166 reviews
Where do I start? Perhaps, by writing WOW a few hundred times in a row...
The very opening shots and voice-over warn us that this was not an optimistic movie. It instantly made me believe this would be Las Hurdes in Mexico, something like a fictionalised version of Buñuel's 1933 faux-documentary about the extreme poverty of the peasants in the remote Spanish Las Hurdes region. In the first half hour, Los Olvidados's mood and style remained faithful to the influence of several Italian neo-realist movies I'd seen, namely De Sica and perhaps some early Pasolini (namely, Accattone). In a looser sense, maybe also Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! seemed to have gotten some inspiration from Buñuel's movie. And finally, I could also and more obviously see that Fernando Meirelles's Cidade de Deus (City of God) owed more than a little to this 1950 masterpiece. I love it when I finally get to see the movie that has influenced so many other (usually minor, but more famous) films that have followed it even several decades after its release! Los Olvidados would still have been an excellent film, even if it had remained Italian neo-realistic-like till the end. But to my delight and wonder, it became something much more unique and memorable as soon as its own distinct, Buñuelian flavour kicked in halfway through, IMO elevating this picture to something more than "just" powerfully gritty and cinematically honest (as can be said and admired in the works of De Sica, Rossellini et al). To be honest, though I AM Italian and the spirit of neo-realism is somehow deeply embedded in my cultural subconscious, my problem with the Italian neo-realists has always been their lack of vision, or refusal to also venture into the otherworldly, the spiritual, the dream-like, the allegorical. Though I bow before the greatness of the Italian neo-realist masters, I will never feel completely conquered by their otherwise mesmerising pictures. Before watching Los Olvidados, I was never quite sure of the reason for this. With this movie, Buñuel has finally put his finger on exactly what I've always found was missing in pictures like Sciuscià, Accattone and Roma Città Aperta for them to truly get not just under my skin, but into my wildest dreams and imagination as well - an ability to interweave the fantastical in something that couldn't be more grounded in reality. Yet, why can't the lives of the underprivileged underbelly of the world, in this case a Mexican shantytown of the late 40s, also evoke magic? Is the fantastical only a privilege of the bougeoisie? I think not! Thank you, Buñuel, for inspiring me into thinking about this...
The very opening shots and voice-over warn us that this was not an optimistic movie. It instantly made me believe this would be Las Hurdes in Mexico, something like a fictionalised version of Buñuel's 1933 faux-documentary about the extreme poverty of the peasants in the remote Spanish Las Hurdes region. In the first half hour, Los Olvidados's mood and style remained faithful to the influence of several Italian neo-realist movies I'd seen, namely De Sica and perhaps some early Pasolini (namely, Accattone). In a looser sense, maybe also Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! seemed to have gotten some inspiration from Buñuel's movie. And finally, I could also and more obviously see that Fernando Meirelles's Cidade de Deus (City of God) owed more than a little to this 1950 masterpiece. I love it when I finally get to see the movie that has influenced so many other (usually minor, but more famous) films that have followed it even several decades after its release! Los Olvidados would still have been an excellent film, even if it had remained Italian neo-realistic-like till the end. But to my delight and wonder, it became something much more unique and memorable as soon as its own distinct, Buñuelian flavour kicked in halfway through, IMO elevating this picture to something more than "just" powerfully gritty and cinematically honest (as can be said and admired in the works of De Sica, Rossellini et al). To be honest, though I AM Italian and the spirit of neo-realism is somehow deeply embedded in my cultural subconscious, my problem with the Italian neo-realists has always been their lack of vision, or refusal to also venture into the otherworldly, the spiritual, the dream-like, the allegorical. Though I bow before the greatness of the Italian neo-realist masters, I will never feel completely conquered by their otherwise mesmerising pictures. Before watching Los Olvidados, I was never quite sure of the reason for this. With this movie, Buñuel has finally put his finger on exactly what I've always found was missing in pictures like Sciuscià, Accattone and Roma Città Aperta for them to truly get not just under my skin, but into my wildest dreams and imagination as well - an ability to interweave the fantastical in something that couldn't be more grounded in reality. Yet, why can't the lives of the underprivileged underbelly of the world, in this case a Mexican shantytown of the late 40s, also evoke magic? Is the fantastical only a privilege of the bougeoisie? I think not! Thank you, Buñuel, for inspiring me into thinking about this...
- Asa_Nisi_Masa2
- Sep 18, 2006
- Permalink
This ¨ The Young and the damned¨ or ¨The forgotten ones¨deals with a group of juvenile outsiders delinquents who live violent and crime-full existences in the squalid slums of Mexico. There a reform-school escaped young , El Jaibo , goes back to his neighborhood and seeks vengeance against the informant who allegedly sent him in prison. Obsessed to find him, at last he meets him, and a terrible retribution takes place. The weak and unwitting little boy Pedro and the violent villain El Jaibo will intricately interweave their bitter fates . While the young boy Pedro, : Mejia, is gradually coerced and corrupted by the nasty leader delinquent bent on revenge : Roberto Cobo.
