In 1980, Juan Carlos Delgado, alias "Slick," was 11 years old,
had committed more than 150 crimes, some violent,
and had escaped from three reformatories.
This film is freely inspired by his true story.
Juan, isn't that your son?
Don't even think about it.
Get out of the car with your hands up.
Easy.
Armed robbery,
grand theft auto,
shoot-outs with the police,
attempted murder...
Attempted murder?
You wanted to kill someone and didn't?
No.
Probably someone I stabbed.
- But didn't mean to kill... - Right.
If you'd meant to kill him, you would have.
No murder, no attempt. Like I was saying.
Is this an interrogation?
An interrogation? No, please. Did it seem like one to you?
Forgive me, it was unintentional.
Am I free to leave?
There's the door.
There's no fence or guard, nothing to retain you here
against your will, is there? This isn't a reformatory,
Juan Carlos. This is CEMU, a youth center. Your presence here
is voluntary.
- Nobody will stop me from leaving? - Nobody.
I want to be your friend, Juan Carlos.
Even if at first you reject my friendship.
Very touching. But it sounds sort of faggy.
"Even if you don't love me back." Too mushy.
I'm only interested in friendship.
That other stuff hadn't even occurred to me.
It had better not.
You know what?
I'm sick of dealing with thugs like you.
I'm getting out of here.
I built this place and I've had it.
You wanna escape too? I can drop you off somewhere.
See? He didn't even notice us escaping.
Come on, you drive.
I can drive and still stick you
in the liver with this if you try anything.
Go on.
Drive. Let's see if you're as good as they say.
Do you usually have a plan prepared or do you prefer to improvise?
I can't think of anywhere to escape to.
Somewhere nearby, a quick getaway.
Florida Park.
I haven't had a drink there in ages.
Are you serious?
Okay, this is where we part. It's been a pleasure.
What do I do with the car?
What did you usually do?
We'd use them to go somewhere or to steal something.
Can't you do that with this one?
Are you dumb? This car's too flashy.
Oh, I see.
Then we'll park it and escape on foot from here on.
Leave it parked here, with all the thieves around?
I have an idea. You may not want to help me out, but...
Could you take it back to CEMU
and park it there? Your plan was to escape on foot.
Maybe you could go back there and start over.
You're not just crazy.
You're totally insane.
But I don't really care where we leave it.
Damn, Juan Carlos, thanks a lot.
You don't know how grateful I am.
Sorry, I was just saying goodbye.
Not gonna rob anyone with my letter-opener, are you?
I'll get blamed for letting you go and giving you a weapon.
Though you will need some money for your getaway.
Okay, then. Go ahead and rob me and you lost it in the scuffle.
- Yeah, right. - Come on.
I'd rather you rob me than scare someone else with that thing.
What's the routine again?
"Your money or your life."
You're making me nervous.
Just rob me and take off.
You asked for it. Give me everything you've got.
Can I keep enough to buy a drink?
No, smart guy. I'm taking everything you've got,
like in a real robbery.
Come on, hurry up.
You forgot something.
TWO YEARS EARLIER
You're doing it wrong. You'll fuck it up.
Let me do it and I'll let you drive later.
Let me, I need to learn how.
You'll electrocute yourself.
Shut up, you drive like an old lady.
Flying there,
flying back.
Flying there,
flying back.
I keep myself busy on the way.
In love with life,
though it hurts sometimes.
In love with life, though it hurts sometimes.
If I'm cold, I find my grandma.
If I'm cold, I find a warm fire.
Flying there,
flying back.
Flying there,
flying back.
I keep myself busy on the way.
Flying there,
flying back.
Flying there,
flying back.
I keep myself busy on the way.
Juan Carlos, close that window!
You want us all to get pneumonia?
Mom, it's stifling hot in here.
I don't want any of you to get sick. If one gets sick all four do.
I'm sick of all the suppositories!
Next one who gets sick gets locked out until they're better.
...to wish you all peace, freedom and prosperity,
in my name, and in that of my family.
I reach out to all of you in your homes for a moment,
from my own home,
which belongs to all of you,
certain that the Spanish warmth and hospitality
we 're so famous for...
Juan Carlos, what do you want for Christmas?
I already told you.
The same as last year and the year before that. A bicycle.
You know what that costs?
Don't you realize that buying you a bicycle
would cost me half a month's salary?
