Had Luis Bunuel ever made a bad movie? I've seen fourteen his films and every one of them is great, simply fantastic, starting with the most famous short film, 17 minutes long "Un chien andalou" (1929) and ending with his swan song, "That obscure object of desire" (1977). Bunuel made films in France, his native Spain, and in Mexico where he had to immigrate after Franco came to power in Spain. Each of his films is uniquely brilliant but all of them have in common his magic touch no matter what period of his life they belong.
"El Bruto" is no exception and it is a strong combination of a surreal melodrama and political film which could also be viewed as a modern retelling of the Frankenstein's story. Pedro "El Bruto" is a young tough slaughterhouse laborer who is exploited by a tyrannical landowner who may be his father and to whom he is very loyal. He is eager to help Don Andres to evict the poor tenants form their houses that belong to Don Andres. Pedro is a simple man who was not used to think a lot and analyze the motivations of the others but he will learn and his eyes will open. Pedro will become a not so obscure object of desire of two women, passionate and strong-willed Paloma, the young wife of Don Andres and the kind and gentle Meche, whose father Pedro accidentally kills while doing the job for Don Andres. As is supposed to be in the melodrama, one of the women is scorned and hell hath no fury as she does and the inevitable ending is coming. The very last shot of the movie with its enigmatic irony is pure Bunuel - only he would finish the film the way he did.