Wrenching, documentary- like account of waifs, beggars, street urchins, delinquents and poor youngsters in the streets from the Mexican metropolis. And sadly showing quite a few amoral roles , corruption , badness and despicable acts of pure evil carried out by some young people . Graphic and depressing, including violent and disagreeable scenes. It is not for all tastes, but nonetheless masterfully done. From surrealist Luis Buñuel shot in 21days and edited in 4 days, being stunningly photographed in black and while by excellent cameraman Gabriel Figueroa .
The picture was well directed by Luis Buñuel during his Mexico period. He first Mexico made film was Gran Casino with Jorge Negrete and following The great Madcap or El Gran Calavera with Fernando Soler. Then, he was hired by producer Oscar Dancigers to make this film The Forgotten Ones based on facts, and being shot in Tepeyac studios. He followed directing in Mexico with the same producer a lot of titles, such as : The devil and the flesh, Mexican bus ride, The Brute, El, Robinson Crusoe , A woman without love, Wuthering heights , The criminal life of Archibald Cruz , Evil eden, Nazarin , The Young one , The Angel Exterminator , Simon of the desert . And his French period including : Diary of a chambermaid , Belle de Jour, The milky way , Discreet charm of Bourgeoise, The phantom of Liberty. The exiled Spanish director also shot in Spain some films , such as : Las Hurdes tierra sin Pan, Tristana, Viridiana and his last film : Obscure object desire. Rating : Above average . Essential and indispensable watching for Luis Buñuel buffs
Wrenching, documentary- like account of waifs, beggars, street urchins, delinquents and poor youngsters in the streets from the Mexican metropolis. And sadly showing quite a few amoral roles , corruption , badness and despicable acts of pure evil carried out by some young people . Graphic and depressing, including violent and disagreeable scenes. It is not for all tastes, but nonetheless masterfully done. From surrealist Luis Buñuel shot in 21days and edited in 4 days, being stunningly photographed in black and while by excellent cameraman Gabriel Figueroa .
The picture was well directed by Luis Buñuel during his Mexico period. He first Mexico made film was Gran Casino with Jorge Negrete and following The great Madcap or El Gran Calavera with Fernando Soler. Then, he was hired by producer Oscar Dancigers to make this film The Forgotten Ones based on facts, and being shot in Tepeyac studios. He followed directing in Mexico with the same producer a lot of titles, such as : The devil and the flesh, Mexican bus ride, The Brute, El, Robinson Crusoe , A woman without love, Wuthering heights , The criminal life of Archibald Cruz , Evil eden, Nazarin , The Young one , The Angel Exterminator , Simon of the desert . And his French period including : Diary of a chambermaid , Belle de Jour, The milky way , Discreet charm of Bourgeoise, The phantom of Liberty. The exiled Spanish director also shot in Spain some films , such as : Las Hurdes tierra sin Pan, Tristana, Viridiana and his last film : Obscure object desire. Rating : Above average . Essential and indispensable watching for Luis Buñuel buffs
Great film by Luis Buñuel. The misery of the Mexican slums is perfectly illustrated. The old black & white picture depicts even more the tragedy of the story.
Great lines too. When the kid is pushing the carousel used by the rich, he needs some rest but: "You'll rest when you die". And this one from the director of the reform school: "If we could lock up misery forever" (instead of the kids).
Another thing to say about this movie: the actors are not actors. What I mean is these are people who haven't been to film school. There not acting, there telling us what it is to live their daily life.
Seen at home, in Toronto, on June 29th, 2002.
88/100 (***½)
Great lines too. When the kid is pushing the carousel used by the rich, he needs some rest but: "You'll rest when you die". And this one from the director of the reform school: "If we could lock up misery forever" (instead of the kids).
Another thing to say about this movie: the actors are not actors. What I mean is these are people who haven't been to film school. There not acting, there telling us what it is to live their daily life.
Seen at home, in Toronto, on June 29th, 2002.
