Los últimos golpes de 'El Torete'

The adventures of an adolescent earning his living among bank-raids and so on, with a few - more than a few - sledge-hammer subtleties which might be considered humorous by somebody at the same level of wit, or even outright funny for those whose level of wit is even lower.

Nothing to waste too much time or effort over, even less money, but if it turns up and you only want something superficial to keep your mind as little occupied as possible but more or less what could be called entertained, by all means, go ahead and watch it.

Yawn ... Not my kind of humour, I'm afraid, however clever it might be supposed by those who presented it on our local state TV the other day. But then, Spanish ideas of funniness have always been a bit dubious at best, and highly forgettable at worst. This film is somewhere in the middle.

This film is a comedy,based on the delinquency in Barcelona (Spain).

Two of the most famous delinquents of that time `El Torete` and `El Vaquilla` team up together and fight for their liberty against society that has mistreated them ever since they were kids,just because they are poor. Together they steal cars and rob banks, becoming heroes of the underworld,and the kings of street crime,with a good Rumba sound track.

`El Torete` was played by `El Torete` himself,as he had a natural talent to act.But `El Vaquilla` was played by a professional actor,as at that time he was in prison.

One of a collection of Spanish movies focusing on the world wide subject of juvenile delinquency, "El Torete" features real kids instead of actors, young criminals in real life, basically reenacting their crimes for an audience. Some might say it isn't a good idea to make screen idols out of criminals, as it just glorifies a life of crime. But the realism lends an undeniable fascination to the events as they unfold on the screen. Because the subject matter knows no geographical boundaries, it is truly a shame these movies are not available to an English speaking audience. There are no subtitle files available online, and although these movies have made it to Blu Ray, again, no English subtitles. "Street Warriors/Perros Callejeros" and it's sequel can be found with an English overdub, but it sounds awful and turns the film into a silly comedy. I was happy to find subtitles for "El Pico," but sadly there is none available for "El Pico 2." I'm hoping that the distributors of these great vintage movies realizes the profit that can be made by making these movies available to an International audience.

In Spain this movie is considered a classic one (pulp movies). In Spanish media almost nothing has been done to explain the social difficulties the gypsies (gitanos) were dealing with in Madrid. THis movie was the start in a series of social GYPSie (gitano) movies.

This movie was the fire which was needed to produce other classics about crime and gitanos in MAdrid.

Movies which really hit the top charts were called: 'Perros callejeros' (1983) Yo, el Vaquilla' (1985).

These 2 movies can be seen as the the classic ones with amazing soundtracks from Los CHichos and Los CHunguitos who sing about racism, drugs, social issues and flamenco.

Thrilling look at youthful delinquency in Spain of the 80s starred by true delinquents : Torete and Vaquilla , recounting their nasty feats as bags robbing , heists , car pursuits with crashes and successive escapades . The film starts with Torete (Angel Fernández) and El Vaquilla (Bernard Seray whose physical and acting doesn't bear resemblance to the original role) meet themselves when are robbing a bank . This is the story of two of the most famous delinquents of the ¨Spanish transition¨ , Ángel Fernández Franco , El Torete and El Vaquilla , whose biography is told with brief and ironical remarks . Both of whom join forces and carry out a criminal life , full of hold-ups , chases and bags robbing . A bit later on , they take jobs as car mechanics and , subsequently car pilots , but it took them short time ; as they went on their previous existence and pull off their habitual bad activities . Along the way they are chased by police (Fernando Guillen) , taking place spectacular pursuits with bounds and leaps and breathtaking car crashes . Meanwhile , there intervenes a radio host woman named Begoña (Isabel Mestres) who relies on them , she gives a broadcasting instructive speech , as she tells : ¨The young delinquents are sons of poor but upright families who during the industrial boom of the 60s arrived in Barcelona and settled in outskirts slums , in suburbs constructed by a benefactor state¨ . Then , El Vaquilla is detained by Police but Torete helps him to getaway . Later on , Torete falls for Berta (Berta Cabré) , Vaquilla's girlfriend and problems ensue . After that , they go to a Pyrinees village where appears the beautiful reporter to write a reportage about their lives .

