The bold act of existing produces unforeseen consequences, and one has to choose whether to embrace the cosmic messiness or be crushed under its pressure.
This is the message of the phrase “Life’s a risk, Carnal”. It’s an iconic line from “Blood In Blood Out”, a 1993 film about three young Chicano family members struggling to navigate life in East Los Angeles. It succinctly captures the movie’s ethos and is often quoted by those visiting Cinco Puntos or “El Pino”, two Eastside landmarks featured in “Blood in Blood Out”.
Thirty-one years after its release, passionate fans got the chance to recite this line and many other quotables at a free screening of the cult classic held Jan. 20 at Cal State LA’s Luckman Theater.
The screening marked the release of a new book —also titled “Blood in Blood Out”— written by the director Taylor Hackford, screenwriter and poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, set photographer Merrick Morton, and artist Adan Hernández. The limited edition book features Hackford’s production journal, artwork by Hernández, and previously unreleased set photos by Morton. Baca recited some of his poems before the screening.
Before the movie started, Hackford shared some words of appreciation to the packed house for celebrating the occasion in East LA, not the Westside. “This film is all about East Los, we have to be there,” Hackford said.
Many cast and crew members also attended the event alongside friends and family. Actor and entrepreneur Danny Trejo, who plays La Onda member Geronimo, could be spotted at the opening reception happily posing for photos with fans.
Damian Chapa, who portrays the film’s central character Miklo, could not attend the event due to a scheduling conflict, but shared his thoughts on this moment via a recorded video message.
“I’m very sorry I couldn’t make the event because I’m filming outside the country but Raza, I know you love the film and Raza, I love you,” Chapa said. “Vatos Locos forever.”
Benjamin Bratt, who plays Paco aka “El Gallo Negro”, graciously spent most of his night talking with the press about the film’s impact on his life. The San Francisco native spoke to Boyle Heights Beat about the bonds he formed with fellow cast members such as Jesse Borrego and Chapa while living on the Eastside.
“We lived together in a house up the hill from Hazard Park with the Geraghty Loma Boys [an East LA Gang], and it was a life-changing experience,” Bratt said. “That was a request from the director and it gave me a chance to interact with the young men who were gang affiliated. Once you got to know them, you realized they were just kids.”
Borrego, who plays the character Cruzito, also reflected on the experience of living on the Eastside while making the film.
“On my days off I got to live in City Terrace with the Vasquez family and mama Vasquez would cook me meals; they became like my family,” Borrego said before the screening. “Being Chicano and being a part of Raza is about family and I got a chance to see it during the filming of this [movie].”
From inception, “Blood in Blood Out” was a risk to even attempt to make. Academy Award-nominated actor Edward James Olmos approached Hackford with a script containing the initial idea for what would become “Blood in Blood Out”. Olmos would direct and Hackford would serve as the project’s producer.
The two ended their professional relationship citing creative differences. Hackford decided to direct the movie himself and eventually connected with Baca, who rewrote the script and incorporated his personal experiences from his time in prison.
Hollywood Pictures, a now-defunct subsidiary of Disney, gave the film a limited run in the U.S. after being displeased with screen tests in Las Vegas, Tucson, and Rochester, N.Y. The movie studio released it under the name “Bound By Honor”, fearing the script’s original title was too violent.
The three-hour crime epic opened to mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box office. It was re-released in video stores under the original title “Blood In Blood Out” and developed a cult following with young Chicanos and Latinos who resonated deeply with the source material.
In an interview with Boyle Heights Beat, Baca reflected on the film’s legacy.
“I see it like Malcolm X’s [trajectory],” Baca said. “First, Malcolm X started as an anathema on the outside of society. Then all of a sudden, people are coming to the church to listen to him. That’s what ‘Blood In Blood Out’ became.”
“It started as ‘that gangster movie about those stupid Mexicans and drug dealers’. Little by little the children, teachers, artists, singers, started saying ‘Blood In Blood Out’ stuff and it became central to society.”
Audience members cheered during the screening when Paco quietly and confidently uttered the line “Life’s a risk, Carnal”; laughter broke out while Vatos Locos attempted to outrun LA Sheriff deputies; the crowd grew silent as Enrique Castillo’s character Montana Segura waited for his daughter to show up for visitation time.
The film’s depiction of life on the Eastside is brutal and unrelenting in its depiction of gang and prison violence. Enrique Castillo, who plays the tough but empathetic gang leader Montana Segura, shared his thoughts on this portrayal of a Mexican-American community.
“It resonates with the Latino public in particular because there weren’t a lot of films about the community at the time,” Castillo said. “This is not the greatest portrayal of the community in terms of the characters but it’s a much more authentic portrayal of the community because of the actors who worked on it.”
Still, it manages to include moments of levity and tenderness such as the Vatos Lacos’ party held in Cruzito’s honor, or the lighthearted reunion of family members Miklo, Cruzito, and Paco.
What “Blood in Blood Out” manages to do best is present how many Latinos use laughter as a coping mechanism for traumatic experiences, as well as showcase the complex sense of family loyalty so many of us harbor.
Movie is an absolute sleeper classic that never stops twisting its plot and fates of three chicanos. A must see!
best of all time