La Bamba
La Bamba (1987)
Director: Luis Valdez
Starring: Lou Diamond Philips, Esai Morales, Elizabeth Peña and Joe Pantoliano
Neighborhood: Pacoima (San Fernando Valley)
Based on a true story: Yup, which is what makes anyone with tear ducts want to cry when Connie Valenzuela learns of her son’s death in a plane crash. There really was a Ricardo Valuenzuela whose name was later changed to Ritchie Valens to “broaden his appeal.” He lived in Pacoima, California where he taught himself to sing and play guitar. He gained fame while still in his teens, but we all know how that ended. That creepy incident where the planes crash over the playground and kills hi best friend? Yeah, that was real too but Valens was absent that day. He went to his grandfather’s funeral. According to a close listener of the DVD commentary who posted on the discussion board at Ritchie Valens Tribute the following aspects of the film were fictional: Ritchie’s crush on Rosie; trip to Tijuana and visit to the curandero (what a surprise); Ritchie’s tattoo (not a flying guitar, but his initials instead); doing a rock rendition of La Bamba was Ritchie’s idea (Bob Keene, says it was his idea).
Edward James Olmos connection: No Olmos, but there’s definitely a connection. Luis Valdez wrote and directed La Bamba as well as Zoot Suit, which starred Olmos as El Pachuo. Esai Morales and Olmos both starred in Mi Familia.
Main themes: rags-to-riches, fame, family, interracial dating
Memorable quotes:
Richieeeeeee!
And pretty much anything that comes out of Bob’s mouth. I’ll add more after I watch the movie again. I’ve been meaning to do so all week, but haven’t gotten around to it.
Bonus: Joel/DCNatsWin featured La Bamba as part of his Film Vault Tuesday in January 2006 (link). Check out why he loves the movie despite bad acting and cornyness.
It’s been 20 years(!) since I last saw the film. I’ve seen snippets of it when it gets played on TV these days. It’s okay.
Made me think of the film ‘Boulevard Nights’(1979) for some reason. Have you seen that?
I remember seeing that as a kid at the Boulevard Theatre on Whittier Blvd. when it came out. I remember seeing it filmed. It was filmed around the same area where that arch is, between Ford and Arizona, on Whittier Blvd.
Don’t really remember much of the film (I was an 8-year old at the time; I haven’t seen it since), except it had violence and an unhappy ending.
There was a lot of low riders cruising at the time. I kind of found it scary. I was kind of relieved when it was finally shut down.
http://www.amazon.com/Boulevard-Nights-Richard-Yniguez/dp/630103581X
There’s even a Roger Ebert review:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790507/REVIEWS/905070301/1023
(Hope the links work. If not, well, you can always google for it, if interested.)
Oh. That was such a powerful movie to see. I believe I was fifteen at the time. My family came out to see it in masses because it was a big deal. I wrote something on my blog about it last year. My absolute favorite parts of the movie is family. When they are togetherr, singing around the fire, when the women are making tortillas, during christmas when they are having menudo!! WOW, it was awesome to see that, to see a reflection of self up on the screen for the first time. Thanks for posting this.
Oh, and I loooove Esai Morales. He’s still hot!
Ah yes, this brings me back to the good old days when Filipino actors played Latinos instead of Antonio Banderas.
My friends and I have always loved screaming “Richie” at the top of our lungs like at the end of the film. For that reason La Bamba has survived the tests of time for me.
Can you imagine a film like this getting made today? I’m sure it would be directed by Gregory Nava and starring Jennifer Lopez, Antonio Banderas, and Penelope Cruz. And yes, I’m hatin’ on Nava.
I’ve seen this movie so much, since it was not too long ago played-out on day time television in LA.
Everytime I hear Bob scream “Richie!!!” I get shivers down my spine and feel the tears coming.
For better or for worse, this movie also helped Los Lobos gain greater publicity. In fact, if you watch closely, there is a scene in the movie where the band playing “La Bamba” is actually Los Lobos. They are a great band, worth checking out. Though don’t expect them to play anything off the La Bamba soundtrack!
yeah I should have known that the Rosie part wasn’t true… There is no way The Lou could have even entertained the thought of hooking up with Esai’s girl.
I was totally in love with Lou Diamond Philips! Seeing this movie was the highlight of my 12th birthday. Oh the memories!! Lou might have been born in the Philippines but it was on a naval base and he is of Scotch-Irish, Hawaiian, Cherokee, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese descent. Long live the gorgeous mutts! And hoorah for Latino rockers.