Quinquis on the Loose

We will start the chapter with a little detour, but we will do it “deprisa, deprisa”: Quinqui cinema had its splendor at the end of the seventies and the beginning of the eighties of the last century, although if you pay attention and dive deeper, there is more than just an antecedent of the genre in our cinematography throughout the fifties (Los golfos, by Carlos Saura, in 1959) and sixties (Los atracadores, by Francisco Rovira Beleta, in 1962). Then came his most prolific time, in which the films of José Antonio de la Loma opened fire: the foundational Perros callejeros (1977), its continuations and, already in the mid-eighties, Yo, el Vaquilla(1985) and Perras Callejeras (1985). Gil Carretero contributed with Chocolate (1980), a remarkable drug-pusher film that would have its comic reinterpretation eight years later in Fernando Colomo's Bajarse al moro (1988) (Going Down in Morocco), the film version of José Luis Alonso de Santo's successful theater play. For his part, Eloy de la Iglesia would become the most prominent of the group, because in addition to abounding in the themes of marginality, he is also a talented filmmaker. In little more than five years, Navajeros (1980) and Colegas (1982) would premiere, with Antonio and Rosario Flores adding race to the cast, El pico (1983), El pico 2 (1984) and La estanquera de Vallecas (1987), one of the few incursions of pure comedy into the genre. The most measured and introspective contribution to the genre is in charge of Montxo Armendáriz with 27 horas (1986), which practically becomes his particular swan song or, to be more in agreement with the genre, ugly duckling song.

From that moment, the decline came. But its themes and mannerisms will constantly appear in subsequent cinema. Apart from the aforementioned Bajarse al moro, it is easy to follow the trail to quinquis of different colors in films such as Días contados (1994) (Numbered Days) by Imanol Uribe, Cachito (1996) by78 Enrique Urbizu or Fugitivas (2000) by Miguel Hermoso. One can recognize their genes in the kamikazes of Salto al vacío (1995) by Daniel Calparsoro, the preppy ones from Historias del Kronen(1995) (Stories from the Kronen) by Montxo Armendáriz and the hustlers of Éxtasis (1995) by Mariano Barroso.