Chris Silver
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
bobsgrock
One of the earliest works of famed surrealist director Luis Bunuel's career, Los olvidados was an international hit primarily due to its portrayal of inner city Mexican children living on the brink of death due to immense poverty and crime. The plot focuses on the conflict between two young boys, Jaibo, a recently escaped juvenile delinquent, and Pedro, whose mother struggles to raise three other children and seemingly has no affection or attention left for her eldest. In following these characters, Bunuel cannot help but include some of his trademark surrealist imagery. One of the most famous involves Pedro throwing an egg at the camera as the liquid rolls down the lens. There is also an extended dream sequence in slow-motion chronicling one of the character's deep-seeded guilt and fear of his surroundings. For those who are not familiar with Bunuel, this is a good place to start. The film is accessible, moves along quickly, and encounters serious themes of how to deal with impoverished children and inner city crime in general. While not employing the kind of memorable techniques from later in his career that defines him today, this is still very much a Bunuel film, albeit a neorealist story with a twist of surrealism.
alxbarra
After watching this film several times and analyze it, all I have to say is this: ¿Why isn't this movie on the list of the best films ever made?Why isn't this movie consider a cult classic like The Seventh Seal, The 400 Blows or La Strada. In my opinion this movie is by far better than those films. Luis Buñuel's crude reflection of a reality that still happens in Mexico. Buñuel presents us a bunch of characters (specially kids) living at the streets, almost like animals surviving by instinct. I loved the fact that this movie doesn't set a solution, it is just a story about a generation of future criminals and murderers, and the story will keep going and going.these kids are The Forbidden Ones, the unborn ones.
StephenBradleyJones
First off, I think Luis Bunuel is amazing. He really took a risk in making this film. Perhaps being from another country (Spain) gave him the objectivity of a scientist. He had quite a backlash when this film was released. This film doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to the dehumanization that occurs on the streets. There are complex characters on display. It makes it hard to simply point the finger and say that a character 'should do this or that'. Products of their brutal environment, it makes it hard to pass judgement on them. Parts of this film try to address the idea of reclaiming your identity, but the storyline doesn't ever see this to fruition as in the Maori based movie "Once were warriors". Difficult subject, but Bunuel's work is always a worthwhile see.
AD
