AllMovie

Though he launched his career as a director in the late '60s with Algo Amargo en la Boca/Something Bitter in the Mouth (1968), Spanish filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia did not attract widespread notice until his fourth effort, the critically acclaimed thriller El Techo de Cristal/The Glass Ceiling (1970). Before entering Spanish cinema, de la Iglesia studied humanities at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; he also attended the prestigious Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques in Paris. Following graduation, de la Iglesia established himself as a writer of children's television programs for Radiotelevisíon Española in Barcelona. During the early '70s, de la Iglesia was a member of the Spanish Communist Party; his films of this period reflected his beliefs and often centered on violent forms of social protest. Favorite topics included class relations and social oppression by the state. Many of de la Iglesia's films contained prodigious amounts of bizarre sex, which generated even more controversy. After the mid-'70s, de la Iglesia's films increasingly focused on homosexuality and social problems such as juvenile delinquency and drug addiction. De la Iglesia contended with the latter himself in the 1980s and even stopped making films for a time. Claiming his addiction to cinema was stronger than his drug problems, de la Iglesia eventually kicked his habit and resumed his career. In Spain, his filmography has been closely aligned with the aesthetic of the "Y-Front."