There are countless films that deal with the subject of juvenile delinquency, enough to be it's own genre; "JD movies." None of them reached the raw, brutal and dramatic heights that "Perros Callejeros" achieved, by choosing to use genuine young criminals as opposed to actors, giving the film a disturbing sense of realism. Young Angel Fernandez was famous within Spain, for his criminal exploits, which included purse snatchings. bank robbery and shootings. He is basically playing himself here, using his nickname El Torete, which is the name that he was mostly known. Those who preached against the movie "Natural Born Killers" for glorifying criminals, would likely be repelled at the idea of making "movie stars" out of actual criminals, which is precisely what this movie does. But this is exactly what makes it such a powerful piece of film making. The tale centers around El torrete and his buddies, a crew of ragged kids as crazy and as fearless as himself. And even though the kids are so cold blooded and ruthless, there is something admirable about their strength and fearlessness. El Torrete serves time in a youth prison that can't manage to hold him for long. and after he escapes, he even manages to return to the same facility to bust out his crew! Car theft is their specialty, and El Torrete's best friend, Fitipaldi, is a master driver who manages to escape police continually in a series of exciting car chases. The crazy Fitipaldi has more charisma than Warren Beatty had in "Bonnie and Clyde," and his friendship with El Torrete is at the center of the movie. As the kids get more desperate, their crimes become increasingly more violent, and more risky. And unlike similar films of this genre, there is no happy ending here, for any of the kids. In fact the ending of this one is gut wrenching and shocking; you have never seen anything quite like it. "Perros Callejeros" has a sleek, cold and almost documentary style. Taking place in Barcelona Spain, but it's filmed in the winter, which gives everything a look of washed out despair..this truly is a bleak film. Sadly no English subtitles exist for this exceptional film, and the rare English dubbed version features voice-overs that lend the production a strange, disembodied feel. as the voices are clearly nothing like those of the actors. It's amazing how unknown this movie is. It deserves to be rediscovered by a new generation. "Perros Callejeros" is vintage gold and a true JD classic.
Review of Street Warriors
