A Masterpiece. (Rating: 5.00)
Review : "Los Olvidados" is a masterpiece of a film, a true work of graphic realism in the cinema. Of course it is, it being directed by the great genius Luis Bunuel. "Los Olvidados" is a great film, richly photographed with a gritty, graphic feeling and superbly written and acted. Bunuel takes deep into the world of poverty and the consequences and events surrounding children living on the streets. It is not just an examination of juvenile crime in Mexico, but on juvenile crime as a whole. It examines what happens to people who grow without a good home, education or parents. "Los Olvidados" can also be seen as a study of the dark side of man. Bunuel looks at reality unblinkingly and makes a movie that can be hypnotic at times. It is beautiful, in a dark way. The realism can be felt vibrating off the screen and "Los Olvidados" can take on the disturbing feeling of a street documentary equipped with murder, lust and violence. Bunuel also adds a touch of eroticism that elevates the material. "Los Olvidados" is a slice of true cinema, Mexican or otherwise. It displays the masterful talent that Bunuel possessed for realism in the cinema. This is an effective, unforgettable movie. One of the greatest works ever made in Latin cinema.
Great Art And Compassion From Bunuel (Rating: 5.00)
Review : This superb Mexican film, beautifully written, composed and shot, was one of Bunuel's personal favorites. Its rough b&w suits very well its penetrating and compassionate, but pessimistic, look at the misery of indigent juvenile delinquents in Mexico City. This is a good example of how at times Bunuel's surrealism seems to be just a very deep realism.
This film follows the story of Pedro and Jaibo, two youths destroyed by the squalid conditions in which they live. It is very easy at first to feel much more sympathy for the very likeable Pedro, with his endless bad luck, than for Jaibo who seems to be simply cruel, but by the end Bunuel very effectively shows that they are both equally tragic victims of larger forces. One of the most effective touches in this film is the way Bunuel contrasts these 'criminal' youths with the deeply self-righteous cruelty of a both literally and spiritually blind street performer who prides who himself on his law-abiding conservatism; then with Pedro's shallowly judgmental mother who regrets her attitude too late to save her son; and finally even with a seemingly sincere and very caring social worker who can not hold back the tide that sweeps Pedro and Jaibo into the void. The last frames of the film portraying the demise of these two youths are heartbreaking and reveal the great artistry and compassion of Bunuel. A great film. Highly recommended.
amzing bunuel, again (Rating: 5.00)
Review : simple yet profound story. of the same vein as viridiana and in the middle of the spectrum whose opposites are, say, the discrete charm and le chien.this is cinema as life at its best!
Classic Buñuel. (Rating: 5.00)
Review : "Los Olvidados" remains a landmark in not only Hispanic cinema, but world cinema as a whole. It marked the return of Luis Buñuel after two decades of obscurity and proved he was more than just a memorable name from the Surrealist movement in Europe. "Los Olvidados" is gritty, surreal storytelling at it's finest, Buñuel masterfully mixes the storytelling with dreamlike touches to create a film that is unforgettable and timeless. The film follows the lives of children living in the poverty-stricken areas of Mexico City, there is little hope in their daily living for social advancement and they resort to crime to fulfill their needs. A murder for revenge eventually creates friction between two friends and sends them on a dangerous odyssey. "Los Olvidados" is a striking social commentary, even more so today because anyone who has lived or traveled through Latin America can fully relate to the issues the film explores. Consider that the youth culture in "Los Olvidados," made in 1950, is no different from that which is shown in a more recent, equally great Mexican film, "Amores Perros," made in 2000. Buñuel paints here on a canvas of love, death, revenge, lust and murder.The images are rich and the writing is on par with the visuals, especially since Buñuel takes what would in other circumstances be seen as simple storytelling and turns it into a work full of great depth and visceral energy, there is even a hypnotic dream sequence that reminds us that Buñuel was a surrealist first and foremost in his filmmaking. When the movie first came out it won him a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and played for months in Paris and London, influencing many a young aspiring filmmakers, including Roman Polanski who remembers seeing the film as true literature. "Los Olvidados" has survived the test of time, and like all great movies it only grows better with age.
Unrelentingly grim, but worth watching (Rating: 4.00)
Review : This is a rather unreletingly grim film about young people in Mexico City's barrio in the early 50s. Sympathetic and intersting characters draw you into the film, such as the orphan "Little Eyes" and his female friend, and Pablo, the street urchin hated by his mother because of her bitterness toward the boy's absent father. Audiences will be repelled at first by the boys' mugging of a blind and crippled man, but the film shows you both sides of the story. Not exactly the most uplifting material in the world, but it is a timeless example of the saying "Children learn by what they live."
a natural classic (Rating: 5.00)
Review : I like Buñuel not just because he's a great director. I also like him because he made Los Olvidados. It is ripe with social issues, poverty, gang violence, ignorance, and the struggle to survive. I like Los Olvidados because the movie reveals an unusual but common side to Latin America, poverty. Los Olvidados also has strong symbolism throughout the movie and a CONVENIENT ending for those interested in Latin American class and social reality. It is not surprising that the protagonist ends up somewhere that is a common theme to Latin American Literature. Let me not give up the ending. I first saw this film in a Media Studies/ Art class in Spain. The focus of the course was Surrealism.
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