88/100 (***½)
- LeRoyMarko
- Sep 13, 2002
- Permalink
To better understand this movie is necessary to make some history. By 1950, Mexico was involved in the filming golden era. Histories about brave Mexican machos riding horses, singing songs to beautiful girls and drinking a lot of tequila were produced with success. By that time, actors like Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and Pedro Armedariz were real idols and people were in line to see the most recent productions. Then Luis Buñuel wrote the story about the poverty and conditions of street children in Mexico City. No matter that the production, photography, direction and even the performances of relatively unknown actors were most than good, no matter that for the first time in Mexico someone produced a film totally different, with the influence of the Italian Neo-realism, No matter that someone had the guts to film the reality of the majorities living in big cities, Buñuel was severally criticized and even censored. The film produced a lot of reactions in the prosper Mexico. How is possible that someone could say that this is the reality in this country? How is possible that a person from another country filmed a Mexican history about something that really he didn't know? At that time, most of the persons were against the movie, but then something happen. In Cannes Festival (1951) Los Olvidados received the award for best direction and all reviews and comments about the film and Buñuel were positive. When the international festival ended, Mexican authorities decided to release the movie again to the cinemas and the success was immediate. By the end of the year (1951) Los olvidados won 11 Ariel awards (Oscar equivalent for Mexican productions), including the golden Ariel for best picture and three different awards for Buñuel (directing, screenplay and adaptation). Why is important to mention this? Fortunately, for the good of filming industry worldwide, Buñuel received the support and budget to continue with his projects. Probably the history had been very different if Cannes festival didn't recognize the work of one of the greatest directors ever. Now, this movie is considered as a cult and classic, and a reference for many film makers world wide. Directors like Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, Godard, Kubrick and so many more talked about this film (and Buñuel work in general) as magnificent, superb, brilliant. That's why this film is so important. Talking about the movie and the history, we can stand out the surrealist images along the entire movie. The scene of Pedrito's dream is nothing but brilliant. Then when the blind man is assaulted by the young kids there is a reference with the chicken in front of him. When El Jaibo is killed by the cop we see the image floating around with a dog. This is the first FREE work of Buñuel since the "the golden age" in 1930. He made a totally new concept for Mexican films. He told the audiences that real life is not a happy history, is made of common people with problems, passions, misery and even in that conditions is possible to have the most deeply emotions. He showed on screen the impacting endings, beautiful images and shakes the conscience of thousands. "Los olvidados" is one of his finest films and with no doubt the first great Mexican movie (fair to mention Emilio Fernadez' "Maria Candelaria (1944) and "Publerina" (1948) as it closest contending). Recently and alternate ending for the movie was released to the public. In that sequence we saw Pedrito returning to the children house, after he bought the cigarettes to the principal. A happy end. He was forced to shoot it, but again, fortunately the crude and strong outcome prevailed for the good of the history, to show us that a lot of times real life is not necessary a happy conclusion, that sometimes there are children with good intentions in wrong environments, that poverty is a monster that is consuming the majority, that horrible crimes could be committed with apparently cold blood; that sometimes someone (like Buñuel) could shake our conscience once a while. "Los Olvidados" a must see movie and reference.
Please, right now, take away the featured user comment that calls Los Olvidados a "nice, short drama." This is perhaps the worst assessment of any movie I have ever heard, and whoever said it cannot recognize how masterful the film is because his or her senses have been dulled by too many action movies. I say that because this film, from surrealist master Luis Buñuel, is as admirable as nearly any portrait of poverty and crime, with the probable exception of DeSica's The Bicycle Thief. In fact, though, Los Olvidados is much much more brutal and harrowing than The Bicycle Thief (not to say that this assures it to be a superior film). Buñuel mostly takes a break from his surrealist tendencies in this film, with the exception of a few remarkably effective dream sequences, and creates a ultra-realist portrait of Mexican slums that is uncompromisingly frank. All the characters, including a young boy caught up in a dangerous gang, his harsh mother, the gang leader and vicious bully, and a bitter old blind man, among others, and what transpires among them are expertly captured by Buñuel's camera. To characterize this movie, I would call it a much more bleak and brutal Neo-realist film, with a touch of surrealism. I would also characterize it as a masterpiece. Why this film does not show up on more top film lists I am unsure, but all I can say is that it should not be missed by any serious film connoisseur.
- berrrrgman
- Jan 19, 2002
- Permalink
I just saw this at the local art house theatre and I realized that I've never seen a decent print of this masterpiece which ranks alongside Citizen Kane and the Bicycle Thieves as the greatest film ever made. What a shame? I'm waiting for Criterion or somebody to restore it and give it the respect it so rightfully deserves.
However, watching butchered, scratched prints with a muddy soundtrack has given the film a charm and personality. It's as dirty and grungy as the story it is telling.
This film is perfect. It's the closest thing to artistic TRUTH that I've seen. And yes the characters are rotten but they break your heart. Just when you think Jaibo is one of the screens greatest villains, he tells a story about being abandened as a child, and seeing the beautiful face of a woman who looked like a saint who may or may not have been his mother. Powerful stuff. Never have I seen a more relentless and brutal film. It never shys away from the truth and try to sugar coat it. All the kids are complex. They're neither innocents or devils. The story of troubled youth and urban violence have been told countless of times, but this is the real deal and the measuring stick for all.
However, watching butchered, scratched prints with a muddy soundtrack has given the film a charm and personality. It's as dirty and grungy as the story it is telling.
This film is perfect. It's the closest thing to artistic TRUTH that I've seen. And yes the characters are rotten but they break your heart. Just when you think Jaibo is one of the screens greatest villains, he tells a story about being abandened as a child, and seeing the beautiful face of a woman who looked like a saint who may or may not have been his mother. Powerful stuff. Never have I seen a more relentless and brutal film. It never shys away from the truth and try to sugar coat it. All the kids are complex. They're neither innocents or devils. The story of troubled youth and urban violence have been told countless of times, but this is the real deal and the measuring stick for all.
Buñuel's most serious, concerned and poignant film. If 'les Quatre cent coups' (1959, Truffaut) is good, this is brilliant. Only the cinematography, which is still very good, can not equal the level of that film. Everything in this meticulous film has a purpose: nothing is left to coincidence and 10 seconds missed is fatal (the brilliance we're only used from Kurosawa and Eisenstein). Buñuel uses his intuitive graphics and metaphoric sequences, rather than fancy lighting and cocky cinematography, to emphasize his concern with the boys (the protagonists: the 'forgotten ones') and his aversion to the apathy of the fathers (who haven't much screen time) who mind-numbed think about sanctions rather than the causes of the delinquency.