Or that your four sisters need presents too.
The girls don't ride bikes yet.
Don't you get it? We're poor.
Change jobs and make more money.
What else can I do? Tell me.
Steal money and watches from tourists like your friends' parents?
Snatch purses from old ladies
doing their morning shopping like your friend Gavioto?
You want me to do that?
I don't know how, Juan Carlos.
I've been too busy working my ass off my whole life to learn.
Our neighbor doesn't steal, and his kids all have bikes.
And he has a house.
He's a builder and I'm just a bricklayer!
A plasterer on a lucky day!
Dammit, I expect him not to understand,
but you as well?
Go to your room.
What for?
Thanks, Dad!
Kiss your mother, if it weren't for her...
Juan Carlos,
I got you the bike, but you have to promise me something.
That you'll behave yourself
and stop hanging around with those delinquents.
I promise, Dad. I really do.
In love with life, though it hurts sometimes.
If I'm cold, I find a warm fire.
If I'm cold, I find my grandma.
Flying there,
flying back.
Flying there,
flying back.
I keep myself busy on the way.
- Are you waiting for the bus? - What?
Are you taking the bus home?
- Yeah. - Well, then.
Can I have your coat? I'm cold and I live far away.
What are you saying?
Give me your coat or I'll fill it with holes with you still in it.
Hey, pretty slick!
Like an ad for Saks Fifth Avenue.
You stole a car to steal a bike?
No, my dad gave me the bike for Christmas.
- Got anything bigger? - Not for what you gave me.
Just put the rest on my tab.
I need a volunteer to hand out notebooks.
- Pick me! - Juan Carlos!
Can't you ever let anyone else do anything?
I get bored if they do it.
Then learn how to read. If you can't read
you can't hand out anything!
You want to fail like your friend?
I know how without reading them.
What does this say?
Miguel...
- Angel... - Miguel Angel Lopez Enciso.
- That's for talking out of turn. - Juan Carlos!
Damn, lady. We'll never learn anything at this rate.
Juan Carlos! Where's Ms. Pilar's car?
I parked it.
We saw! And where are her things?
I put them away for her.
They were in plain view.
They could get stolen.
Next time tell her about it
instead of moving her car and emptying it out, you got that?
He's got it in for me and I did nothing to him.
I urge you to do something to improve your son's behavior
or we shall be forced to expel him.
You think we haven't tried? We ground him every day!
The pencil in the right hand!
Let him choose hands. Maybe he's left-handed.
Left-handed? He's just stubborn like his mom.
Are you left-handed?
My wife? I don't think so. She never went to school.
Which hand does your mother slap you around with?
I don't know, with both.
I always take off. I'm not gonna hang around for that.
Well, next time take notice. This lady
says it might be important. Before he started at this school
we could handle him. I don't know what kind of people he's met here...
You've made a rebel out of him.
Of all things! You blame it on the school?
He was a good boy.
He's a spoiled brat and everyone in the entire province knows it.
Hey, watch it.
He's not spoiled, he's hyperactive.
A psychologist whose office I plastered told me that.
A psychologist?
Maybe you should take Juan Carlos to see one.
I'm usually never rough with him.
I don't mean hitting him...
I know, I know, I shouldn't hit him. But I get up at 6 A.M.
And I work like a dog all day long and when I get home
I don't feel like doing anything.
Except drinking wine in the bar downstairs.
- What? - Don't hit my son!
Stop hitting your kid.
You're damn right! That bar's the only reason I still haven't beat
the living crap out of you!
I hang around all sorts of criminals.
Sometimes they eat cold meals, other times warm.
Every day they steal two cars.
One in the morning, another at night.
They're like one big happy family,
with a gift for digging through the trash.
They'll end up ruining my life.
They'll sell me like a can of sardines.
I'd better make sure my hat has a hole in it
so the sunlight can shine on my brain.
I want to seduce you with the soft, fresh breeze
of my fan made of glass.
Of my fan made of glass.
Good evening, ma'am. This is the police station.
Are you the mother of Juan Carlos Delgado Caballero?
Don't be alarmed, everything's okay.
He had a little problem. You'll have to come and get him.
Okay.
Don't you worry about leaving the keys in the cars
with all the crooks around?
The criminals or the chief?
Sweetheart, what happened?
What happened is we caught him red-handed shoplifting
in a supermarket.
