Available on Blu-ray from Radiance Films from 09/16/2025
A group of youths in Spain hangs out, gets up to petty crimes, flirts with women, and enjoys life in general.
Written by Mario Camus, Carlos Saura, and Daniel Sueiro, with Saura directing as well. The film here is interesting in how it shows these youths and their lives, how a film from 1960 pictures petty crime and youth living. The story is decently interesting but will be of limited interest to most as it’s a bit more window-on-life than true story arc. Yes, there is a story arc, but it’s not super developed, and it gets lost in the runtime. Of course, the film here comes from multiple sources that were cobbled together to get the best version possible, so it makes it a bit interesting in that some bits may be missing. Overall, the story is decent but not something that will make the viewer want to watch it again and again necessarily.
The cast here is good with a more ensemble-cast feel to how they work together. Yes, there are lead characters and lead actors, but the effect here is very much of an ensemble cast. Considering the film is one that just is there in terms of everything for this viewer, the acting is neither good nor bad, it’s also just kind of there.
On the other hand, the cinematography, with its stark black and white, is great. It sets the mood, helps the film keep the viewer’s attention, and helps make the film more interesting overall. The work by Juan Julio Baena is great here and makes more out of the film than most of the other aspects of Los Golfos. The work is solid and even had a few truly gorgeous moments peppered here and there through the film.
In terms of film, Los Golfos likely was more interesting in its original release era and with its censored scenes still in the mix. As it is, it’s one of those film that is just there, not bad, not great, just there.
The extras here are interesting and include two short films which is something more of these releases need to do as they are usually the most interesting part of the extras as is the case here. The shorter short film here, La Llamada, is the more interesting of the two and the other short, La Tarde del Domingo, is too long for its own good at 34 minutes. Other interesting extras here are the interview with EhsanKhoshbakht, the limited-edition booklet that includes original production documents, and the censored scenes with notes from the censors and director Saura. Overall, the extras here are solid and the quality of both image and sound are as good as they will likely ever get given that they had to be sources from multiple formats and places.