Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

El Pico Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 12, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Eloy de la Iglesia's Quinqui Collection.

It can be kind of interesting to trace when various genres or subgenres in film started to appear in various countries. In the United States, for example, there was a veritable glut of so-called "juvenile delinquent" films that began showing up in the fifties in particular, though there are probably isolated incidents of quasi-JDs appearing considerably earlier (arguably like those seen in 1937's Dead End, who continued on as The East Side Kids, among other appellations) . But the post-World War II era really seemed to give rise to this kind of film, with everything from Blackboard Jungle to Rebel Without a Cause ensuing (both of those interestingly from the same year of 1955). The genre may have tended more toward exploitation fare as it continued, with more overtly hyperbolic productions like Reform School Girl, The Green-Eyed Blonde and The Party Crashers (the last two directed by genre stalwart Bernard Girard, and the last film offering the final big screen performances from both Frances Farmer and Bobby Driscoll). By the time juvenile delinquents were seen singing and dancing in West Side Story, the genre may have obviously morphed pretty significantly, but in its own way, it continued apace with any number of films throughout the sixties and beyond, including a glut of "biker gang" outings.

Perhaps due to the influence of Franco, who may not have wanted the world to think that "his" country had any problems with errant youth, Spain didn't really start offering juvenile delinquent films until the 1970s, though, again, there are isolated examples that can be cited, like Luis Bunuel's The Young and the Damned, which kind of interestingly given the above data was released in 1950. The word quinqui was utilized to define this emerging late 70s - early 80s genre (or subgenre, if you prefer) featuring Spanish JDs, and while that word may seem like it should be inherently linked etymologically to "delinquent", the actual facts may be a bit different, as is discussed in one of the supplements included on this set of discs. Whatever the genesis of the term actually is, Eloy de la Iglesia is considered one of the prime creators of quinqui films, and this collection from Severin offers a trio of often graphically disturbing works that have a bit of a Neorealist flavor to them, albeit in the mean streets of Madrid and Bilbao rather than Rome and environs.

The films of Eloy de la Iglesia often have a rather piquant sociopolitical subtext (and, frankly, text), and that's certainly the case with El Pico, a film that manages to deal not just with youths running amok and getting hooked on the Big H, but also the simmering tensions in Spain between Basque separatists and Spanish nationalists. In this film de la Iglesia muse José Luis Manzano portrays Paco, who is the son of Evaristo Torrecuadrada (José Manuel Cervino), an ultra right Civil Guard Commander. In what might cheekily compared to this film's version of Romeo and Juliet and/or West Side Story, Paco's best friend Urko (Javier García) is the son of ultra leftist Martín Aramendia (Luis Iriondo), who is on a mission to free the Basque region from Spanish rule. Unbeknownst to both of the fathers, their sons are not only very good friends, they're also both heroin addicts.

A series of melodramatic vignettes ensue, some involving Paco's mortally ill mother, with both Torrecuadrada and Aramendia having to put aside their differences in order to try to save their sons. Things actually look positive for a brief shining moment, before everything descends into a nightmarish final act that seems to suggest that even those with relatively strong support systems around them may not be able to make their way to happily ever after. Once again Manzano is a remarkable presence, and de la Iglesia does not shirk from the horrors of shooting drugs.

El Pico Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

El Pico is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The back cover of this release states that all three films in this collection have been "scanned in HD from the original negatives". There are some occasional very slight variances in clarity in this presentation, along with a few minor distractions like a bit of wobble during credits, but otherwise this is a strong and very appealing looking transfer. Colors are natural and nicely suffused throughout, and fine detail is excellent (and often quite disturbing, as in some close-ups of needles entering arms). I mentioned in our Navajeros Blu-ray review how there were some passing instances of a slightly yellowish quality, and similarly there are just touches of blue undertones at times here, though nothing that really skews the palette very artificially. Grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation and I noticed no major age related wear and tear of any kind.

El Pico Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

El Pico features an expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that offers a good deal of energy in some of its effects and scoring choices. Good accountings of ambient environmental effects are offered in outdoor scenes, and dialogue is rendered without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

El Pico Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 3:04)

El Pico Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a feeling of hurtling toward unavoidable tragedy suffusing El Pico, and its documentation of very worried parents on opposite sides of the political aisle gives this film a very interesting perspective. Technical merits are solid, and El Pico comes Recommended.