Caluga o Menta (1990)

Niki and his friends are members of the marginalised underclass living on the outskirts of Santiago. During Chile's transition from dictatorship to democracy (1988-1990), they forge a path from drug- and drink-fuelled nihilism and petty crime into the world of market-driven illegality and Niki begins a seemingly predestined relationship with the middle-class "loca", Manuela. Memorable episodes and characters, quotable dialogue and a mix of earthy national portrait and surrealistic flourish make this one of the key Chilean films of the Nineties.

Released Oct. 19, 1990 100 min None+

Genres: Crime, Drama

Keywords: imdb.chile, imdb.delinquent, imdb.dead-rat, imdb.garage, imdb.social-deprivation, imdb.argentinean, imdb.bicycle + 36 more, imdb.breaking-and-entering, imdb.yuppie, imdb.police-lineup, imdb.santiago-chile, imdb.chilean-police, imdb.urban-decay, imdb.police-arrest, imdb.mother-son-relationship, imdb.gun, imdb.friendship, imdb.favela, imdb.drugs, imdb.drug-use, imdb.drug-deal, imdb.drug-dealing, imdb.drug-dealer, imdb.cult-film, imdb.police-brutality, imdb.glue-sniffing, imdb.ghetto, imdb.mint, imdb.nihilism, imdb.metaphor, imdb.drink, imdb.boredom, imdb.heaven-or-earth, imdb.tenement, imdb.pessimism, imdb.petty-crime, imdb.young-man, imdb.abstraction, imdb.toffee, imdb.surrealism, imdb.life-or-death, imdb.drinking, imdb.family-relationships