{"id":32050,"date":"2025-09-17T22:50:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32050"},"modified":"2025-09-17T22:50:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:50:25","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-los-golfos-1960-aka-the-delinquents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32050","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: LOS GOLFOS (1960) aka THE DELINQUENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is now\navailable for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some movies serve as incredible windows into an era. The\n1960 release Los Golfos<\/em> aka The Delinquents<\/em> is one of those\nfeatures. It is a narrative that doesn\u2019t present a completely authentic,\nneorealist vision (there are some elaborate camera moves and a few story beats\nthat feel orchestrated) like Italian films of the late 40s and early 50s, this\neffort still paints an incredibly believable and vivid picture of life in\nSpain. Radiance Films has once again found another incredible international\ntitle and is presenting it as a \u201cLimited Edition” Blu-ray with a stunning\nimage and some incredible extras.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plot involves a group of young and poor individuals\nattempting to survive on the outskirts of Madrid and make a better life for\nthemselves. Of course, under the authoritarian Francisco Franco regime, the\nonly way for the financially strapped to crawl out of poverty is through\ncriminal activity. Juli\u00e1n (Manuel Zarzo), Ram\u00f3n (Luis Marin), Juan (Oscar\nCruz), el Chato (Juanjo Losada), Paco (Ramon Rubio) and Manolo (Rafael Vargas)\nare the young men struggling to make something of themselves. To do so, the gang\nengages in petty crimes, including robberies, as well as stealing from delivery\ntrucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group realize that this isn\u2019t really leading them\nanywhere and a few members have different aspirations. In particular, Jaun\nwants to be a bullfighter. His pals support his dream to get out of their\nimpoverished district, but soon learn that for him to get his big break by\nperforming to a crowd in an arena, they need to pay a show promoter a hefty\nadvance. Their illegal activities become bigger and more dangerous in order to\naccomplish this goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the course of the tale, there is infighting between\nmembers when some bristle at the more brazen crimes. But the group members are\nleft with no other options. Of course, things do not go according to plan, with\none friend meeting a terrible fate. And, when Juan finally gets his opportunity\nto impress in the bullfighting ring, it all goes sideways and presumably leaves\nthe group back where they started, with even less hope for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This picture marked the directorial debut of Carlos Suara,\nwho over his career would go on to make other Spanish classics like The\nHunt, Cria Cuervos, Carmen, Flamenco<\/em> and many others. Because of the Franco\nregime under which this title was made, it was heavily censored after its debut\nat the Cannes Film Festival. Approximately 12 minutes of footage was removed by\nthe government. Only after the chops were made did the feature receive a brief\nrelease in Spain two years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the decades have passed, most of the missing footage has\nbeen recovered and this edition is considered the closest to the original\nversion that was presented at Cannes. In fact, the film has been restored in 4K\nFilmoteca Espa\u00f1ola in collaboration with Films 59 at Digital and Electronic\nSystems laboratory from the 35mm acetate negative. 35mm prints and other\nintermediate photochemical materials were used to rescue some of that lost\nfootage and incorporate it into the body of the work. They\u2019ve done an exceptional\njob and it\u2019s nearly impossible to identify the added material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, this new edition looks incredible and presents a\nsharp and detailed image. You can see all of the dirty and run-down Madrid\nfactories, streets and backgrounds with near crystal clarity, including dark\nblacks and bold images. This is one of those releases that really stuns and the\nimage is so good that, on my system some shots almost seem to possess the\nillusion of depth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was particularly impressed with the bigger vistas. Most\nimpressive is the bustling food market that one of the characters works at, and\nwhich the others visit and attempt to steal from. Clearly, the actors were\nallowed to wander around and shoot at a working market, and one can see that\neverything around the characters look worn and of an earlier era. There are\nnone of the new technical advances that would have been around in other\ncountries at the time, with the movie showing the real harshness of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And while the early