Blood In Blood Out is a 1993
crimeCrime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
-
drama filmA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by
Taylor HackfordTaylor Edwin Hackford is an American film director, and the current president of the Directors Guild of America.-Early life:Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Mary , a waitress, and Joseph Hackford...
. It follows the intertwining lives of the three
ChicanoThe terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
relatives, Miklo (
Damian ChapaDamian Robert Chapa is a Mexican-American actor, film director and film producer.Chapa was born in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was briefly married to Natasha Henstridge. Among his earlier notable film roles are one of the leads in Taylor Hackford's Blood In Blood Out and the part of Ken in the film...
), Cruz (
Jesse BorregoJesse Borrego is an American actor. Better knownfor playing Cruz Candelaria in Blood in, Blood out and later guest starring as George King in Dexter. Borrego, a Mexican American, was born in San Antonio, Texas. He considered going into the US Air Force to become a pilot...
) and Paco (
Benjamin BrattBenjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
) from 1972 to the mid 1980s. They start out as members of the street gang
Vatos Locos in
East Los AngelesEast Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, and as dramatic incidents occur, their lives and friendships are forever changed.
Blood in Blood Out was filmed throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of Los Angeles and inside California's
San Quentin State PrisonSan Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
.
Plot
Miklo Velka is a man of Mexican and Anglo ethnicity who, before coming to live with his cousins, attacked his father. Miklo has a Mexican accent however, his Anglo appearance (fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes) from his Anglo-American father has made him less accepted among the people of El Pico Aliso
barrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
, where they have all grown up. It has also earned him the nickname "Milkweed."
On his return from
Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Miklo visits his mother, then goes to stay with his two cousins Paco (Bratt) and Cruz (Borrego). While talking to his cousin Cruz about getting into the gang, his other cousin Paco tells him that he can't because of the way he looks. Miklo then proves himself worthy for the gang when he performs an attack on a rival gang,
Tres Puntos. His assault earns him a
placa, a tattoo as a token of his membership in the
Vatos Locos mate street gang.
However, the
Tres Puntos gang soon takes revenge by brutally attacking Cruz who is a budding artist, and damaging his back for life. When
Vatos Locos learn of the attack, they perform a well-planned counterattack ending dramatically with the murder of the rival gang's leader, "Spider". However, Miklo has been shot by Spider before killing him and while Paco tries to get Miklo to the hospital, he and the other Vatos Locos are being chased by the police. They almost escape from the police, but while flicking them off with the finger, Paco crashes into another car at the El Pino tree, and the other Vatos Locos gangmembers escape before getting arrested, but Miklo and Paco are apprehended by the police and are arrested.
Their three paths diverge: Miklo is sent to San Quentin State Prison for violating his probation, Paco volunteers for military service in the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
as an alternative choice to prison, and Cruz continues his passion for art. He also becomes a
heroin addict due to the recurring back pain. His addiction leads to him being disowned by his family after his 12-year-old brother Juanito dies of an accidental overdose on Cruz's heroin supply. Paco becomes an
L.A.P.D.The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
narcotics detective after leaving the Marine Corps.
While in San Quentin, Miklo finds trouble adapting to prison life as his multiethnic heritage provides him with few allies in a racially-segregated penitentiary. The prison is run by three gangs, all of whom are based on their racial backgrounds. The
Black Guerrilla Army is led by an inmate named Bonafide (
Delroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
), the
Aryan Vanguard is led by an inmate named Red Ryder (
Tom TowlesTom Towles is an American actor.Towles was born and raised in Chicago. He became an actor after a stint in the U.S. Marines, beginning with an uncredited performance in Dog Day Afternoon . He has appeared in film and television extensively since the 1980s...
), and
La Onda is led by Montana (
Enrique CastilloEnrique Castillo is an American actor, writer, director, and producer.- Life and career :Castillo was a founding member of The Latino Theater Company. He co-wrote the company’s plays Stone Wedding and August 29...
). Miklo is brought to meet the head of
La Onda by a fellow inmate, Popeye, who recognizes his gang tattoo from East Los Angeles.
La Onda's members do not initially accept Miklo due to his White appearance, and the Aryan inmates in the meantime are trying to make Miklo into a sex slave. Popeye also tries to rape Miklo at knife-point, but he is saved by Montana. The members of La Onda make it clear that they stopped the rape because they consider Popeye's pimping to be dishonorable, rather than for any compassion for Miklo.
