Navajeros

Director - Eloy de la Iglesia (El Pico, The Cannibal Man)

Starring - Jose Luis Manzano (El Pico, El Pico 2), Isela Vega (Conan the Adventurer, The Bloody Monks), and Veronica Castro (Tell Me When, The House of Flowers)

Release Date - 1980

Genre - Crime/Thriller/Drama

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I didn't know what was awaiting me when Severin sent the Eloy de la Iglesia Quinqui Collection but from the moment I tossed in El Pico I was hooked.  El Pico and it's sequel are two of the most riveting and compelling films I have ever seen.  I can't imagine finding two films that hook me like these two films.  However, my quinqui experience was not over yet.  I still had the 1980 film Navajeros left to dig into to.  

     The film follows El Jaro (Manzano) who is the leader of a group of deliquents that steal, assault, and do drugs.  El Jaro's mother left several years prior and his life has been a fight ever since.  He meets the older prostitute Mercedes who tries to help him but he soon falls in love with the beautiful but drug addicted Toni whose introduction spirals El Jaro's life out of control.

     Navajeros is a fantastic film but it's not on the same level as El Pico and it's sequel.  This is one of Iglesia's first film in Quinqui and one of the first films to be credited in the sub-genre but you can see how much he has grown as a filmmaker focusing on the young in Madrid between this film and his 1983 classic El Pico.  The acting in this one is just as great as any of the other films of Iglesia.  He is a fantastic director and you can tell he works very closely with his cast in order to achieve the performances he is looking for.  Manzano, may he find peace, is fantastic once again as a young man looking to make his mark on the world while struggling with living in horrible conditions among the civil unrest in Madrid.  The supporting cast is just as dedicated but the character of El Jaro is the one that stands out and carries the film for me.  The story for this one is a deep look into the underprivileged life of the younger generations in Madrid in the late 70s and early 80s but it doesn't deliver that extremely emotional connection with the characters like El Pico but it's still a dramatic look at how another country was struggling then and how the youth was adapting to it.  Its wild at times but others is filled with heavy dialogue that seems to be going nowhere.  Finally, don't expect a bloody film but there is some violence and some nudity.  Overall, Navajeros is a wild ride that has heart but doesn't have the story that pulls you in like some of the other quinqui.  It's fun but the weaker of the three films in the set.