'Los Olvidados' deals with the distance between two generations, especially the distance between fathers and sons. Where that distance in 'a Clockwork Orange' and 'Fight Club' leads to virtually unbridled violence, and in 'les Quatre cent coups' (1959, Truffaut) to other misdemeanors, not to mention the innocent mischief in 'les Mistons' (1957, Truffaut, short), here it leads to callousness and abuse of whatever is in the way. But in the way of what? Do the lives of 'the forgotten ones' have a direction at all, apart from trite survival?
Although M (1931, Fritz Lang) already focuses on the psychological problems that delinquents can have (first serial killer on celluloid ever), the other movies mentioned above are all younger, so I tend to believe that Los Olvidados was a groundbreaking film and inspired the other filmmakers. Correct me if I'm wrong. Los Olvidados deals with the distance from the apathetic parents, in Clockwork the parents are petit-bourgeois populace, in Fight Club seem to exist no parents at all (generation x) and in Quatre cent coups the parents have their own problems and not enough persuasiveness to create a solid ground. Finally Los Olvidados reminded me of 'Rocco e i suoi fratelli' (1962, Visconti), where a family moves to the city too and a disciplinary father figure lacks.
This is another Buñuel film that seems to have no precise beginning and no end. It's just there with all its brilliance to raise a matter, and should not be missed, for it demands a distinguished place in film history somewhere between M and A Clockwork Orange.
Why o why can't we vote 11 :(
'Los Olvidados' deals with the distance between two generations, especially the distance between fathers and sons. Where that distance in 'a Clockwork Orange' and 'Fight Club' leads to virtually unbridled violence, and in 'les Quatre cent coups' (1959, Truffaut) to other misdemeanors, not to mention the innocent mischief in 'les Mistons' (1957, Truffaut, short), here it leads to callousness and abuse of whatever is in the way. But in the way of what? Do the lives of 'the forgotten ones' have a direction at all, apart from trite survival?
Although M (1931, Fritz Lang) already focuses on the psychological problems that delinquents can have (first serial killer on celluloid ever), the other movies mentioned above are all younger, so I tend to believe that Los Olvidados was a groundbreaking film and inspired the other filmmakers. Correct me if I'm wrong. Los Olvidados deals with the distance from the apathetic parents, in Clockwork the parents are petit-bourgeois populace, in Fight Club seem to exist no parents at all (generation x) and in Quatre cent coups the parents have their own problems and not enough persuasiveness to create a solid ground. Finally Los Olvidados reminded me of 'Rocco e i suoi fratelli' (1962, Visconti), where a family moves to the city too and a disciplinary father figure lacks.
This is another Buñuel film that seems to have no precise beginning and no end. It's just there with all its brilliance to raise a matter, and should not be missed, for it demands a distinguished place in film history somewhere between M and A Clockwork Orange.
Why o why can't we vote 11 :(
Los Olvidados, translated as The Young and the Damned, is a treatise on the street-life of kids in Mexico City. There are at least three characters who are of focus here, and three others on the sidelines with equal importance: El Jaibo, a rough young man who's grown up on the street his whole life, and who's picked up more than his share of wicked, ego-driven habits; "Big Eyes" as he's called by a Blind Man (he's credited as Lost Boy on this site) is a kid whose lost his father, and is taken in by the old-fashioned, hardened old man, who lives next to the girl Meche; and Pedro, the hero, is deep down a good soul, but with a side that just wants to roam the streets, at the carelessness of his estranged mother, who like her son is poverty stricken. Pedro, one day, witnesses Jaibo commit a killing of a squealer, and this puts him in a bad position, as his relationship with his mother unfolds, and so on.
All through Los Olvidados, based on real events and real people from the streets, I kept on feeling for these people in the same way I did for the characters I saw in the neo-realism movies like La Terra Trema and Shoeshine. Here are people who are so starkly depicted who can practically smell the streets coming off of them. That they are non-professionals in real settings, like in those movies, and the stories are such simple yet heart-felt, goes to show the mastery of Luis Bunuel. While he became infamous for such films in the thirties like Un Chien Andalou and L'Age D'Or, and later for such originals like Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and the obscure Phantom of Liberty (the climax in that is something that could've inspired most gross-out comedies of late), this film displays his worth as a writer/director outside of the reputation he garnered in that he tells us the story, with the little details and complex emotions that the Italian directors were able to bring forth, while every once in a while reminding us that it is his brand of movie-making at work.