After meeting
La Onda's leader Montana, he is told the only way into
La Onda is killing an enemy inmate, in Miklo's case a white inmate due to their current war and his White appearance. Miklo agrees to do so, and after gaining the trust of gambling lord Big Al. Miklo stabs him to death during a sexual encounter in the prison kitchen and stealing his gambling information from him in the process. The corrections officers are unable to charge Miklo with the crime, as he has threatened to testify against them with information regarding the gambling kickbacks which they had taken from Big Al. Miklo is initiated into
La Onda and is then told by Montana to work on his parole while enacting their orders. Based on Montana's mentoring, Miklo is released on
paroleParole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
.
On the outside, he's disgusted by his menial job on which his supervisor (who has a gambling addiction) is robbing him, so he joins in an armed robbery, where he is intercepted by Paco, now a decorated cop. Refusing to surrender peacefully, Miklo runs away. Paco screams in agony and shoots his cousin in the leg, which later has to be amputated. Returning to prison, Miklo is promoted to the Ruling Council of
La Onda. When back in prison, Miklo notices the cocaine addictions of several inmates and the Aryan's business in the drug trade. The Aryans are attempting to supply the Black and Hispanic inmates with all the cocaine they wish for as a means of having them kill each other while the Aryans run the prison economically. Montana, however, refuses to allow
La Onda to enter the drug trade, saying that the gang's purpose is to protect the
ChicanoThe terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
people.
This causes a rift in
La Onda and Carlos, one of the main members who wants to deal cocaine, leaves the gang to work with the Aryans, doing this causes other members to leave as well. Miklo knows that the Aryans are just using Carlos and when they are done with him they will eventually stop protecting him. Carlos deals drugs for the Aryans murdering a B.G.A. soldier named Pockets and then contacts his brother, Smoky, on the outside who bombs a B.G.A. hangout called
Cheap Times. After all of this happens, Carlos' usefulness has come to an end and the Aryans drop their protection of him allowing the B.G.A. members an opportunity to kill him.
Meanwhile, Montana and Bonafide meet in the prison yard to discuss what has happened and they agree not to go to war because the only people who would benefit are the Aryan Vanguard. So the warden has a talk with Montana and he is sent to Chino and Folsom Prison to talk to the leaders of
La Onda at each of the prisons. On the outside, a hit is put out on Smoky, for his role in the bombing of Cheap Times, but he escapes with his life and he calls Paco and tries to get protection in return for information on
La Onda. As Paco arrives at the church, where he is to meet Smoky, he finds that Smoky is already dead.
While Montana is visiting Folsom and Chino, he leaves Miklo in charge of
La Onda in San Quentin. Montana is granted a special request, and he gets to stay overnight at Delano penetentiary where he can see his daughter. On the morning of the visit, Montana is stabbed to death outside his cell by a member of the
Black Guerilla Army (
B.G.A.). Believing that the Aryans sent forged orders to the hitman, Paco arranges a peace conference between
La Onda and the
B.G.A. However, Miklo,
La Onda's new leader, manipulates the peace talks in order to build an alliance with the
B.G.A., letting Paco believe that the conference has been successful.
Later, as the celebrations for The Day of the Dead explode through East L.A., enforcers for
La Onda and the
B.G.A. sweep through the walls of San Quentin, brutally slaughtering the leaders of the
Aryan Vanguard. After the killings are done, the leader of the
B.G.A. suggests that if they continue their alliance, they can rule San Quentin. Miklo announces a change of plans and his men promptly exterminate the
Black Guerrilla Army as well.
As the mass murder makes headlines, various police officers such as Paco's partner Rollie (
Thomas F. WilsonThomas F. Wilson is an American actor, writer, musician, painter, voice-over artist and stand-up comedian. He is best known for playing Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future trilogy and Coach Ben Fredricks on NBC's Freaks and Geeks.-Early life:Thomas Francis Wilson, Jr. was...
) are pleased with the violence as the death between inmates has caused taxpayers to save money. Paco, however is enraged that his own cousin has played him for a fool and angrily confronts Miklo in the prison visiting room. Miklo responds that he has attained his destiny and found
La RazaIn the Spanish language the term Raza translates to "race". Its meaning varies amongst various Spanish-speaking peoples. For instance, in Spain, "Raza" may denote specifically Spanish and often of a something or someone of a European Christian heritage. The Francoist film Raza, from 1944, which...
. Paco angrily retorts that La Raza has nothing to do with the gangsterism of
La Onda and everything to do with honest Mexicans trying to raise their children in peace. Paco leaves his cousin in disgust, disowning him forever.
