Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
by Robert Rodriguez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert RodriguezEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-09-01
ISBN: 0452271878
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
Book Review: A must for those interested in film
Summary: 4 Stars
Being that I am not an avid reader, I cannot say that I have read too many memoirs in my lifetime. In fact, Robert Rodriguez's Rebel Without a Crew is the first memoir to have graced my eyes. Fortunately, I found Rodriguez's novel to be a rather enjoyable read.
The novel follows Rodriguez's journey on how he was able to make his first full-length feature movie and how he successfully became one of Hollywood's most popular filmmakers. More specifically, the first third of the book retells Robert's quest to make his film, El Mariachi under a budget of $8,000. To me, this was the most interesting part of the novel. This is because it shows the reader the day by day process in which Robert manages to film his movie with the limited amount of resources at his disposal. The remaining two-thirds of the novel recount Robert's interactions with Hollywood's representatives. I personally found this potion of the book to be more confusing that interesting. This is because of the overwhelming amount of names and sums of money that Robert is presented by various filming companies. In other words, the portion is less interesting because of how it revolves around the financial aspect of filmmaking rather than the creative side of filming.
One thing that I found unique about Rodriguez's memoir was his style of writing. For example, he writes exclusively in the first person, lacking any dialogue (with a few exceptions) from other characters in the novel. Because of this, there is unnoticeably any character development throughout the course of the novel. Robert's writing also lacks any extravagant details to describing the characters and locations he mentions. While most would consider this lack of character development, descriptive details and dialogue as a poor decision, I actually found that it helps support the novel's its first person narration. Without the detail, dialogue and development of characters Rodriguez is able to keep the focus of the novel strictly on him, exposing the reader to his perspective.
The overall message that Rodriguez's memoir promotes is that people should follow their goals and do what they love, ignoring whatever opposition that they meet. After reading this memoir, I myself was inspired to go out and make my own movies despite my lack of experience in the field. And despite the confusion I experienced while reading the majority of the novel, I still managed to enjoy reading the filmmaker's unique retelling of his winding road to fame. While the book might not be the greatest memoir ever written, it is still an inspiring tale that all people interested in film should read.
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Summary of Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
In Rebel Without a Crew, screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film, El Mariachi, on a shoestring budget. This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the dreams and determination to see it through.Entertainers Books
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