And, un-like his other works, he does this ever-so fleetingly that I only caught his style creeping in twice: the first was a tip of the hat to his surrealistic roots, when Pedro has a dream that seems to correspond perfectly to his truths and the truths of the neighborhood as he asks her why (in an earlier scene) she didn't give him any meat. She brings over a large piece of meat, and as she brings it to him a hand creeps up (Jaibo) that grabs at him to take it away. There is just enough imagery and just enough message that the dream works as one of Bunuel's best sequences. The second time was a very brief moment when Pedro is working with some chickens and eggs, and at one point Pedro looks at the camera and throws an egg at the lens. Indeed, this could be seen as out of place for such a straight-forward drama on torrents of youth that resonate generation after generation (this is inspired by neo-realism to an extent, yet probably inspired the likes of Clockwork Orange and even the recent City of God), however we get an inkling of what Bunuel is trying to tell us- these are real people in real settings and in a somewhat melodramatic story set in times of economic drought and such, and feel for them as I do - but don't forget, it's only a movie.
In my opinion, Los Olvidados should be discovered by movie buffs, since it is possibly Bunuel's most accessible work, but perhaps Discreet Charm would still be the first to see if wanting to get the Bunuel vein.
All through Los Olvidados, based on real events and real people from the streets, I kept on feeling for these people in the same way I did for the characters I saw in the neo-realism movies like La Terra Trema and Shoeshine. Here are people who are so starkly depicted who can practically smell the streets coming off of them. That they are non-professionals in real settings, like in those movies, and the stories are such simple yet heart-felt, goes to show the mastery of Luis Bunuel. While he became infamous for such films in the thirties like Un Chien Andalou and L'Age D'Or, and later for such originals like Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and the obscure Phantom of Liberty (the climax in that is something that could've inspired most gross-out comedies of late), this film displays his worth as a writer/director outside of the reputation he garnered in that he tells us the story, with the little details and complex emotions that the Italian directors were able to bring forth, while every once in a while reminding us that it is his brand of movie-making at work.
And, un-like his other works, he does this ever-so fleetingly that I only caught his style creeping in twice: the first was a tip of the hat to his surrealistic roots, when Pedro has a dream that seems to correspond perfectly to his truths and the truths of the neighborhood as he asks her why (in an earlier scene) she didn't give him any meat. She brings over a large piece of meat, and as she brings it to him a hand creeps up (Jaibo) that grabs at him to take it away. There is just enough imagery and just enough message that the dream works as one of Bunuel's best sequences. The second time was a very brief moment when Pedro is working with some chickens and eggs, and at one point Pedro looks at the camera and throws an egg at the lens. Indeed, this could be seen as out of place for such a straight-forward drama on torrents of youth that resonate generation after generation (this is inspired by neo-realism to an extent, yet probably inspired the likes of Clockwork Orange and even the recent City of God), however we get an inkling of what Bunuel is trying to tell us- these are real people in real settings and in a somewhat melodramatic story set in times of economic drought and such, and feel for them as I do - but don't forget, it's only a movie.
In my opinion, Los Olvidados should be discovered by movie buffs, since it is possibly Bunuel's most accessible work, but perhaps Discreet Charm would still be the first to see if wanting to get the Bunuel vein.
- Quinoa1984
- Aug 31, 2003
- Permalink
The story of troubled youth and urban violence has been told many times, but this is, perhaps, the best film on the subject ever made. This is an unblinking look at the hell on earth that looks like slums of Mexico City back in 1950s. It is also a masterful combination of gritty realism and Buñuel's surrealism (young Pedro's dream of Virgin Mary with a face of his mother whose love he desperately needs but never knows).
All the characters, including a young boy caught up in a criminal world but trying to be good, his tired mother who does not have time to love her children, the brutal and cruel gang leader with his own story that breaks your heart are not just wonderfully written and acted, they are absolutely real and would stay with you long after the film is over. Shocking, erotic, and sad, this is a masterpiece the perfect film from the beginning until the harrowing and devastating end.
10/10
All the characters, including a young boy caught up in a criminal world but trying to be good, his tired mother who does not have time to love her children, the brutal and cruel gang leader with his own story that breaks your heart are not just wonderfully written and acted, they are absolutely real and would stay with you long after the film is over. Shocking, erotic, and sad, this is a masterpiece the perfect film from the beginning until the harrowing and devastating end.
10/10
- Galina_movie_fan
- Sep 7, 2004
- Permalink
- noelleuytuazon
- Jun 12, 2011
- Permalink
Atheist, Marxist, Freudian, Surrealist, anarchist, fetishist, satirist, or Spaniard, Luis Buñuel was all these or more
One of the greatest of all filmmakers, Buñuel expressed an extraordinary personal vision of the world through an exceptional self-effacing special taste, creating a body of work unequaled in its abundance of meaning and its power by any other
In 1946, Buñuel moved to Mexico where, between more conventional assignments, he summed up his creativity with a vengeance His first masterpiece of this prolific period, "The Young and the Damned" was a masterpiece of social surrealism and the founding work of third world barrio repulsion
Portraying the distress of delinquents in MexicoCity's streets, he admitted the effects of shockingly cruel environment but declined to glamorize his victim-heroes: the gang torments a blind beggar who is himself a skillful paedophile, while a Freudian dream the most 'innocent' boy fights a friend for his mother' s sexual favors
The film is powerful enough to make a one firm man weep or encourage a true-believer to lose hope Once seen, its disturbing images can never be forgotten
In 1946, Buñuel moved to Mexico where, between more conventional assignments, he summed up his creativity with a vengeance His first masterpiece of this prolific period, "The Young and the Damned" was a masterpiece of social surrealism and the founding work of third world barrio repulsion
Portraying the distress of delinquents in MexicoCity's streets, he admitted the effects of shockingly cruel environment but declined to glamorize his victim-heroes: the gang torments a blind beggar who is himself a skillful paedophile, while a Freudian dream the most 'innocent' boy fights a friend for his mother' s sexual favors
The film is powerful enough to make a one firm man weep or encourage a true-believer to lose hope Once seen, its disturbing images can never be forgotten
- Nazi_Fighter_David
- Mar 13, 2009
- Permalink
Nearly a decade before 400 blows comes Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados from Mexico. It involves a group of street punks who go around harassing the elderly, robbing the handicapped and generally running amok. At the same time, one of the kids yearns for his mother's affection, only to get sent to a work-camp/school instead. All the while, the town is trying to figure out who murdered a local teenager.
