Sick Product of a Sick System

How sad is this?

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

A group of friends and delinquents led by El Jaro (Jose Luis Manzano) forced into street hustling and ever-expanding life of crime ; El Jaro lives and makes love with a mature woman (Isela Vega) but he then impregnates the sister named Toñi (Veronica Castro) of one of them . When the Marques (Quique San Francisco) rapes El Jaro the inseparable friends seek revenge . One day when Toñi announces him she's pregnant, Jaro decides that she doesn't abort . So, they'll have to gather some money and in order to do anything that's necessary . When Toñi becomes pregnant the boys embark on a series of armed robberies to raise the money that they will need to take care of the situation. As problem follows upon problem it seems that it will cost them much more than just money . Meanwhile , a journalist (Jose Sacristan) is investigating El Jaro's criminal life . ¨Navajeros¨ is one of several movies which Eloy De La Iglesia deals with youth delinquency in Spain, in the early 80's along with "Colegas" ,"El Pico", "El Pico 2" and later ¨La Estanquera De Vallecas ¨ , among others. His style is pretty much urban and realistic as well in the atmosphere as in the dialogue . A great look at teenage life and friendship in the margined side let the flick flow efficiently and being realized in ¨ Jose Antonio De La Loma's Perros Callejeros¨ style . In Navajeros we watch the day-by-day of a group of adolescents committing violent crimes . We see their troubles growing in such a low-class "barrio" from Madrid outskirts . De la Iglesia shows the ugliness of those "barrios" , toughness and cold existence . The screenplay is such strong and disagreeable events , including violent scenes , though also with some ingenuousness , but in 1980, a few years after General Franco died it wasn't naive at all. Jose Luis Manzano plays his part to the hilt , unafraid of Eloy De Iglesia's unsympathetic camera and the viciousness of his character . Good casting with usual Spanish secondaries as Jose Manuel Cervino , Enrique San Francisco , Alfredo Lucchetti, Maria Martin , among others . Passable photography with juicy atmosphere by Antonio Cuevas, but unfortunately turns too much murky in some video print , being necessary a a correct remastering . Musical score includes songs by that time such as the successful Los Chichos .The motion picture is professionally directed by Eloy De La Iglesia , a good Spanish movies director. He began working in cinema in 1966, though he became notorious in the years of the Spanish transition to democracy with provoking and polemic films as ¨El Pico 1 and 2¨ , ¨El Diputado¨, ¨The priest , ¨Clockwork terror¨ , ¨La Otra Alcoba¨ , ¨El Techo de Cristal¨, ¨La Semana Del Asesino¨ , and after ¨Bulgarian lovers¨ and many others . Drugs, delinquency, terrorism and generational problems are the habitual subjects in his films , and specially dedicated to the underworld of heroin ; as well as the gay world . With the passing of time hasn't had no mercy with most of Eloy's movies, but there they are : they represent a time and a way of life in the history of Spain ; and now they may seem a little bit naive . As Eloy De La Iglesia chose young and natural actors Jose Luis Manzano , Pirri, or San Francisco were the usual ones . Rating : 5,5 , Acceptable and passable.

Veronica Castro was probably very happy to go to Spain to make this movie, but her role is shadowed by the intense and tormented affair between another intense actress Isela Vega and the male leading "El Jaro". The movie doesn't have much of a plot. But is a good vehicle to show sex, drugs and nudity every time possible. Maybe that's why Ms Vega agreed to do it, because there was a time where she was naked in everything she appeared. Required by the script or not. The director, Eloy de la Iglesia, had his own story, because is well known that he would go looking for street kids to make starts out of them. After this movie, where Manzano ''el jaro'' debuted, more in the same style followed, including COLEGAS, where two kids of the late Lola Flores also starred. Manzano was a troublemaker in real life (just like in his movies) and that was what lost him, because getting in and out of jail often, is not a good sign.

Maybe De La Iglesia was not the best director of his generation, he wasn't neither the most technical nor the most elegant , but he dared to portray a certain time in the history of Spain that was not easy at all. Heroin, small time thieves, delinquency...Time has had no mercy with movies such as "Navajeros", everything looks out of date, but it's a nice document of the situation of this country. Now everybody thinks that Spain is so modern and so free, but the story that De La Iglesia told in this movie occurred less than 30 years ago...*My rate: 6/10---------------------- ------------------------ -------------------------

Amazing film, which can combine a thrilling story with an incredibly accurate social picture of life in Madrid in the 1970's, along with an intelligent insight of the socially marginated, as "Jaro" is represented to be. Great dialogue parts and unforgettable characters as "Jaro", "el nene", or "el Marqués". No one should miss it.