Is that true?
Not shoplifting. I was playing.
Yeah, Cops and Robbers.
Your son's hanging with a bunch of crooks
and nothing good can come of it.
They're famous in south Madrid.
You'd better do something about it while he's still small.
The others are a lost cause, we're waiting till they reach prison age.
But your son is still a boy.
We'll just keep a file on him for now.
Stop being such a little monster!
I'm hitting you so your father won't have to!
Get your hands up! Don't move!
Damn, Slick.
A Mini would have been better for Toledo.
Yeah? What if we're in a Mini and the cops chase us, asshole?
Gavioto, get a clue.
People park like fucking jerks!
We're gonna need two cars for each job.
One for long rides, one for narrow streets.
And a horse for the damn mountains...
Where is he going?
From Madrid, of course.
Careful, it's too tight!
Let Slick drive and calm down, Gavioto.
- They shot Charly! - Bastards!
It hurts.
Got any smack around?
I'll get it, Mom.
Hi.
Did your dad see you?
He was in the bar but he didn't see me.
Will you ever change?
It's not what you think. I'm holding it for a friend.
Where were you earlier?
You'd better say I was with you.
Juan Carlos, tell me right now where you were or I'll get your father.
I was at the park, but say I was with you.
I didn't do anything! I didn't steal anything!
I didn't steal anything, Mom! It's for a friend!
Holding stolen goods is the same as stealing!
Hello, ma'am. I'm afraid your son will have to come with us again.
He couldn't have done anything.
He was sick in bed the whole week.
Ma'am, please. Last night your son was racing the police in Toledo.
- He was right here, I tell you! - Ma'am, don't obstruct us.
You'll wake the girls. Hold on, wait.
Juan Carlos.
There are some police officers here to see you.
Let me go, motherfucker!
I'll teach you not to laugh at us.
These things hurt me more than them.
Hey, Slick. Come on in.
Hey.
You scared the shit out of us. Stand away from the door.
I can't see you through the peephole.
- Slick. - Hey, have you had dinner?
You want something?
No, thanks.
Hey, Charly. What's up?
Fucking great.
Is this the guy with the rest?
Wow, how pretty.
Check out the bracelet.
Careful getting stuff engraved.
Is this it? There were a pair of earrings and bracelets.
My mom beat the shit out of me before I could stash them.
They fell on the stairs.
A pair of matching earrings?
They're definitely not lost.
Probably the ones hooked together in a handkerchief.
Probably.
Damn, Slick. Did he scare you?
Relax, we're all friends here.
- Is this the racing driver? - Even better.
He doesn't race, he flies.
Give the man a break, Slick. He's a pal of the family.
Keep that away from me,
I'll get in trouble.
I'm leaving. I'm late.
He won't be a problem? He looks young.
He's just little. But he's got balls like a tiger.
What about his folks?
Out of the picture. He's here with us most of the time.
I still piss myself when I remember it.
The faces of those two cops in Toledo when they saw the car...
At night, when I'm about to pass out,
their faces come back to me and I burst into laughter
and wake up. The bastard keeps me awake!
I think bouncing down the steps stopped my bleeding.
Right! It was the heroin you took with the excuse of having been shot.
Wanna share a game?
Okay. But I'm awful.
Because nobody's ever taught you.
Be careful.
You got a car?
You see me with a car?
Cars are my favorite thing in the world.
You know how to drive?
And how. My friends are mechanics and they taught me.
Damn.
Look, we get another ball.
We got lucky.
Looks like it.
Do we kiss on the cheek?
Okay.
For the first time...
I felt like a man without knowing why.
For the first time...
For the first time I felt like a man
without knowing why. It must be
your fault for being such a woman.
Juan Carlos.
Wake up, it's Christmas.
Hey, don't you want to see what you got?
You'll never guess.
What is this?
Juan Carlos.
You asked for a parrot for Christmas.
Parrot is slang for stereo!
And your father hates parrots...
What do I do with this thing?
Don't worry, I'll take care of it.
Just act interested at first, like you did with the bike.
- Is this for me? - Sure.
You'll be ten this year.
Eleven.
Better for me.
You're already out getting drunk with your friends all the time.
It won't do you any harm to have a cider with your dad.
Juan, it's New Year's Eve.
If he came to dinner more often we could have this chat any time,
but since we can't, I have to take advantage.