The members of
La Onda hold a final gathering after the warden vows to split the council up by using interstate compact where convicted felons from out of state are exchanged for those who are residents of the State of California. Two members of the
La Onda council are from out-of-state (one from Arizona, and another from Texas) and Miklo plans to expand La Onda to other states and other cities with Hispanic communities despite the warden's orders ending their dominance.
Later, Miklo's cellmate, "Magic," gives Miklo the mold which they used to send the forged orders to the
B.G.A. hit man. Miklo sobs in grief over Montana's death, "I loved him!" Magic responds,
We both loved him, but we did what we had to do for La Onda. You were right.
As Miklo destroys the mold, Magic tells
La Onda's new boss,
I give my life to you, Jefe.
Back in East Los Angeles, Paco visits one of Cruz's murals after the family re-accepts him to see a portrait of his former life which none of the gang members have marked with graffiti. In a pep talk with Cruz, Paco realizes that by ordering Miklo to go after Spider, who they were charged with murdering, Paco is responsible for all of the things that have happened to Miklo. This causes Paco to feel guilty for his actions and ultimately forgive Miklo and Cruz.
Cast
| Role | Actor |
| Miklo "Milkweed" Velka |
Damian Chapa Damian Robert Chapa is a Mexican-American actor, film director and film producer.Chapa was born in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was briefly married to Natasha Henstridge. Among his earlier notable film roles are one of the leads in Taylor Hackford's Blood In Blood Out and the part of Ken in the film...
|
| Cruz Candelaria |
Jesse Borrego Jesse Borrego is an American actor. Better knownfor playing Cruz Candelaria in Blood in, Blood out and later guest starring as George King in Dexter. Borrego, a Mexican American, was born in San Antonio, Texas. He considered going into the US Air Force to become a pilot...
|
| Paco Aguilar |
Benjamin Bratt Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
|
| Montana Segura |
Enrique Castillo Enrique Castillo is an American actor, writer, director, and producer.- Life and career :Castillo was a founding member of The Latino Theater Company. He co-wrote the company’s plays Stone Wedding and August 29...
|
| Magic Mike |
Victor Rivers |
| Bonafide |
Delroy LindoDelroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
|
| Red Ryder |
Tom Towles Tom Towles is an American actor.Towles was born and raised in Chicago. He became an actor after a stint in the U.S. Marines, beginning with an uncredited performance in Dog Day Afternoon . He has appeared in film and television extensively since the 1980s...
|
| Wallace |
Theodore Wilson Theodore "Teddy" Wilson was an American character actor best known for his recurring role as Sweet Daddy Williams on the CBS sitcom Good Times.-Career:...
|
| Chuey |
Raymond Cruz Raymond Cruz is a Mexican American actor. He is mostly known for playing military roles. Since 2005 he has been a regular cast member on the TV series The Closer, playing the character Detective Julio Sanchez...
|
| Frankie |
Valente RodriguezValente Rodriguez is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ernesto "Ernie" Cardenas on the sitcom George Lopez. He currently stars as Cesar in the TV Land sitcom Happily Divorced.-Life and career:...
|
| Big Al |
Lanny Flaherty |
| Lightning |
Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
|
| Carlos |
Geoffrey Rivas |
| Spider |
Ray Oriel |
| Geronimo |
Danny TrejoDan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
|
| Clavo |
Gary Tacon |
| Realthing |
Luis ContrerasLuis Contreras was a Hispanic-American character actor. The son of actor Roberto Contreras, his film debut was in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Contreras often played the parts of bums, gang members, police officers, prison inmates, and criminals...
|
| Apache |
Paulo Tocha Paulo Tocha is a martial artist, actor and fight choreographer.-Biography:Tocha was born in Africa, he's Portuguese/Italian and he grew up in Mozambique and Johannesburg, South Africa . He moved to Thailand because he wanted to learn "real" Muay Thai boxing...
|
| Joker |
Eddie Perez |
| Ivan |
Ving Rhames Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
|
| Prison librarian |
Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American actor who has appeared in more than 80 movies during his career. From 1995-1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild . Masur sits on the Corporate Board of the Motion Picture & Television Fund.-Biography:Masur was born in New York City to a...
(uncredited) |
Production
The three prison gangs in the film are fictional creations of screenwriter
Jimmy Santiago BacaJimmy Santiago Baca of Apache and Chicano descent is an American poet and writer.- Life and career :...
and director
Taylor HackfordTaylor Edwin Hackford is an American film director, and the current president of the Directors Guild of America.-Early life:Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Mary , a waitress, and Joseph Hackford...