The film is a clear reaction/response to the Neorealist movement going on across the pond, with characters taken straight from the streets and dialog heavily filled with local language. I speak Spanish fluently and still found myself struggling to understand the dialect and slang of Mexico city teenagers. The complete authenticity of these kids will obviously influence later films like 400 blows, kids and City of God.
The camera-work is fairly straightforward. Despite being a Buñuel film, the narrative propels itself without too many twists, allowing characters to tell the story in a logical manner. At the same time, there is a considerably surrealist dream sequence which roots the film strictly into Buñuel's library.
Ultimately the film is extremely enjoyable, although much of the humor is lost in the subtitles and English language translation. The shock of the story still holds today and should leave viewers with a nice bitter taste at the end.
The film is a clear reaction/response to the Neorealist movement going on across the pond, with characters taken straight from the streets and dialog heavily filled with local language. I speak Spanish fluently and still found myself struggling to understand the dialect and slang of Mexico city teenagers. The complete authenticity of these kids will obviously influence later films like 400 blows, kids and City of God.
The camera-work is fairly straightforward. Despite being a Buñuel film, the narrative propels itself without too many twists, allowing characters to tell the story in a logical manner. At the same time, there is a considerably surrealist dream sequence which roots the film strictly into Buñuel's library.
Ultimately the film is extremely enjoyable, although much of the humor is lost in the subtitles and English language translation. The shock of the story still holds today and should leave viewers with a nice bitter taste at the end.
Although this film is in no way one of my favorites, or that I ever want to view it again, there is some good film techniques used in Bunel's style of film. The great usage of lighting in this black and white movie is fantastic. The camera angles with the different sources of lighting helped enhance the dramatic elements and storyline. The dream sequence is the most memorable because the scene has many techniques used in it. The shot with the mother going toward the son's bed is slowed down in slow motion with wind blowing around her. This creates a stunning visual and draws importance to what Pedro, the son, is thinking about his mother.
After his exile from his native Spain, director Luis Bunuel moved to Mexico in 1946, gaining citizenship in 1949. It was here where he would make his more generic films (by his standards), as he honed his own directorial skill while never straying too far from his surrealistic background. After the success of his comedy The Great Madcap (1949), he was commissioned by producer Oscar Dancigers to make a serious film about child poverty in Mexico City, and out of it came Los Olvidados, or The Young and the Innocent, to give it it's American title. Bunuel apparently spent months disguised as a homeless amongst the poverty- stricken children of the slums in order to research, and if that tale is true, it certainly came off, as Los Olvidados is one of the best and most realistic depictions of the innocent turning to crime in a fit of desperation.
The film follows three children in the same slum. Pedro (Alfonso Mejia) is a young tearaway who wants to change his ways and work, in order to help out his mother who neglects him due to her constant work. 'Little Eyes' (Mario Ramirez) has been abandoned by his father, and is adopted by the blind beggar Don Carmelo (Miguel Inclan), a bitter man who frequently voices his opinions on the young criminals of the city. El Jaibo (Robert Cobo) has just been released from prison and immediately sets about gaining revenge of the boy he thinks ratted him out. Jaibo and Pedro corner the boy, only for Jaibo to bludgeon him to death, and the two boys flee. Pedro struggles to keep himself out of trouble and leaves home after being accused of stealing a knife, only to find his and Jaibo's paths repeatedly crossing.
At its heart, this is pure neo-realism, sharing its tone most obviously with Vittorio de Sica's masterpiece The Bicycle Thieves (1948) in exposing poverty and class divide as the main cause of criminality, due to the ill education and the hopelessness of the young. Although, out of nowhere, comes a surrealistic dream sequence so beautiful, and so haunting, that you know you're watching Bunuel, and his artistic creativity seems to bulge from the screen. Best known for his mocking of the upper-classes (the bourgeois were clearly as fascinating to Bunuel as they were repugnant), here he stays in the slums, promoting as much sympathy for its filthy lead characters as hatred.