- How's the school year going? - Fine.
Liar!
You've only gone three times.
Coincidentally always the day after some robbery somewhere.
The cops always blame the same people.
- They're fucking clueless. - Son of a...
No wonder. You talk like a delinquent because you are one.
Drink your cider.
One of these days you'll be the death of us.
The guys you're hanging with are nothing but bad news.
You'll end up getting shot or shooting somebody else...
- I don't shoot people, Dad! - Shut up! Not yet, you don't.
You think you can keep stealing cars and robbing stores without a gun?
- Juan, please. - Shut up!
Drink your cider.
You'll get him drunk.
Let him get drunk then!
I'd rather have him drunk at home
knowing he's not hurting anyone than out robbing decent people.
At least this way he sleeps at home for once. Drunk!
What was that?
- Drunk! - You got him the parrot.
Don't blame me. I wanted a stereo.
I don't like birds.
Juan...
Juan, please don't hurt the parrot. It would really upset me.
How much did you pay for it?
Don't worry, it was my mother's money.
You asked her for money to buy a parrot? Are you nuts?
Let me, Bego. You're ripped.
- So are you. - But I didn't get stoned.
You're a mess.
You're getting soaked.
You're totally high.
I know.
That's my thing, I'm high.
Damn, you sure are pretty.
Bego, can I stay over? I don't want to go home if I'm this drunk.
Are you still dressed?
Here.
Let me.
- Are you cold? - No, I'm hot.
We don't have heating at my house.
Take off your sweater.
Bego?
Fuck the video.
Everything they invent nowadays makes life harder.
Sure there aren't more cameras?
No, the Mister was very clear.
Quit screwing around and get to work.
Ex-thief "El Lute" has had a banneryear.
To the twenty grand he made for the "Bonnie M" song
we can now add first prize at the Benidorm Song Festival...
Wow, that son of a bitch!
Shit, twenty grand for a song. What a bastard.
Can you imagine a little rumba about us, Slick?
The Chichos wrote one for Torete.
Yeah, "Slick Shady."
Or "Grease and Gavioto."
- Mister, it wasn't us. - You knew where the camera was!
I told you not to rob the place!
You see any stolen goods here?
Anyone know who did it?
You're playing with fire.
- You're headed for trouble. - Maybe El Lute, he's on parole.
El Lute? El Lute?
We're in the same boat.
Let go of me, dammit!
The same boat?
I'm alone in this boat, motherfuckers.
First one who laughs gets his ass kicked.
You're the one pissing yourself.
Gavioto, you shithead.
- Are you nuts? - Always getting us into trouble.
What about all the fun we had?
Well? Aren't you gonna tell us where you stashed everything?
Yeah.
You're better off not knowing.
I told you not to bring me anything.
It's just a hair dryer.
The fourth hair dryer...
They keep releasing new models.
You've got beautiful hair. You deserve the best.
- Take a bath with me. - No.
That time of the month...
Your mother lets you go out dressed like that?
She doesn't care and neither do I.
I'm sure she does. Promise me you'll go home tonight.
My house sucks. They only care about my five sisters.
You sound like a spoiled brat.
I'm not a spoiled brat.
You're not?
What about this? What is this?
Well?
How strange of the Mister to set us up with such a good job
when he's mad at us.
He's mad, but business is business.
It's not like we can say no.
He'd know for sure.
Money does away with all anger. The Mister's and the Virgin Mary's.
Damn, Charly. Couldn't you wait till we got back?
Give me a break, Slick. I won't puke.
That's what you always say.
I haven't eaten all day.
You always end up too fucked up to help and we have to do everything.
That's true, Charly.
Damn, everybody's against me today.
Nobody move! You're surrounded! Come out with your hands up!
Your buddies aren't faring as well as you.
Being the youngest has its perks.
But you won't get off as easy as you think.
Little hoodlums in Madrid need to realize
that we country folk aren't to be played around with.
We'll try to give you a good flu or pneumonia
to keep you in bed with a fever for a couple weeks
so you'll only be a burden on your parents,
if you even know them...
Sit in back, out of my sight, where you won't embarrass me.
Look, a remote control, like in Japan.
What sucks is having only 2 channels. In Japan they have 7 or 8.
That's why they invented the damn thing.
You don't wanna watch TV?
Juan Carlos, what we're doing isn't right.
