Clave Privada (1996)

Armando Hernandez
3 days ago
3 min read

The life of Agustin Torres (Bernabe Melendrez) takes an unexpected turn when his pregnant wife & father are gunned down at the orders of Ernesto Rincon (Emilio Franco)—a local crime boss who wants to take every piece of land around. Agustin tries to get justice on what’s happened to him, but corruption is all around and he then loses his land to Ernesto despite having the money to pay for what he owed.

This then leads to Agustin to turn to a life of crime alongside his estranged brother Carlos (Alejandro Alcondez), his friends from the music group Los Tucanes De Tijuana, and federal agent Valentino (Sergio Goyri) who works alongside them in order to capture their rivals & competitors.

They all communicate by codenames on radio and Agustin’s code is simply “Patron” (Boss).

Clave Privada (translated as "Private Code") is based on a narcocorrido written by Los Tucanes De Tijuana frontman Mario Quintero Lara, and the song has been popular for many years since its release in the mid 1990’s. Naturally, a film adaption had to be made and Baja Films producer Delfino Lopez had gotten the opportunity to do so since he was already acquainted with Los Tucanes & their shared mutuals in Tijuana & Southern California. Sergio Goyri got directing duties & the second lead role since at the time he was still heavily working in films out in Tijuana with Delfino.

The film follows along the corrido pretty fairly since we often do see stuff described in the song come to life on screen, from mentioning the code name to having 2 armed men in the back of the truck ready for combat. The expansion of the corrido/story is decent, but I did feel it had too much drama added and most of it felt flat despite its “seriousness” of it all. I also have to admit the acting isn’t all the best from everyone in the cast, but it seems they were rushing to get this movie done Baja Films style—filming the sequel Clave Nueva back to back. Time for a second or third take? Not at all. Script changes daily? Very much so.

Overrall, I enjoy the heck out of Clave Privada and I consider it a defining title in the Baja Films catalogue. It has a good plot based a favored corrido, features a cast & crew that try their best with the means they have, and has plenty of gun-firing action scenes to keep you attentive. And the music of Los Tucanes De Tijuana is of course heavily featured in the film, in which you’ll hear: “Clave Privada”, “Mis Tres Animales” and even their most famous song “La Chona”.

Watch Clave Privada on Picardia Nacional