''Caluga o menta (El Niki)'' (''Candy or Mint'') is a 1990 Chilean

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Gonzalo Justiniano Gonzalo Justiniano (born 1955) is a Chilean filmmaker. Select filmography * '' Guerreros pacifistas'' (1984) * '' La Victoria'' (1984) * '' Hijos de la guerra fría'' (1986) * '' Sussi'' (1988) * '' Caluga o menta'' (1990) * '' Amnesia'' (1994) ...

and one of the country's first post-

Pinochet dictatorship Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

films.

Summary

The film provides an accurate and gritty portrayal of the lives of a group of young people from the marginalized neighborhoods of Santiago. Niki and his friends are unemployed, with nothing to do, and quickly get caught up in the world of drugs and crime. During one of their adventures, Niki meets Manuela, his love interest who is known as "crazy".

Cast

* Hector Vega Mauricio *

Patricia Rivadeneira Patricia Rivadeneira Ruiz-Tagle (Santiago, August 6, 1964) is an actress and a cultural manager from Chile. She was Chilean Cultural Attaché in Italy by the government of Ricardo Lagos Escobar, a job she carried out between 2001 and 2006. Betw ...

* Aldo Parodi *

Myriam Palacios Myriam Isabel Palacios Piña (18 December 1936 – 18 March 2013) was a Chilean actress and comedian who worked in theater, film, and television. She was the winner of two Awards for her theater performances. Biography The daughter of Héctor ...

* David Olguiser * Rodrigo Gijon * Cecilia Godoy * Rodrigo Peña *

Luis Alarcón Luis Alfonso Alarcón Mansilla (born 23 October 1929), popularly known as Lucho Alarcón, is a Chilean actor, theater director, and activist with a distinguished film, television, and stage career. In 1957, Alarcón began working as a stage actor ...

References

External links

* {{Chilean submission for Goya Awards 1990 films Chilean drama films