What I'm doing with you isn't right.
I kept telling myself I was helping you,
that I was giving you love and keeping you off the street
and away from that dangerous life of yours.
- That I was taking care of you. - Sure you are.
No, I'm not taking care of you and I'm not helping you.
I'm using you.
Don't you see? I can't even talk to you.
- Sure you can! - I mean with you understanding me.
You're not even eleven yet, and I'm thirty.
This is the most absurd thing I've ever done,
and that's saying a lot.
I can't be anything to you.
You can be my girl, can't you?
Haven't you even wondered why I live alone in Getafe
with no friends, out of touch with my family, and with no job?
None of that matters to me.
If you want, I'll ask. You want me to ask?
I couldn't answer you.
Not even I know.
You'll have to keep it hidden. If Dad sees it we're screwed.
Thank you, Juan Carlos.
Especially for coming.
I've been praying to God all week. He must have heard me.
That must be it. It probably helped.
Thank you, God.
What did Slick bring you?
You guys better bite your tongues. Or I'll rip them out myself.
- How pretty! - Is it gold?
15 karat gold.
It's the thought that counts.
You didn't get us anything?
No, Mari Jose's the only one having a communion.
Even just a Nancy doll from the supermarket would do...
Who told you I have Nancy dolls?
Indio's little sister at school.
Her brother wouldn't give her one because you had them stashed.
She's stupid. I'll have her brother smack her around.
- I wanted a Skating Nancy. - A Party Nancy for me.
I don't have any Nancies.
Yeah, you do. In the abandoned house.
- I'll let you each wear it... - What's going on in here?
Unbelievable!
You sneak out if we ground you in your rooms
and you hide in your rooms if there's a party.
Always doing the opposite.
Don't let your father see that.
Maribel!
Police and firemen my ass! Let me through.
Who helped you?
I did it alone.
Are you stupid or what?
You think your friends wouldn't roll over on you?
Who told you where the camera was?
Who lifted you up to spray it?
I did it by myself.
You're a fucking idiot.
They're using you.
You think your friends have a code of honor.
Someday you'll see they're just a pile of trash.
They're just a pile of trash.
And I won't be laughed at by trash.
My God, Juan, what happened?
Juan, where are you going? Juan!
Juan, don't!
- Juan! - Dad, don't!
You'll kill him!
Juan!
Juan, what's wrong with you?
Juan!
Dad, don't!
Juan, please!
Juan!
Juan, for God's sake!
Son of a bitch!
If you ever touch him again...
Don't you ever touch him again!
Don't you ever hit me again, you hear me? Never!
What are you talking about?
I should have smacked you the first time you covered up for him.
Keep your hands off me, I'll kill you!
I should have smacked you the day you gave birth to him.
I'll poison you, put glass in your drink, anything!
Hold still, dammit.
You won't get off this time.
You'll have to keep hitting me, Dad.
Maybe even kill me.
I'm not going to stop doing what I do.
I'm organizing an escape. It's simple.
I've escaped from worse places than this.
I'll let you come with us
in exchange for a ride to Madrid and my own car.
- How many of us are there? - In the car?
- Just you and me. - No, in the escape.
Lots. The more the better. But it's every man for himself.
When?
Right now, after dinner.
It could work.
It's the shit, you'll see.
Don't move, fucker.
Gavioto!
Gavioto, it's me.
Damn, you scared the shit out of me.
This is Diego, a friend from Murcia.
I almost shot you two. I could only see his head and I don't know him.
If you can't see the driver, you know it must be me.
Come on in.
Should she be tied up like that?
It was her idea. She says she loves me.
Gypsies are dangerous, Gavioto.
Not as dangerous as me.
She was miserable at home anyway.
She's better off with me.
I untie her plenty.
I only tie her up when she says she wants to go home. To protect her.
All girls are whores.
How was she?
You can pay me the five extra when we settle things later.
Quickly, the register.
Fucking move!
Uppers and anything with opium!
Easy, take it easy.
I have a son your age.
Maybe he isn't dead.
What if he identifies us?
Sure, nobody around here knows you.
But Slick is famous. And most kids don't rob pharmacies with guns.
What if he identifies Slick and it gets back to me?
That guy won't identify anyone, you dumbshit.
You want to sit down?
Have you got a belt?
