La Bamba (film)
| La Bamba | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Luis Valdez |
| Produced by | Bill Borden Taylor Hackford |
| Written by | Luis Valdez |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
Los Lobos Miles Goodman Carlos Santana |
| Cinematography | Adam Greenberg |
| Edited by | Sheldon Kahn Don Brochu |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,500,000 |
| Box office | $54,215,416 |
| La Bamba Soundtrack | |
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Cover
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| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | June 30, 1987 |
| Genre | Rock and roll, rockabilly |
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical film written and directed by Luis Valdez that follows the life and career of Chicano rock 'n' roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck, and Joe Pantoliano. The film depicts the effect Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig and the rest of his family.
Richard Steven Valenzuela (Phillips) is a normal teenage boy who becomes a rock 'n' roll superstar under the stage name Ritchie Valens. He meets and falls in love with fellow high school student Donna Ludwig (von Zerneck), for whom he wrote a song that became a number two hit ("Donna"). However, Donna's father is shown as having issues with his daughter dating a Mexican-American, which causes friction between Ritchie and Donna. The movie also has several subplots, such as his relationship with his mother Connie Valenzuela (DeSoto) and half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales), and the jealousy Bob felt toward Ritchie's success.
In one scene, Bob wins an important art contest that helps promising cartoonists, only to throw away his prize because, in his mind, his mother does not seem to care enough. Bob resorts to drinking heavily and, at one point, leads him to yelling in a drunken rage in front of his mother's door, "I want to see my daughter!" in reference to the child he sired with Ritchie's first girlfriend Rosie (Peña).
However, when they get an opportunity, Ritchie and Bob sneak out for a good time. On one occasion, they take a road trip to Tijuana, visiting one of the local clubs where Ritchie discovers the song that would eventually become his signature song, "La Bamba". Unlike the portrayal in the movie, the outing to Tijuana was actually a family trip.
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Wikipedia