COLEGAS
(PALS)
dir. Eloy de la Iglesia, 1982
99 min. Spain.
In Spanish with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, MAY 6 – 5 PM

In the outskirts of Madrid, two young friends, José and Antonio, played by José Luis Manzano and Antonio Flores, need to come up with money for an abortion when José impregnates Antonio’s sister Rosario, played by Rosario Flores. With no jobs and few prospects, they turn to a life of street hustling and crime, falling deeper into Madrid’s underworld. Director Eloy de la Iglesia’s gritty film grapples with controversial issues of the era, such as teen drug use, homosexuality, abortion and even child trafficking with frankness and guts.

The casting of a real life brother and sister duo, Rosario and Antonio Flores, as on-screen siblings, adds authenticity and weight to the film. As children of the legendary Spanish singer, dancer and actress Lola Flores, the duo could be seen to represent the sons and daughters of a lost generation, coming of age in a period of rapid social and political change, high youth unemployment and rising crime. Antonio Flores, like many of Cine Quinqui’s leading men, including José Luis Manzano himself, would die young and tragically of a drug overdose. The film, which is both sensitive and brutal, is a tribute to the youth of the time, to those who somehow carried on, and to those who fell between the cracks.