An adolescent (el Pirri) delinquent carries out a criminal life , full of hold-ups , chases and bags robbing . But then he falls for the model girlfriend (Patricia Adriani) of his lawyer (Juan Diego) . Along the way , the beautiful model is transported on the back of his stolen bike and they spend time at an attraction park and go to the cinema watching a boring French movie.
This is a peculiar comedy in which a ¨Quinqui¨ is in love with a gorgeous advert model , while her jealous and separated boyfriend attempts to break this unusual relationship . Although , this is a comedy , there's also the typical muggings , assaults , jewelry robbings and sensationalism that undermine verisimilitude , including an unbeliable love story ; eventually at the end of the movie some dramatic elements are added . It's more a comedy than a drama/triller , including some ingenuousness and comical moments ; in fact it was produced by Fernando Trueba , at the time an expert on ¨Madrileña comedy¨ . Stars José Luis Fernández 'Pirri' as El Chirlo , he gives a natural , spontaneous but annoying acting as a rogue delinquent , in fact he was a real druggie who died at 23 of overdoses , formerly he played similar roles as a secondary in various films , such as : The Hit (1984) , Policía (1987) , Maravillas (1981) , Caso cerrado , Colegas , Navajeros , La reina del mate , El pico 2 , La Estanquera de Vallecas . While the professional actors are pretty well , such as the always beautiful Patricia Adriani , the veteran Juan Diego and fine support cast with some familar faces , such as : Alicia Sánchez of Furtivos , Sancho Gracia of Curro Jimenez , Javier Loyola and cameo by the indispensable Óscar Ladoire of Trueba's Opera Prima .
¨De tripas corazon¨ is one of several movies dealing with youngster delinquency in Spain during the 70s and early 80s in which depicting peculiar looks at youthful delinquency and usually starred by true delinquents : Ángel Fernández Franco , Torete in ¨Los Ultimos Golpes del Torete¨ and El Vaquilla , recounting their nasty feats as bags robbing , heists , assaults , rape , car pursuits with crashes and successive escapades from Reformatories and State Penitentiaries . Being the main representations of this sub-genre realized by Jose Antonio De La Loma as Perros Callejeros I and II¨, along with ¨Navajeros , "Colegas", "El Pico 1¨ , 2" , ¨La Estanquera De Vallecas¨ directed by Eloy De La Iglesia . Furthermore , ¨La Patria del Rata¨by Francisco Lara Polop 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 embarked on armed robberies to raise the money that they need to their existence . Their style was 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 , disagreeable events , including nudism , violent scenes and generational problems are ordinary elements 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 . Some of them had 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 big cities as Madrid and Barcelona and outskirts and other coastal places with some fine locations . While directors described lousily their lives by showing the ugliness of those "barrios" , toughness and cold existence . These filmmakers chose young and natural actors as Jose Luis Fernandez ¨Pirri¨, Angel Fernandez Franco , El Torete who played their parts to the hilt , unafraid of filmmaker's unsympathetic camera and the particularity of the characters . Unfortunately , most of them died early due to overdoses , AID , shots by Police or reckoning among delinquents .
Passable photography with juicy atmosphere by Juan Amorós , shot in Madrid , but it turns to be too much murky in some video print , being necessary a perfect remastering . The motion picture was regularly directed by Julio Sánchez Valdés . Craftsman Julio is a director and writer, known for ¨La fuente de la edad¨ (1991) , ¨De tripas corazón¨ (1985) and his best film : ¨Luna de Lobos¨ (1985) about the rebel Maquis in the Spanish Civil War , while ¨XXL¨ resulted to be his worst movie . He usually directs episodes in known TV series , such as ¨Querido Maestro¨ , ¨Petra Delicado¨, ¨Robles Investigador¨, ¨Ay Señor, Señor ¨, among others . Rating : 5/10 . Average .