small-time crimes aren\u2019t deadly, they\nare uncomfortable to watch. Young ruffians are forced to take advantage of the\nelderly and (in one instance) blind in order to get what they want. It again\nemphasizes just how horrible life could be in this part of the city at this\npoint in history. In the end, this excellent film is deserving of its classic\nstatus, making a lasting impression with its striking images and memorable\nmoments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extras on the Blu-ray are equally engaging. There are a\ncouple of engaging interviews with Spanish film historians. The first features\nauthor and former director of Filmoteca Catalunya Esteve Riambau, who talks\nabout the country under Franco rule. He notes that, during the 50s and early\n60s, the authoritarian leader managed to convince the American president Dwight\nEisenhower that his ugly regime should be supported because it was fighting\ncommunism and leftist ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the speaker notes how the images in the film\nshow the country at a standstill, failing to move into the future and suffering\ngreatly from economic failure. He talks about director Saura\u2019s career and how\nthe filmmaker would come under fire from the government. It seems the film\nsubtly delivers some criticism of the regime, but only so much… as censorship\nand reprisals prevented bolder statements. All of the information is\nfascinating to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second critic goes into many of the director\u2019s other\ntitles and shows how he was pushing boundaries throughout his career. He also\ngoes into detail about this film\u2019s historical significance. The speaker\nmentions the scenes that were censored, noting that much of the edits had to do\nwith images that the conservative regime considered \u201cblasphemous\u201d. A heavily\ntrimmed party scene involves two people making out underneath a painting of a\nreligious figure, while a complete sequence involving one of the young leads\nand his girlfriend conversing in bed was removed. Again, this speaker gives\nsome valuable insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is another extra that gets even more specific about\nthe film\u2019s censorship, showing all the cuts that were made by the government\nafter its Cannes premiere. There are written comments from the censor board\nabout what they disapproved of and the necessary changes, which is interesting\nto behold. You\u2019ll also see a fragment of a shot featuring a notable line of\ndialogue from the film. This bit was removed from a conversation in which a\ncharacter laments about how difficult it is to survive in Madrid. The complete\nshot wasn\u2019t recovered and thus they were unable to restore this line into the\nfilm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These features are worthwhile enough, but Radiance Films has\nalso included two shorts from the moviemaker. La llamada<\/em> (1955) is a\nmelancholy story about a man preparing to leave his family behind and go off to\nwar. The print is a little beat up, but the film and its sentiment is moving.\nLa Tarde del Domingo<\/em> (1957) is a more developed and accomplished effort\nabout a live-in maid living an oppressed life. There is some impressive\nphotography of the city and one can see a natural progression between the short\nand Los Golfos<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As with other titles from Radiance Films, there is a booklet\nwith extra writing on the picture and a reversible sleeve with original and\nnewly commissioned art for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Los Golfos<\/em> is another winner from Radiance Films,\ndelivering a classic Spanish film with an incredible transfer and some great\nextras that will help viewers appreciate the film even more. It is distinctive\nin its own way from Italian neorealism, but anyone who appreciates those works\nwould also enjoy this effort. This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is definitely\nworth seeking out and picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is now available for purchase. Some movies serve as incredible windows into an era. The 1960 release Los Golfos aka The Delinquents is one of those features. It is a narrative that doesn\u2019t present a completely authentic, neorealist vision (there are some elaborate camera moves and a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[89,2971,3916,4483,6251,7821,12627,12628,12629,12779,12900,13069,15502,16584,18788,20459,20460],"class_list":["post-32050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-89","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blasts-from-the-past-los-golfos","tag-carlos-suara","tag-classic","tag-drama","tag-franco","tag-los-golfos","tag-los-golfos-blu-ray-review","tag-los-golfos-review","tag-luis-marin","tag-madrid","tag-manuel-zarzo","tag-oscar-cruz","tag-radiance-films","tag-spain","tag-the-delinquents","tag-the-delinquents-blu-ray-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}