Los olvidados | |
---|---|
Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
Produced by | Óscar Dancigers |
Written by |
Luis Alcoriza Luis Buñuel |
Starring |
Alfonso Mejía Stella Inda Miguel Inclán Roberto Cobo |
Music by |
Rodolfo Halffter Gustavo Pittaluga |
Cinematography | Gabriel Figueroa |
Edited by | Carlos Savage |
Distributed by | Koch-Lorber Films |
Release date
|
December 9, 1950 (Mexico) |
Running time
|
80 min. |
Language | Spanish |
Los Olvidados (pronounced: [los olbiˈðaðos], Spanish for "The Forgotten Ones"), known in the U.S. as The Young and the Damned, is a 1950 Mexican film directed by Luis Buñuel.
Óscar Dancigers, the producer, asked Buñuel to direct this film after the success of the 1949 film El Gran Calavera. Buñuel already had a script ready titled ¡Mi huerfanito jefe! about a boy who sells lottery tickets. However, Dancigers had in mind a more realistic and serious depiction of children in poverty in Mexico City.
After conducting some research, Jesús Camacho and Buñuel came up with a script that Dancigers was pleased with. The film can be seen in the tradition of social realism, although it also contains elements of surrealism present in much of Buñuel's work.
It earned the Best Director award at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.
The film is about a group of destitute children and their misfortunes in a Mexico City slum. El Jaibo escapes juvenile jail and reunites with the street gang that he leads. El Jaibo's gang attempts to rob a blind street musician. They fail at first, but later track him down, beat him, and destroy his instruments.
With the help of Pedro, El Jaibo tracks down Julián, the youngster who supposedly sent him to jail. El Jaibo puts his arm in a fake sling and hides a rock in it. El Jaibo confronts Julián, who denies that he reported him to the police. Julián refuses to fight El Jaibo because it wouldn't be a fair fight with El Jaibo's arm broken. As Julián starts to walk away, El Jaibo hits him in the head with the rock. He then beats Julián to death and takes his money. El Jaibo warns Pedro not to report the crime, and since he shares Julián's money with Pedro, Pedro is an accomplice to the murder.