SLICK AND HIS GANG TERRORIZE SOUTH MADRID
DANGEROUS 11-YEAR-OLD CRIMINAL
Juan, isn't that your son?
Today we start a new year at CEMU, "The City School for Boys,"
and like every year you will meet new classmates.
The first thing we much teach them
are the standard rules of behavior which we learn every day.
Here we learn to share and share alike.
To care for life and the things around us.
To help.
Some of our new classmates have never been to a school,
especially never one like this.
Others are straight out of reformatories.
Like many of you when you first came.
Therefore we must all be very kind...
Hey! How fast is that thing?
I don't know, I've never raced it!
Can I take it for a spin?
Yeah, later. When I'm done you can take it anywhere you like.
He said I could take it anywhere I wanted when he was done.
Juan Carlos, listen carefully to what I'm gonna say.
I'll accept that you're rebellious,
that you need more "action" than most of your classmates.
I'll also be patient with your need to call attention to yourself,
to have everyone always hanging on everything that occurs to you.
But I won't have you playing dumb and thinking I will do the same.
Neither of us is dumb, we both know that.
Or maybe I was wrong about you.
Are you dumb?
Answer me.
I don't know, maybe.
Juan Carlos, what if you'd had an accident with the excavator?
I never have accidents if I'm driving.
Bad things only happen to me if I stand still.
I had a surprise planned for you. The Go-Cart track
so you could demonstrate your talent to...
I give a flying fuck about Go-Carts.
...to scouts from the Spanish Racing Federation.
I thought you might want to be a pro racing driver.
But first you'll have to prove to me
you can stop being a thug for a little while.
- You smoke? - Hell, no.
Sign up for circus classes?
I'm only watching.
You're too big for any circus, man. The excavator thing was cool.
I didn't have time to pop a wheelie.
When you're older he'll hook you up as someone important's chauffeur.
Miguel Bos� or Antonio Molina. They're friends of his.
I don't want to be a chauffeur.
What's that all about?
Don't look at me.
What about your dad?
What about yours?
Maybe mine turned up.
Juan Carlos, I have some bad news for you.
Very sad news. Wanna come in my office?
Why don't you tell me out here?
Your friends had an accident. In a car chase.
Are they dead?
Who was in the car?
Benito Sanchez Morales,
Jose Francisco Exposito Romero,
Niceforo Garcia Garcia,
and Juan Jose Torres Gea.
Who was driving?
What does that matter?
Please, tell me who was driving.
Juan Jose Torres Gea.
Parakeet.
Who would ever let Parakeet drive?
Those stupid fucking assholes.
I'll be up late drawing tonight.
Wanna come to the studio and we can talk about it?
This is all your fault.
If I weren't here, I'd have been driving
and nothing would have happened.
We can never know "what if."
Maybe I saved you from getting killed along with them.
Slick!
What's up, Slick? You've heard, haven't you?
You weren't there either.
I was high and they ditched me.
Go figure. Heroin saved my life.
Why didn't you come in?
You can come and go without problems here.
You come out. This place gives me the creeps.
What's wrong, Slick?
Have you forgotten how to jump a fence?
Know what Indio's parents said?
That the Mister set us up.
Why does he say that?
He sent them on the job
and there were cops waiting on the worst curve right by a cliff.
Maybe if you'd been driving...
If it was a good trap, I'd be dead like them.
And so would you, if you'd gone.
You never know.
I'm in bad shape, man.
You got any money on you?
We don't handle much in here.
Let's steal a car and go for a ride.
Just you and me.
Okay, on one condition.
You have to let me choose the car.
POLICE STATION
Take the cuffs off the child.
- You got a light, officer? - Yes.
Forgive me asking one question.
I take the liberty because you seem like good people.
If you happen to kill my son in a chase or a shoot-out,
you get in trouble, right?
That's what I thought.
I don't know what to do anymore.
I think he wants us to kill him, or he wants to kill us,
but I can't do it.
Don't say that.
My wife gave birth to him, he's my blood, but I can't.
- He's my son. - Relax, nobody has to kill anybody.
He's got a death wish, and it should be granted soon
so he doesn't hurt anyone else.
Come on, sir. Not in front of the kid.
- Go home and get some rest. - I never rest.
The day you bring him home dead, maybe I will.
You should hear yourself.
Bring him home dead, I'll kill a lamb
and we'll celebrate the end of all this suffering.
Because he's suffering as well. I know he is.
