American Me
American Me ★★★ 1992 (R)
Violent and brutal depiction of more than 30 years of gang wars and drugs in East Los Angeles. Santana founded a street gang as a teenager, but has spent the last 18 years in prison, where he's the boss of the so-called Mexican Mafia, which oversees the drugs, scams, murders, and violence that are an everyday fact of prison life. Released from Folsom, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood and attempts to distance himself from his old life but finds his gang ties are stronger than any other alliance. Unsparing and desolate directorial debut from Olmos. 119m/C VHS, DVD, HD DVD . Edward James Olmos, William Forsythe, Pepe Serna, Danny De La Paz, Evelina Fernandez, Sal Lopez, Daniel Villarreal, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa; D: Edward James Olmos; W: Floyd Mutrux, Desmond Nakano; C: Reynaldo Villalobos; M: Dennis Lambert.