NAVAJEROS

“Quinqui,” short for “quincallero” (delinquent) and pronounced “kinky,” was a subgenre of brutal juvenile delinquent dramas produced in Spain during the 1980s. The highlight of this movement was a trilogy of controversial and tragic films from Basque writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia (CANNIBAL MAN): NAVAJEROS, EL PICO, and EL PICO 2. José Luis Manzano—the charismatic street kid discovered by de la Iglesia—stars in this graphic neorealist trilogy that depicts the crime, violence, and drug abuse that ravaged the post-Franco nation, and led to the filmmaker and actor’s real-life addictions to heroin (and each other) that would ultimately destroy them both. In this first entry, Jose Manuel Gomez Perales lives alone in Madrid, with no other company than his band and his “girlfriends.” One day, he meets a prostitute named Mercedes. She falls for Jose and hopes to rehabilitate him.