Just because your folks are overwhelmed
and can't handle you doesn't mean they don't love you.
I don't give a fuck if they love me or not.
That's what you think. But it's no use arguing about that now.
I want to make one thing clear.
Driving them crazy doesn't mean you can drive me crazy.
You got that?
And you know why?
Because I'm already crazy.
I'm nuts. I belong in an asylum with electroshock.
Crazy people never lose. Never.
We're invincible.
I have my own damn fantasy world
and I'll make damn sure you're happy in it.
You've met your match. Now you know.
Why do I think you're worth it?
Because you're crazy, too.
Crazy about speed, about getting everywhere first.
So do me a favor. Forget everything else,
the revenge, the resentment,
and start doing the one thing you do best, you schmuck.
Winning races.
GLUE
Eloy? Eloy!
Bring the solvent!
Eloy!
Goddammit, Eloy's table is fucked again.
Call an ambulance!
Damn, what a shitty Christmas.
At least it's over with.
Remember before, with the whole gang?
The parties at the Manchegos?
What a blast. Nobody can ever take all that away from us.
We were hot shit.
Partying, doing jobs, fast cars,
spending money, screwing whores
and going wherever we wanted.
I'm surprised you remember. You were asleep most of the time.
You're so harsh, Slick.
Sure, I was always high.
But I was aware of things around me.
This place has made you nasty.
You're bitter, kid.
Though I'm on the outside and I'm just as bitter as you.
Can't you tell?
We must be getting old or something.
Nothing cheers me up.
I'm like you, but worse.
At least you've started a new life.
You've stopped raising hell, you have plans...
It's really no big deal.
I'm just a piece-of-shit junkie.
All I know how to do is get high.
Nobody does it better.
You won, Slick. I lost.
I'm a burden, just holding you back.
Don't say that, you shithead. We're pals and we always will be.
Yeah? You sure?
Where are you going?
Wait!
I said, where are you going?
Charly, come on, don't cry.
Would you do me a favor?
No heroin. I just need a ride to my grandparents' in Salamanca.
Drop me off there and I'll never bother you again.
This is the police.
Turn off the motor and get out of the car.
I warned you, man.
I fucking told you.
I'm just a piece-of-shit junkie.
Now what?
Didn't you say we'd always be pals?
To hell with friendship.
Okay, what do we do with Juan Carlos?
It's the second time he's left CEMU and been caught with a stolen car.
He escaped from the other reformatories.
And with violence. He's been at CEMU several months.
Two arrests is nothing compared to his prior record.
Personally, I really like your institution.
But can you offer citizens an option that will make them feel safe
knowing this boy can leave your center anytime he pleases?
There's no guarantee for total safety.
But I think CEMU is doing a good job with him.
This boy was stealing several cars
a week, even on the same day,
and took part in violent robberies. This latest stuff is nothing.
You must be aware that CEMU, and especially you, have many enemies.
You might prefer to acknowledge a small failure in time
and have Juan Carlos transferred to a conventional reformatory.
Nobody will treat my son like Uncle Alberto.
Uncle.
The police brought Juan Carlos.
You want to talk to him?
No.
Alberto, Uncle Alberto!
What is it?
Who?
Let me see, Juan Carlos.
Did you hurt your eyes?
Juan Carlos, please, answer me. Did you hurt your eyes?
Look at me.
Juan Carlos, look at me, dammit!
What happened? Why did you do this?
- It's your fault. - Whose fault?
Yours. Why didn't you ask me what happened?
You didn't even yell at me.
You don't give a fuck. Like everyone else.
Leave me alone!
You should have yelled at me like the other times!
That's why you're here, isn't it?
You'd always done it before!
You were doing just fine.
You were doing fine.
Why didn't you yell at me?
You don't give a fuck. Like everyone else.
Juan Carlos gave us a second chance and let us show him we did care.
He stayed at CEMU, went to school and learned to read and write.
He gave up his criminal activities and started racing competitively.
By the age of 20 he had won several Spanish championships
for Formula Renault, though he had to renounce his dream,
being a Formula 1 driver.
He now works as a test driver for the newest European models
and as an expert motor journalist.
He also teaches evasive driving to state security forces.
He still lives and works at CEMU,
helping to redirect the steps of other boys like him.
This film is dedicated to CEMU, Uncle Alberto, and our parents.