This ordinary ¨Quinqui¨ movie deals with Ángel Fernández Franco alias ¨El Torete¨, it tells his life like a legend , executing heists , ¨Tirones¨ and other crimes and misdemeanours . In the film there is action , eroticism , car races , exploitation and sensationalism that undermine verisimilitude . ¨Ultimos Golpes Del Torete¨ is one of several movies dealing with youth delinquency in Spain during the 70s and early 80s mostly realized by Jose Antonio De La Loma , along with ¨Navajeros , "Colegas", "El Pico 1¨ , 2" , ¨La Estanquera De Vallecas¨ by Eloy De La Iglesia and especially ¨Deprisa , Deprisa¨ by Carlos Saura , among others . These films were notorious in the years of the Spanish transition to democracy including provoking and polemic issues and played by unknown young people and real thieves who embark on armed robberies to raise the money that they need to their existence . His style is pretty much urban and realistic as well in the atmosphere as in the fresh dialog and attempted to take a position in favor of outcast people . These young offenders had a very moving childhood filled with crimes and misdemeanors , and a dangerous adolescence along with dangerous youth . Drugs , delinquency , exclusion , unemployment and generational problems are the habitual subjects in these films and specially dedicated to the underworld of heroin and a very realistic look at drug addiction . Passing of time hasn't had mercy with most of those movies , but they represented a time and a way of life in the history of Spain ; and now they may seem a little bit naive . A great look at young life and friendship in the margined side let the story flow efficiently and being realized in realistic style but sometimes lacks credibility . We see their troubles growing in such streets , slums or "barrio" from Barcelona and outskirts and other coastal places and some fine locations . Jose Antonio De La Loma shows the ugliness of those "barrios" , toughness and cold existence . The screenplay by the same Jose Antonio De La Loma is such strong with disagreeable events , including nudism , violent scenes , though also with some ingenuousness and brief comical moments . Jose Antonio De La Loma chose young and natural actors as Angel Fernandez Franco and Bernard Seray who play their part to the hilt , unafraid of filmmaker's unsympathetic camera and the particularity of the characters . Along with rookie actors there appear veterans as Simón Andreu , Fernando Guillen , Carlos Lucena , Isabel Mestres . Passable photography with juicy atmosphere by Juan Gelpi , but unfortunately turns too much murky in some video print , being necessary a perfect remastering .

Shot by the creator of ¨Quinqui sub-genre¨ , Jose Antonio De La Loma , in his usual botcher style , who filmed the successful trilogy : ¨Perros Callejeros I , II¨ and ¨Ultimos Golpes Del Torete¨ and he even made a female version : ¨Perras Callejeras¨ . In his youthful De La Loma worked as a teacher in the Chinese barrio of Barcelona and he lived poorness and isolation . As he hired true delinquents who used their peculiar slang and particular behaves , all of them give a certain realism to these offbeat films . The motion picture was regularly directed by Juan Antonio De La Loma who had a long career including titles as a writer and a filmmaker in all kinds of genres , as Western : ¨Professional for a massacre¨ ,¨Texas Kid¨ ,¨Clint the solitary¨ , ¨Return of Clint¨, ¨The last Mohican¨, ¨Seven pistols for Timothy¨ , ¨Viva Carrancho¨, ¨The Boldest job in the West¨, ¨Blood at sundown¨or ¨Porque Seguir Matando¨ and Action : ¨Metralleta Stein¨ , ¨Razzia¨ , ¨Explosion¨ , Squadron: Counterforce¨or "Playing with Death" , ¨Goma 2¨ , ¨Tony Carrera¨, "Playboy to Kill" and several others .