Review: Eloy de la Iglesia's Trenchant, Angry 'Quinqui Collection' Receives Major Upgrade from Severin Films

After Francoist Spain finally fell and democracy was restored, the abuses of power continued. Many of Franco's collaborators were allowed to stay in their government positions after his death because of the Spanish 1977 Amnesty Law. One silver lining to the political upheaval in 1980s Spain was the reduction of censorship. It was oversights like these that allowed filmmakers like Eloy de la Iglesia to thrive and create important, straightforward, and hard-hitting dramas laced with social reflection. That kind of newfound power played a contributing factor in the production of de la Iglesia's "Quinqui Collection," a trio of films pulling from juvenile delinquent and family melodramas to create something defining for a period of such volatility in Spain's history.

The entirety of Eloy de la Iglesia's "Quniqui Collection" – 1980's "Navajeros," 1983's "El Pico," and 1984's "El Pico 2" -- has been committed to Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. All three films have been scanned in HD from their original camera negatives and are shown here in 1080p. Although the HD scans tend to look soft or have some inconsistent damage, they still look pretty great and really make these gritty and grimy juvenile dramas shine. Severin has also added a few special features that are definitely worth checking out, especially for the scholarly panel that dissects all three films.

1980's "Navajeros" is where Eloy de la Iglesia's journey with the quinqui first began, following some disaffected kids as they do heroin, loot, and evade the cops. Led by El Jaro (José Luis Manzano), the group is constantly getting into danger and seemingly headed for disaster. Then, in 1983, José Luis Manzano returned to be the lead in "El Pico," a story about a Civil Guard Commander's son dropping out of high school, doing heroin, and later dealing drugs. "El Pico" and "El Pico 2" tell one long story and de la Iglesia litters it with trenchant insights and a neorealist's touch.

If it hasn't been made clear already, watching the "Quinqui Collection" can often be tough – not only for the exploitative violence and dirges about an unjust social caste, but because of how Eloy de la Iglesia lends each film overt social criticism without drowning out the engaging and thorny journeys of these kids. That can probably be partially attributed to de la Iglesia's real-life relationship with Manzano and their own heroin addictions. All of these films feel so uniquely plugged into the subcultures that it depicts without any presumption.

Severin Films has once again done a great job at bringing important genre films to the forefront with this release of Eloy de la Iglesia's "Quinqui Collection." These films transcend standard exploitation with righteous fury; therefore, they come highly recommended.

Special features include:

� "José Sacristán on Eloy de la Iglesia" – Interview with actor José Sacristán
� "Blood in the Streets: The Quinqui Film Phenomenon" – An interview with quinqui historians Mery Cuesta and Tom Whittaker
� "Queerness, Crime, and the Basque Conflict in the Quinqui Films of Eloy de la Iglesia" – A panel with scholars Alejandro Melero and Paul Julian Smith, moderated by Evan Purchell of "Ask Any Buddy"
� Trailers

Eloy de la Iglesia's "Quinqui Collection" is now available on Blu-ray from Severin Films.