Los Golfos — Los Golfos( Blu Ray)

From the early 60’s Los Golfos (The Delinquents) focuses on a youth gang in Madrid. As the film progresses, their crimes get steadily worse, though one of their number has possibly found a way out of a life of crime, becoming a matador. It’s a neo-realist film, shot in a gritty documentary style, really giving one a feel of the city & its suburbs. Though the film does have a rather unpleasant tone, with moments of animal cruelty. Here from Radiance Films is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a 4k scan, and a selection of old and new extras.

Los Golfos is from the year 1960. It was the first feature film from Huesca, Aragón, Spain, born Carlos Saura, who, before this, made four short films. Between the 60s and early 2020’s, he had a total of forty-four credits to his name. These take in paranoid love triangle drama, Stress Is Three (1968), comedy fantasy Mama Turns 100 (1979), psychological drama Sweet Hours (1982), documentary about the Barcelona Olympic games, Marathon (1993), and musical, The King of all the World (2021).

The film opens with an old & blind cigarette seller being robbed by one of the gang members. We then jerkily move to a sun-beaten training bull-fighting ring, where another one of the gang, Julián (Manuel Zarzo) is training.

As the picture unfolds, we move from atmospheric, misty early morning shots of the suburb in which the group lives. Onto sun-beaten and dusty lots, busy markets with people carrying huge amounts of produce via leather headbands. And onto the main city streets, which are baked by the sun.

The late teen/ early twenties-aged ‘gang’ is made up of five or so members- though we never get fully/ formally introduced to all of the gang, with either passing mentions of the name or none at all…it’s only Julián we get to semi know.

As things progress, the gang's crimes step up in severity- first stealing fruit from the market, robbing tools from a lorry, and then going on to knock out & rob various people. Finally robbing an underground garage- with multiple victims/violence

We, of course, have the bull-fighting elements, and as we go on, these become more extreme and unpleasant.

I’ll have to say I was very torn as to whether I liked/ got anything from it, Los Golfos …and to be honest, I’m very much on the fence. On the positive side, it’s certainly a very gritty/ real look at 50’s Madrid. There are a few taut robbery/ chase moments, but unfortunately, it often sees the gang get away Scot-free. On the negatives, all of the gang are rather unpleasant, with zero redeeming qualities, and towards the end of the proceedings, one was truly hoping they would get some sort of karma. And lastly, there is the bull-fighting element- this moves from teasing/ tormenting the poor animal, to all-out stabbing at it with a sword.

The region-free Blu-ray features a 4k scan. It’s fair to say that the quality of the scan is mixed- at points, there is good definition/ clarity, but at others it looks decidedly rough & washed out. I guess that’s the issue when a film is so rare.

On the new extras side, we have the following: Introduction by author and former director of Filmoteca Catalunya Esteve Riambau(22.16), who starts by giving historic context to the time of release, when Franco was in charge of Spain. He discusses the film's director, Carlos Saura, and its producer, Pere Portabella. And of course the film itself. Interview with filmmaker and curator Ehsan Khoshbakht on Los golfos, its influences and makers (17.11).

On the archive side, we have the following: Censored scenes ( 12.57), scenes affected by censorship are presented alongside notes from the censorship committee and Carlos Saura. Two early shorts by Two early short films by Carlos Saura: 1955 La llamada (7.04) and 1957 La Tarde Del Domingo (33.42 ).

The finished release comes with a thirty-two-page booklet. This takes in details of the cast and crew. A new ten-page write-up about the film by Mar Diestro-Dópido. The 1959 report on the film script, and an in-depth rundown of the restoration process.

There is no doubt about the historic importance of Los Golfos in Spanish cinema, as well as being a great snapshot of a certain time in the country's history. But the unlikable characters and animal cruelty make it not a particularly pleasant watch. Good for Radiance for putting this release out, and as usual, they give the film a stellar release.