Nuccio	....	music engineer
Matt Tecu	....	musician: drums

Transportation Department
Victor Manuel Doniz	....	transportation
Terry Fernández	....	transportation coordinator
Ruben Lugo	....	transportation
Carlos Ponce	....	transportation
Rafael Rodríguez	....	transportation (as Rafael Rodriguez)
Eulogio Sanchez	....	transportation
Rogelio Sanchez	....	transportation
José Luis Sierra	....	transportation (as Jose Luis Sierra)
Ricardo Gallarzo Jr.	....	transportation captain (uncredited)
'Chico' Hernandez	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Dionisio Bolaños	....	crew
Pablo Buelna	....	location manager
Mariano Carranco	....	production assistant
Luis Carrillo	....	insurance
Maury Carvajal	....	continuity (as Maury Carvajal Santillan)
Abel Casillas	....	delegate: ANDA
Alida Castellán	....	accountant (as Alida Castelan)
Juan Chavez	....	caterer
Isabel Cilvetti	....	accountant
Tomas Tapia Cruz	....	crew
Juan Cuellar	....	caterer
Todd Darling	....	video coordinator
Robert Dawson	....	title designer
Debbie Diaz	....	production coordinator: Los Angeles
Lourdes Fuentes	....	caterer
Madeleine Gavin	....	assistant to writer
Isaac Pineda Gonzalez	....	production assistant
Jose Ruben Gonzalez	....	crew
Virginia Hardy	....	production coordinator
Narciso Hernandez	....	caterer
Sonia Madrudo	....	translator
Juan Maldonado	....	caterer
Rene Maruri	....	extras coordinator
Angel Mendoza	....	crew
Sandra Montiel	....	apprentice
Gerardo Moscoso	....	medic
Catherine Nancey	....	location manager
Lourdes Perez Nido	....	production auditor (as Lourdes Perez)
Miguel A. Quintanar	....	crew
Jose Ramirez	....	caterer
Ruben Rodarte	....	mechanic
Jacobus Rose	....	production executive
Yukiko Sakamura	....	production coordinator: Los Angeles
Amalia Sanchez	....	caterer
Irene Schonwit	....	apprentice
Jaime Trejo	....	crew
Fernando Vazquez	....	crew

Thanks
Jon Davison	....	thanks
Fox Harris	....	in memory of
Antonio Hernandez	....	thanks
Irma Hernandez	....	thanks
Lee Katz	....	thanks
Jean Pierre Lacor	....	thanks
Silva Mayagoitia	....	thanks
Alex O'Brien	....	in memory of
Ira Schreck	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Cable Hogue Co.
• Marubeni
• Together Brothers Productions
• Ultra

Distributors

• First Look International (1993) (USA) (subtitled)
• Haut et Court

Other Companies

• Casa Cuellar  catering
• Completion Bond Co.  completion guarantee
• Consejo Estatal de Cinematografia de Durango  thanks
• Danetracks  sound effects
• Direccion de Cinematografia  thanks
• Estudios América  thanks (as Estudios America)
• NT Audio Visual  optical sound negative (as NT Audio)
• Orion Pictures Corporation  archive footage source: Robocop
• Promocion Deportiva DDF  thanks
• Rollins Entertainment  insurance
• Skywalker Sound  re-recording studios (as Skywalker Sound/THX)
• Sociedad Cooperativa de Producciones Chupadero  thanks (as Cooperativa Chupaderos)
• Tokai Bank of California  thanks
• West Coast Editorial  negative cutting

Also Known As:

Highway Patrolman (International: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA | Mexico | Japan

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Cable Hogue Co.

Movie Connections:

Features RoboCop 2 (1990)

Soundtrack:

Cumbia 410

One of Cox's finest movies - superb character study!

Alex Cox is one of the most original, brave and uncompromising directors to emerge from Britain in the last twenty years. Unfortunately it seems he has to fight tooth and nail to get his movies made, and when he manages to get them released they are virtually ignored. It's a shame that a second rate, audience pleasing hack like Guy Ritchie gets all the attention he does when he doesn't have a TENTH of the talent Cox has!

Ever since Cox's second feature 'Sid And Nancy' his career has been a mess. His follow ups, the controversial political drama 'Walker', and the self indulgent spaghetti western homage 'Straight To Hell', almost killed stone dead any chance of mainstream Hollywood success. After a period in the wilderness he returned with his Mexican made 'Highway Patrolman', and it is his most polished, conventional and artistically successful movie to date. Sadly it hasn't reached a larger audience, though one wonders if Steven Soderbergh is a fan, as sections of his 'Traffic' (the good bits!) bear quite a striking resemblance to Cox's movie.

Everything about 'Highway Patrolman' is superb - the script, the acting (especially Roberto Sosa in the title role of an idealistic young cop who must wrestle with his conscience), the editing and cinematography. The movie lacks Cox's trademark surreal subversiveness, so it is not all that representative of his output, but who cares when the results are as fine as this. An emotionally engaging, well crafted movie that any film maker should be proud to be responsible for. Try and see it!