In Spain of the 1960s, a poor family of quinquis - a nomadic ethnic group with a tradition as old as that of the gypsises of Spain but with even more obscure origins - have a nomadic life marked by poverty. The son, Eleuterio Sánchez Rodriguez, nicknamed "El Lute", steals some chickens and is condemned to six months in jail. El Lute moves to the slum outskirts of Madrid with his common law wife, Chelo, starting an itinerant life as a peddler of pots and pans and living in a quinqui shantytown. He gradually embarks upon as life of petty criminality, eventually participating in the theft of a jewelry store during which a bystander is killed.
Director: Vicente Aranda
Screenplay: Vicente Aranda, Joaquim Jordà i Català
Writer: Eleuterio Sánchez
Producer: José María Cunillés
Director of Photography: José Luis Alcaine, Alfredo Mayo
Eluterio Sánchez 'El Lute'
Chelo
Raimundo Medrano
Juan José Agudo
Esperanza
La Madre de Chelo
Policía
Policía