Jaibo is a true monster, raised without parents, he bullies his way through life, grasping any opportunity that presents itself (he even manages to seduce Pedro's lonely and overworked mother, and rob a legless man). It is Pedro who is the beating heart of the film, especially when he leaves home and we witness the state of the lower- classes from his eyes and how they are viewed (in one powerful sequence, an upper class man obviously propositions him for sex, but we only see their exchange, as we watch them through a window). Bunuel then manages to deliver not one, but two sensational endings, that manage to move and shock as much as the famous and upsetting climax to Bicycle Thieves. Bunuel would go to France to create his greatest works, but Los Olvidados displays many of the attributes that made Bunuel one of the most important directors in the history of film, as well as being a great film in its own right.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
The film follows three children in the same slum. Pedro (Alfonso Mejia) is a young tearaway who wants to change his ways and work, in order to help out his mother who neglects him due to her constant work. 'Little Eyes' (Mario Ramirez) has been abandoned by his father, and is adopted by the blind beggar Don Carmelo (Miguel Inclan), a bitter man who frequently voices his opinions on the young criminals of the city. El Jaibo (Robert Cobo) has just been released from prison and immediately sets about gaining revenge of the boy he thinks ratted him out. Jaibo and Pedro corner the boy, only for Jaibo to bludgeon him to death, and the two boys flee. Pedro struggles to keep himself out of trouble and leaves home after being accused of stealing a knife, only to find his and Jaibo's paths repeatedly crossing.
At its heart, this is pure neo-realism, sharing its tone most obviously with Vittorio de Sica's masterpiece The Bicycle Thieves (1948) in exposing poverty and class divide as the main cause of criminality, due to the ill education and the hopelessness of the young. Although, out of nowhere, comes a surrealistic dream sequence so beautiful, and so haunting, that you know you're watching Bunuel, and his artistic creativity seems to bulge from the screen. Best known for his mocking of the upper-classes (the bourgeois were clearly as fascinating to Bunuel as they were repugnant), here he stays in the slums, promoting as much sympathy for its filthy lead characters as hatred.
Jaibo is a true monster, raised without parents, he bullies his way through life, grasping any opportunity that presents itself (he even manages to seduce Pedro's lonely and overworked mother, and rob a legless man). It is Pedro who is the beating heart of the film, especially when he leaves home and we witness the state of the lower- classes from his eyes and how they are viewed (in one powerful sequence, an upper class man obviously propositions him for sex, but we only see their exchange, as we watch them through a window). Bunuel then manages to deliver not one, but two sensational endings, that manage to move and shock as much as the famous and upsetting climax to Bicycle Thieves. Bunuel would go to France to create his greatest works, but Los Olvidados displays many of the attributes that made Bunuel one of the most important directors in the history of film, as well as being a great film in its own right.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
- tomgillespie2002
- Aug 26, 2012
- Permalink
"Los Olvidados" focuses the drama mainly in the bandit 'El Jaibo', justarrived from a reformatory (where he learnt 'new techniques' of robbery), Pedro (Alfonso Mejía), a boy rejected by his mother and Ojitos (Mario Ramirez), abandoned by his family and the new comer to the group, showing a few hopeless days of a group of marginal youths, in the slums of Mexico in 1950, with the leadership of 'El Jaibo' (Roberto Cobo). . Each one of these boys is in a stage of criminality life: El Jaibo is graduated, Pedro is leaning and Ojitos will start. The restored B&W picture on DVD is splendid. Although taking place in Mexico, 1950, this masterpiece could be Rio de Janeiro or any other big city in a third world country in the present days. The end of the plot is marvelous. Fortunately the alternative end has never been used. Outstanding! My vote is ten.
Title (Brazil): "Os Esquecidos" ("The Forgotten")
Title (Brazil): "Os Esquecidos" ("The Forgotten")
- claudio_carvalho
- Aug 10, 2003
- Permalink
- senortuffy
- Jan 26, 2004
- Permalink
- MetalOllie
- Dec 4, 2003
- Permalink
- alice liddell
- Feb 27, 2000
- Permalink
Not a movie for the depressed. These Mexican street kids are caught up in the grinding wheels of poverty from which, it appears, there's no escape. It's root hog or die. The trouble is they can only steal from others locked into the same infernal machinery. Thus it's a deadly cycle as vividly portrayed in the heart-breaking final shot.
Those city streets, shot on location, are like the first level of a lunar landscape, and only lead downward. Pedro and his street gang walk them like minor predators in a jungle. Pedro would like to be 'good' but doesn't know how, while Mom's too busy washing other people's clothes to teach him. We know there's good in him—he's the only one to befriend Big Eyes, an unwanted urchin whose father has dumped him onto the streets. Then there's Jaibo, too old and hardened to be redeemed. Plus the unforgettable old blind man, who somehow manages to survive, but is as harsh to others as they are to him.
Don't expect filmmaker Bunuel to offer much hope in this, one of the most unrelieved social protest movies in film annals. What little relief there is comes from the good intentions of the reform school workers. But their efforts appear overwhelmed by the bleak conditions they face. As asserted in the prologue, I expect the movie's message is darn near universal for poverty everywhere, and as relevant today as it was in 1950.
