Not only is Mi Vida Loca (1993) unusual in focusing on young Chicanas, but in that it has an episodic structure with multiple narrators. Indeed, it is divide into three chapters: "Sad Girls Y-Que,' "Don't Let No One Get You Down," and "Sauvecito." The movie follows a group of cholas, their families, and friends in Echo Park in Los Angeles. The cholas refer to themselves and each other almost exclusively by their gang names. Among the central characters in Mi Vida Loca (1993) are Sad Girl (Angel Aviles) and Mousie (Seidy López). They were best friends since childhood, but find themselves in conflict after each has a child by the same person (Ernesto, played by Jacob Vargas). Another plot line involves Ernesto's highly customized truck, Sauvecito, which older cholo El Duran (Jesse Borrego) claims he was promised. A third plot line involves Sad Girl's sister, Alicia (nicknamed "La Blue Eyes," played by Magali Alvarado), who is not a chola, but a college girl. She begins a correspondence with a prison inmate after reading one of his poems in Teen Angels magazine. Here I have to point out that there are other plots as well in the film. In his review upon the release of the film, Roger Ebert described the storytelling as "anecdotal," and it is a very accurate description.
Mi Vida Loca (1993) was written and directed by Allison Anders, who had earlier written the film Gas Food Lodging (1992). Her inspiration for Mi Vida Loca (1993) emerged after she moved to Echo Park in Los Angeles in 1986. There she became acquainted with members of the chola gang the Echo Park Locas. In an interview with Bomb magazine, Ms. Anders said, " I set out to humanize, not colonize a subculture of working class people, and the voice-over became my tool for imagining the inner life of these feared and stigmatized kids." To ensure the film's authenticity, Allison Anders consulted with actual gang members. In an interview with Screen Slate, she said that they "... read and approved every single draft of the script." She further said, "They were involved and paid and credited in every single department in post and production."It was at the 1992 Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab that Allison Anders developed the screenplay for Mi Vida Loca.
Further adding to the authenticity of Mi Vida Loca is the fact that actual gang members were included in the cast of the film. For the most part they were cast in minor roles, although an exception was Nélida López. Nélida López more or less played herself in the film, using her actual gang name, "Whisper (which she was given because of her soft voice)." She even provided her own costume and id her own hair, although she did dye it blonde particularly for the film. One of the gang members who took part in making of the film, Nica Rogers, died of a drug overdose a few months after the film finished shooting. She left behind a son, whom Alison Anderson eventually adopted. The film was dedicated to Nica Rogers's memory.
Beyond actual gang members, the cast of Mi Vida Loca (1993) was largely made of unknown actors who were just starting out. Some of them would go onto even greater fame. It was also in 1993 that Jesse Borego, who played El Duran, starred in Blood In Blood Out. Danny Trejo, who was also in Blood In Blood Out, appeared in a small role in Mi Vida Loca (1993). Jason Lee made a brief appearance in the film as a white, teenage drug customer. Mi Vida Loca marked the film debut of Salma Hayek, who appears briefly as one of El Duran's girlfriends. As to star Seidy López, she went onto appear in Mi Familia (1995), Selena (1997), the TV series American Family, and the TV series Selena: The Series. Bertila Damas, who played Giggles's (Marlo Marron) friend Rachel, was already well established in her career. She had played the villainous Marta in the telenovela Angélica, Mi Vida and appeared in the TV series The Golden Palace. She has since appeared in everything from two Star Trek series to Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Shooting on Mi Vida Loca (1993) began in late May of 1992. It was completed in early July 1992. It was shot on location in Echo Park, and the film serves as a document of the neighbourhood as it was in 1992. According to Allison Anders in the aforementioned interview with Screen Slate, the art department rented set dressing from people in the neighbourhood and even rented homes from people in Echo Park. The wardrobe for the women in the film came from the Woolworth's on Sunset Boulevard that the real life cholas in Echo Park actually shopped.
Mi Vida Loca (1993) premiered at the Directors Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival on May 21 1993. It would be re-cut a good deal after being screened at Cannes. It would later be screened at Mercato Internazionale Del Film e del Documenatrio in October 1993 the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 1993, the Sundance Film Festival in January 1994, and the San Francisco International Film Festival in April. It was released in the United States on July 15 1994.
For the most part Mi Vida Loca (1993) received positive reviews from critics, even if they were not necessarily overly glowing. Emmanuel Levy gave the movie a good review, although he thought it lacked "... a discernible point of view." Roger Ebert gave Mi Vida Loca (1993) three out of four stars, but wrote of the movie, "The storytelling is not very well organized; the movie is more anecdotal than involving." Owen McNally in The Hartford Courant enjoyed the film, beginning his review with "Three cheers for writer-director Allison Anders for her portrait of young Latino women, struggling to carve out lives and identities all their own in the though, colorful Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park in Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life). In sharp contrast was Todd McCarthy's overly negative review in Variety, in which he complained of the movie,"Unfortunately, the little vignettes Anders has developed of life in Echo Park never coalesce into a proper structure or even a vivid fresco of a community."
Mi Vida Loca (1993) made $3,267,313 worldwide. While that might not sound like much, it was a good amount given the film was made on a shoestring budget. Mi Vida Loca (1993) aired on HBO and Cinemax following its theatrical run. It was released on home video on February 21 1995. It was released on DVD on September 6 2005. Strangely enough, Mi Vida Loca (1993) is not available on streaming beyond copies that have been uploaded to YouTube. In some respects this is not unusual given Blood In Blood Out (1993) did not become available on streaming until last year. In other respects, it is unusual given Stand and Deliver (1988), American Me (1992), Mi Familia (1995), and other classic Chicano movies are available on streaming. Regina Luz Jordan, founder of Hollhywoodland News, has begun a campaign to return Mi Vida Loca (1993) to streaming services. She notes in her post on Hollywood News about the campaign, "It was one of the first films to center the stories of young Latina women in Los Angeles, portraying their struggles and triumphs in a way that was authentic and unapologetic."
Mi Vida Loca (1993) was certainly a historic and groundbreaking film. It was one of the first movies to focus on cholas. Prior movies dealing with Chicano gang culture, such as American Me (1992) and Blood In Blood Out (1993), had centered exclusively on males. And while earlier movies focused primarily on gang activity, Mi Vida Loca deals primarily with the everyday lives of its characters. And for the most part it avoided common Chicano stereotypes. The film ultimately resonated with many young women growing up in neighbourhoods like Echo Park in the 1990s. The cultural impact of Mi Vida Loca (1993) is still being felt over thirty years after its release.
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