| Drug Wars: The Camarena Story | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Crime drama Biographical |
| Based on | Desperados byElaine Shannon |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Brian Gibson |
| Starring | Steven Bauer Miguel Ferrer Benicio del Toro Treat Williams Craig T. Nelson Raymond J. Barry |
| Music by | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Michael Mann Richard Brams |
| Producer | Branko Lustig |
| Production location | Spain |
| Cinematography | Sandi Sissel |
| Editors | Kevin Krasny Skip Schoolnik |
| Running time | 240 minutes |
| Production companies | World International Network ZZY Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | January 7 (1990-01-07) – January 9, 1990 (1990-01-09) |
Drug Wars: The Camarena Story is a 1990 Americancrime dramatelevision miniseries based on the life ofEnrique 'Kiki' Camarena, an undercoverDEA who was abducted and killed by theGuadalajara Cartel in 1985. The series is directed byBrian Gibson and starsSteven Bauer in the titular role andBenicio del Toro as cartel leaderRafael Caro Quintero, alongsideElizabeth Peña,Miguel Ferrer,Treat Williams andCraig T. Nelson. The teleplay is based onElaine Shannon’s non-fiction bookDesperados and theTime magazine article of the same name. FilmmakerMichael Mann served as an executive producer, as well as co-writing one of the episodes.
The series originally aired in three installments onNBC, on January 7–9, 1990. It was the second most watchedNBC mini-series of the year followingThe Kennedys, and was generally well-received by critics. It wonOutstanding Miniseries at the42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, and Steven Bauer was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. A follow-up television film,Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel, aired in 1992.
Fact-based story of undercoverDEA agentEnrique Camarena who, while stationed inGuadalajara, uncovered a massive marijuana operation in Northern Mexico that led to his death and a remarkable investigation of corruption within the Mexican government.
Concerns over the series' subject matter discouraged shooting on-location inMexico, so filming took place mainly inSpain.
In his review forThe New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote, "Perhaps not surprisingly, these amoral entrepreneurs provide some of the film's juicier roles. Especially effective is Benicio del Toro as the young, illiterate and flaky Rafael Caro-Quintero".[1] In his review forUSA Today, Matt Roush wrote, "For a Michael Mann production, there's surprisingly little flash toDrug Wars. Some interesting camera work to be sure, including the video bits and some heightened use of slow motion, but the miniseries' chief strength is its grit, its anger".[2] Craig MacInnis, in his review for theToronto Star, wrote, "Interspersed with U.S. network news footage of the real Camarena incident in '85, the dramatic scenes inDrug Wars are never anything less than convincing - just as good propaganda should be".[3]
At the42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, the series won the award forOutstanding Miniseries, and was nominated forOutstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special.
Steven Bauer was nominated forBest Actor – Miniseries or Television Film at the48th Golden Globe Awards.
All three parts originally ran for four hours. TheDVD release features a heavily edited version that runs only 130 minutes.
At least four of the principal actors inDrug Wars: The Camarena Story later starred in theAcademy Award-winning filmTraffic, a film that also deals with the subject of the ongoing drug trade between the United States and Mexico. In a somewhat interesting reversal of roles, inDrug Wars actors Miguel Ferrer and Steven Bauer both play DEA agents while Benicio del Toro and Eddie Velez play drug traffickers; inTraffic, Ferrer and Bauer both play drug traffickers, while del Toro and Velez play a Mexican federal narcotics agent and a DEA agent.