I don't know if the 80-minutes is a masterpiece, as many claim, but it's an experience you're not likely to forget.
(In passing—I appreciate the easy-to-read yellow subtitles. They're also positioned so that the visuals can be taken in in the same glance. I've shied away from many foreign language films in the past because of this subtitle challenge.)
Those city streets, shot on location, are like the first level of a lunar landscape, and only lead downward. Pedro and his street gang walk them like minor predators in a jungle. Pedro would like to be 'good' but doesn't know how, while Mom's too busy washing other people's clothes to teach him. We know there's good in him—he's the only one to befriend Big Eyes, an unwanted urchin whose father has dumped him onto the streets. Then there's Jaibo, too old and hardened to be redeemed. Plus the unforgettable old blind man, who somehow manages to survive, but is as harsh to others as they are to him.
Don't expect filmmaker Bunuel to offer much hope in this, one of the most unrelieved social protest movies in film annals. What little relief there is comes from the good intentions of the reform school workers. But their efforts appear overwhelmed by the bleak conditions they face. As asserted in the prologue, I expect the movie's message is darn near universal for poverty everywhere, and as relevant today as it was in 1950.
I don't know if the 80-minutes is a masterpiece, as many claim, but it's an experience you're not likely to forget.
(In passing—I appreciate the easy-to-read yellow subtitles. They're also positioned so that the visuals can be taken in in the same glance. I've shied away from many foreign language films in the past because of this subtitle challenge.)
- dougdoepke
- Oct 11, 2013
- Permalink
In this Mexican movie, Buñuel brings a great depiction of the lost youth, with no projects, committing crimes, practicing violence. Other films did the same afterwards, in my opinion with better outcomes, like Truffaut's "Les quatre cents coups" one decade afterwards, and Argentine "Pizza, birra, faso" half century later. Buñuel's concern about details which are not relevant for the story makes the film richer, and other elements important for Mexican society in those times also appear, such as sexism. Though, the movie gets a little bit tiring and the sudden end was very unsatisfactory. Not all characters behave in a way coherent to the traits shown in their development throughout the movie, particularly in the last moments.
- dbdumonteil
- Jun 12, 2004
- Permalink
- AvionPrince16
- Mar 11, 2023
- Permalink
Los Olvidados- Mexico 1950 This is the 17th movie on the list.
Los Olvidados. The young and the damned. At first I couldn't tell, is this "The Young. The Damned" or the young are also damned.
I feel the story tells both. In this movie, it's not the production or big director that can be commented on, its the story. The young are damned in this movie of depression era Mexico. Even the Spanish in the movie is pretty bad. The story is of young people who are run-aways and have no place to live or food to eat. It centers on one boy's struggle. That's all I'll say.
The young. The Damned. The story centers around a young boy who is trying is hardest to be a young boy. He doesn't know where he fits. He is the young. Everyone else in the story is the damned. Even the boy's mother sins in the most obvious of ways. Everyone here commits a sin, other than small eyes. It's terrible, but the story does live up to the young and the damned.
Also the story just ends. It's very abrupt so don't expect much.
SilverRating
Los Olvidados. The young and the damned. At first I couldn't tell, is this "The Young. The Damned" or the young are also damned.
I feel the story tells both. In this movie, it's not the production or big director that can be commented on, its the story. The young are damned in this movie of depression era Mexico. Even the Spanish in the movie is pretty bad. The story is of young people who are run-aways and have no place to live or food to eat. It centers on one boy's struggle. That's all I'll say.
The young. The Damned. The story centers around a young boy who is trying is hardest to be a young boy. He doesn't know where he fits. He is the young. Everyone else in the story is the damned. Even the boy's mother sins in the most obvious of ways. Everyone here commits a sin, other than small eyes. It's terrible, but the story does live up to the young and the damned.
Also the story just ends. It's very abrupt so don't expect much.
SilverRating
- Chris_Silver
- Apr 20, 2014
- Permalink
After seeing some of the excellent surrealist films, especially from his "French" phase of the 60s and 70s, of the master (of that same surrealism) Luis Bunuel, of whom I considered "le charme discret de la bourgeoisie" his maximum exponent, I was surprised to see this film of this filmmaker, here in an extremely successful foray in the field of neo-realism (although surrealism is also present in some scenes).
A timeless movie. What we see on the screen as a reality of Mexico in the 1950s, continues to be a reality today in many places of the world (I, who recently worked in African countries for 6 years, do not forget the reality that I saw day by day, well close, and that is very close to the one we see in the movie).
Yesterday as today, society continues to corrupt individuals, here personified in the character of little Peter. His intentions were good, but sometimes it is very difficult to fight against a kind of destiny that already seems to have been traced. It is even very difficult for many to oppose or evade a kind of propagation of "evil", which seems to be (and increasingly) instituted and rooted in society and which ultimately destroys or corrupts individuals, even those endowed with a kind of magic "purity" (or at least, some).
The pessimistic tone of the film, although it may not please many, has every reason to be, for this is the reality of things. In every 100 stories similar to the movie, there are 99 that do not end well.
- antoniocasaca123
- May 17, 2018
- Permalink