. However, they were all based on actual prison gangs, with the Aryan Vanguard, Black Guerrila Army and La Onda representing the
Aryan BrotherhoodThe Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
, Black Guerilla Family, and the
Mexican MafiaThe Mexican Mafia , also known as La Eme , 13 is a Mexican American criminal organization, and is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the United States.-Foundation:...
/La Nuestra Familia, respectively.
Actor
Teddy WilsonTheodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
died shortly after filming his scenes in the film.
Artist Adan Hernandez was hired to create the paintings the character of Cruz Candelaria was supposed to have painted. All of the paintings that were used in the film were created by him. The mural in the reservoir seen in the film's climax still stands today, though it has corroded considerably. Hernandez made a cameo appearance in the film as the drug dealer Gilbert in the art gallery scene.
The film was shot in and around
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and
East Los AngelesEast Los Angeles can refer to:* East Los Angeles, California * East Los Angeles...
and inside the walls of
San Quentin State PrisonSan Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
. Several of the then-inmates appear in the film as extras. In addition, several of the prison staff members also appear as others and some facilitated the production of the film by serving as technical advisors. Many members of the staff were given small lines in the film, with the warden giving an extended cameo in a part that is somewhat integral to the plot. In addition, actor
Danny TrejoDan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
, who appears in the film as Geronimo, had served time in San Quentin before deciding to become an actor.
The film was intially entitled "Blood in Blood Out" but was retitled "Bound by Honor" before the film's release. Blood in blood out refers to the initiation ritual of having to kill someone to enter a gang and, on the reverse end, not being able to leave the gang unless killed. This is a common initiation in many gangs, including prison gangs, and is also the motto of La Onda in the film.
Hollywood PicturesHollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures.-History:...
insisted on the name change as the studio felt that it would incite violence in
East Los AngelesEast Los Angeles can refer to:* East Los Angeles, California * East Los Angeles...
. In addition, executives at Hollywood Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney, were cautious about the potential effect the film would have following the 1992 LA Riots and the attribution given to
Boyz N Da HoodBoyz N Da Hood is an American Southern gangsta rap group from Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently signed to Sean Combs's Bad Boy Records. A new album, Back N Da Hood, is planned for release in 2011...
as a partial cause/inspiration of the riots. Director
Taylor HackfordTaylor Edwin Hackford is an American film director, and the current president of the Directors Guild of America.-Early life:Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Mary , a waitress, and Joseph Hackford...
has stated that he was very unhappy with this decision as the film's message was the exact opposite of the one that the studio feared would be transmitted.
There were two soundtracks produced for the film. The first was released by
Hollywood PicturesHollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures.-History:...
and used in the film after its retitling to "Bound by Honor." The second soundtrack was composed by
Bill ContiWilliam "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.-Early life and career:...
and released by Varese Sarabande Records. Conti's soundtrack had been commissioned for the film but was cancelled after the "Blood in Blood Out" title was dropped. Conti's soundtrack is still believed to be in existence, but has never been released.
In addition to prison inmates and staff and artist Hernandez, screenwriter and barrio poet
Jimmy Santiago BacaJimmy Santiago Baca of Apache and Chicano descent is an American poet and writer.- Life and career :...
cameos as a prison inmate and member of the La Onda council.
Remarks
Director Taylor Hackford was asked if there a movie of his that he felt was underrated. He said:
"Blood In Blood Out" (also known as 1993's "Bound by Honor") was an interesting attempt to make an epic ChicanoThe terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
gangster story set in Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In the northeast, the gangster stories are always about Italians, Jews or Irish. The whole process of dealing with Mexican-Americans is the right thing because that's the criminal group that grew out of the L.A. area. Christian Solis wanted me to make it. It's the last film you would expect Disney to make. Sure enough, while I was in post, the L.A. riots happened. When I finished, Michael EisnerMichael Dammann Eisner is an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until 2005.-Early life:...
basically didn't want to release it: "I've got a multi-billion dollar corporation. I don't want to risk opening a film that would create any kind of flashpoint for gang warfare." That was the antithesis of what it was about. I was making a film against that ethosEthos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
. It never got a proper release. Anywhere in the Southwest states of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado, where there's large Latin populations, try to go rent that film. It will always be checked out. It's a favorite in that community, and that pleases me a lot.