Brain Drain (Fuga de Cerebros)

My name's Emilio

and I've been at this school since I was 5.

I'm 18 now, which means that

for 13 years I've been in love with the same girl.

At the time I wore orthopedics on my legs.

Almost four kilos of iron and two crutches.

The big kids called me "Forrest"

and the others, "Scrap Metal".

I waited 6 years

for the iron to come off and to tell Natalia I love her,

but a few days before, my mum took me to the dentist.

After that, I was "Wire Boy".

Then I started getting nosebleeds

whenever I got nervous.

They wasn't serious and...

they were easily fixed.

I thought I was done with orthopedics until Merino...

threw a medicine ball at me.

I wore a neck brace, traction

and a back support for two more years.

Then I became simply...

"Robocop".

13 years waiting to become a normal person

so I could declare my love. Though probably...

neither I nor my friends...

would ever be normal people.

Coming through. Coming through.

- Emilio! - Come here, Flash.

Go on, tell me what I got.

I need a 7.6 average to get into Medicine.

- Take a look! - Alright.

José Manuel Sánchez Expòsito, better known as "Flash".

His loss of vision from a congenital disease

never stopped him from believing he was a normal kid.

- What was it? - A penalty.

I'll shoot, I'll shoot.

So normal that he even got flash over the dumbest things.

Hence the tag, "Flash".

He's always had one goal in life: to fit in.

- I'm in the centre. - Yes.

And for Flash, fitting in meant acting like the sighted.

There's an aroma here stronger than Vicks Vaporub.

It's cleared up all my pipes.

"Wheels"...

He isn't what you'd call a normal person either.

His goals in life are personal defense and sex.

Don't always do this! Don't believe them!

- Get outta here, sucker. - You idiot!

But scoring on the dancefloor

had always eluded him, so...

he developed his own method:

listen, understand and console.

Let it all out and you'll feel better.

Relax.

- Flash! - Hey, Goat!

Why the long faces?

There's still September. I got the goods, and at half price.

We steal by night, sell by day: Maths, Latin, Geography...

"The Goat" isn't exactly normal either.

But he's a good guy.

Or as good as you can be

living the slum life and inheriting the family business.

1 for a euro, 2 for 2 euros!

Everyone's a winner, a football or a ham!

What do we have here?

A microwave for the man!

The box comes free! Here!

I want a gram. Can you fix me up?

I told you, I'm not selling to you.

Your head can't take any more drugs. What do you guys want?

- Three pink panthers. - And two bickies.

See? They take drugs, but they enjoy them.

That's 50. This is for your girlfriend.

Okay, lady, how are you doing?

And the man wins! Ham or a lucky dip?

- Quintana, Ramos, Rodriguez... - No, no.

- Sánchez Expòsito. - That's it.

1.26.

What a bummer. I didn't get into Medicine.

Bastards.

How can you be a doctor, you dick?

They've got it in for me.

Why can't he be a doctor? Because he can't see?

Corneto's our intellectual leader.

And he would've been a great one, if he had an intellect.

Do pussies have lamps on 'em?

You ever seen a gynecologist

stick his head in to look?

No, man, you don't look, you feel the pussy.

It's true. And I've got highly-developed fingertips.

Sure, Flash. And what's more...

What do psychiatrists do? Listen. No looking, just listening!

And a radiologist? An anesthetist? A chiropodist?

My friends and I knew this was the day

we'd been waiting for since we were 5.

I'd just had my wristbands for tendonitis taken off.

For the first time in my life I felt free.

Natalia.

Emilio, no more wristbands.

- Yeah. - He's going for it.

I can play basketball

and do weightlifting.

I couldn't do this before.

I mean, rotate it..

for ping pong and table soccer.

Congratulations, Natalia. You got the scholarship.

Next year...

your friend is studying Medicine at the prestigious Oxford University.

That's great.

Your nose, Emilio. Your nose.

BRAIN DRAIN

Look, Emilio, did he say Antarctica?

No, he said Oxford. It's right next door.

- Aren't you going to do anything? - Yes. I got a job in Carrefour,

stacking shelves. You do what you want. It's all over.

- But we'll still see each other? - Sure.

We'll nod in the street, ashamed to look at each other

because our jobs suck and we let our best friend's girl go.

- But relax, everything's fine. - Don't say that again, okay?

What don't you want me to say?

You let the love of your life go without hearing her say no?

You'll be a mess in two months? You don't want me to say that?

This makes lovebird calls. It'll be a scream.

Green!

Flash!

Are you crazy? Don't you know when to stop?

Look out! Car!

- Stop pissing around, Wheels. - Losers.

Look, Emilio, I'll tell you one thing.

I'm not deserting a guy who went with me to my mum's chemo.

Me neither. He taught me how to kick a penalty using sound.

He taught me how to dance to reggaeton, what the fuck.

Like it or not, we're going to Oxford to get you your girl.

You like the idea?

And to study Medicine. They're very advanced there.

To Oxford?

With all our marks added together,

they might even let us pour the dean's coffee.

- That's true. - Hey, man...

Robbing the Bank of England is hard,

but can get into Oxford with my eyes closed.

PASSED

An 8.9 average, to be sure.

Now the scholarships.

Make your mark.

Perfect. Now the recommendations. The Ambassador,

the Minister of the Exterior,

the King,...

- ...and Richard. - What Richard?

Richard, with the limp, the street-sweeper.

Marichalar. He's cool.

It needs someone foreign, right? Check it out.

Ernest of Hanover. Looks like a serious dude. Everyone quiet.

Done.

You have to be an example of how to fit in, there in Oxford.

Look at your dad, eh? Never used a cane in his life.

No one has to give us anything.

Your mum and I never even got a seeing-eye dog.

We picked up a stray and trained it.

- Canelo! - Yeah... Canelo!

- Ich liebe dich. - Dad, he doesn't understand.

All his life flat on his back,

now he's off to Oxford!

Maybe he's got abilities...

Mum, we forgot to change the piss bag. It's almost full.

- Let your dad change it. - Keep that crap away from me.

I told you not to zap your dad, he's got hypertension.

This Oxford thing is weird, son.

You don't have to prove anything.

Find yourself a girl fast,

and if you have to leave her, just get another, not like I did.

By the time I left your mum

I was bald and there was no way...

- You know what I mean? - Yeah, yeah.

These losers say they're going to Oxford.

- What'll they get up to there? - That's what I said.

- Me too. - Hey, nephew.

- What? - Are you gettin' any?

Everyone here thinks the main thing in this world

is love, family...

Something they don't mention is right there.

Rumpy-pumpy, rumpy-pumpy.

I know Medicine's not my thing.

But it's one year, Grandad.

I'll just try it out, and improve my English.

Medicine's the least of it, right?

Hide the salami, wet your wang,

feed the badger, whatever you call it.

If I regret anything, it's not fucking when I was 20

what I can't fuck at 50. You lose your drive.

This is dead weight now.

Here, I got you some Tupperware.

I did everything to win your grandma.

I was after her all day.

She was a free spirit,

a wonderful loony.

And look, here I am, just like the first day.

Where's your grandma?

She's over there.

You're going to kill yourself!