Early as well as interesting Mario Camus film with a realistic description  of the boxing world

Engaging ¨Boxing drama¨ including nice acting and acceptable direction by Mario Camus . It is the intense portrait of the life of an amateur boxer who falls into the hands of a cruel manager while turning into professional . Along the way he will be leaving his honesty and his friends , as well as suffering at a hard world where several motley characters live : aging , naive boxers and ambitious promoters . At it deals with a fateful journey that takes the starring to fall into the hands of a malicious role . Born into a humble worker family who resides in the area of Hospitalet Barcelona , "young Paco Sanchez" (a fine starring well personified by Julian Mateos) works as a mechanic in a factory but he desperately fights his way to the success at boxing sport . As in his spare time , veteran paternalistic coacher "Paulino" (Luis Romero) tries to lead his pupil in the right direction along with his friend , a middle-age man "Conca" (Carlos Otero) , an ex-boxer who still dreams with past greatness , both of whom train him as a boxer . However , his situation goes wrong when it comes time to make the leap from amateur to professional . Young Sanchez to be obsessed with boxing and in escaping his poverty ; he , then , is tempted by a nasty promoter called Don Rafael (as unscrupulous manager rightly acted by Sergio Dore) who is able to corrupt the sport and athletes if that makes profits . Later on , "Paco Sanchez" attempts to abandon to "Paulino" and "Conca" .

This is a provoking but slow-moving drama concerning on a few roles who suffer the consequences of their decisions . "Young Sanchez" is Camus's early film , along with ¨Los Farsantes¨ and ¨Con Viento Solano¨ where we find acute descriptions about lower classes , some atmospheric settings as well as attractive and troublesome roles . Being the adaptation by the same Mario Camus from a story by the prestigious writer Ignacio Aldecoa . It is a noir and thought-provoking drama about boxing world with ambitious promoters , rookie boxers and good trainers . As boxing genre film , "Young Sanchez" follows classic titles of the American genre such as ¨Set-up¨ by Robert Wise with Robert Ryan , ¨The champion¨ by Mark Robson with Kirk Douglas and ¨The harder they fall¨ by Robson with Humphrey Bogart , all of them we already find the dark corruption , ambition and the poor social environments in which protagonists move to thrive in the world of boxing . It's a grueling boxing tale with tough realism full of face-blistering , punches , knocks until ¨Raging Bull¨ surpassed it many years later . The main strength of the film resides on the adequate interpretations . Here stands out Julian Mateos , a famed Spanish actor , early deceased , he acted in all kinds of genres , as Gialli : ¨Cold eyes of fear¨ , Drama : ¨La Celestina¨, ¨Novios De La Muerte¨ and player in US Western as well as Spaghetti as ¨Hellbenders¨ , ¨Four rode out¨ , ¨Catlow¨ , ¨Shalako¨, ¨Return of seven magnificent¨ and even produced ¨Camus's Los Santos Inocentes¨. Support cast is pretty well , these roles are habitual archetypes rather common in this thrilling genre , such as Carlos Otero , Dore , Luis Romero and the ordinary secondary Luis Ciges , Luis Garcia Berlanga's regular . The film won several prizes : Cinema Writers Circle Awards to Best Actor : Julian Mateos ; Fotogramas De Plata , Best Spanish Movie Performer ; Mar del Plata Film Festival 1964 , Best Castillian Language Film , best actor , Best Director , Best Screenplay Ignacio Aldecoa ; and Sant Jordi Awards 1964 Won Sant Jordi Best Performance in a Spanish Film .

Atmospheric though worn-out cinematography by Victor Monreal ; however , being necessary an alright remastering . Downbeat , jazzy and sad musical score , though brief and little heard , by Enrique Escobar . Both , Victor Monreal and Enrique Escobar are ordinaries in Ignacio F. Iquino factory , ¨I.F.I¨ , Catalan production enterprise located in Barcelona . The motion picture was well directed by Mario Camus following his particular style . Camus was born in Santander , Cantabria , location in which often shoots his films . He worked with Carlos Saura in several screenplays during the early 60s as ¨Los Golfos¨ (1960), ¨ Llanto Por Un Bandido¨ (1964), and also directed some shorts . Camus shows a penchant for literary and perhaps he's the best Spanish film adapter, a fact that will be a constant in his films . His first feature films were ¨Los Farsantes¨ (1963) and ¨Young Sánchez¨ (1964), this is one of the greatest movies about boxing which won the Best Film Award at the Buenos Aires Festival . Mario has an important career with film and television adaptations quite remarkable , as he efficiently directed yarns based on notorious writers such as Perez Galdos , García Lorca , Cela Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes . During various decades he touched styles varying from romantic comedies and musicals with ¨Rafael¨ to splendid adaptations from famous novels , as is the case of the prestigious TV series "Fortunata y Jacinta" (1979) . In 1983 he was given the 'Medalla Oro De las Bellas Artes' (Arts Gold Medal), and one year later he prepared his most successful work both with public and critic : ¨Los Santos Inocentes¨ (1984), an adaptation from the novel by Miguel Delibes . Mario is an expert on interesting dramas as proved in ¨ The house of Bernarda Alba¨ , ¨La Colmena¨ which won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival , ¨The days of the past ¨ and many others . Rating : Better than average ; it's a decent film though sometimes slow-moving .

Spanish-language cinema across Spain and Latin America is united by its engagement with history, cultural identity, and social transformation. In Spain, films often balance artistic experimentation with popular genres while reflecting on memory, politics, and family. In Latin America, cinema has been deeply tied to questions of colonial legacy, resistance, and community resilience, ranging from intimate dramas to bold political allegories.

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It is the portrait of the life of an amateur boxer who falls into the hands of a cruel manager while turning into professional.

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Young Sánchez

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