El bruto (1953)

A tough, tall and strong young man helps to an evil old man to kick out a poor people from their houses, but he'll fall in love of a girl who lives with her father in the building about to be demolish.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Alcoriza, Luis Buñuel

Stars:

Pedro Armendáriz, Katy Jurado, Rosa Arenas

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pedro Armendáriz	...	Pedro - El Bruto
Katy Jurado	...	Paloma
Rosa Arenas	...	Meche
Andrés Soler	...	Andrés Cabrera
Beatriz Ramos	...	Doña Marta
Paco Martínez	...	Don Pepe
Roberto Meyer	...	Carmelo González
Gloria Mestre	...	María
Paz Villegas	...	María's mother
José Muñoz	...	Lencho Ruíz
Diana Ochoa	...	Lencho's wife
Ignacio Villalbazo	...	María's brother
Joaquín Roche
Guillermo Bravo Sosa	...	El Cojo - Tío de María
Efraín Arauz

Storyline

In the 50's, in a poor community in Mexico, the landlord Andrés Cabrera wants to evict his tenants to demolish the buildings and sell the land by a large amount. However, the leader of the community Carmelo González resists to his attempts. Andrés hires the strong slaughterhouse worker Pedro El Bruto to intimidate the dwellers, and his wife Pamola sexually harasses Pedro. Pedro goes to the community in the night and he hits the weak Carmelo that has a bleed and dies. When Pedro meets Carmelo's daughter Meche, he falls in love with her and she moves to his house. But the jealous Paloma does not want to give up on Pedro.

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Plot Keywords:

landlord | butcher shop | neighbor | fight | escape | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

5 February 1953 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

A bika

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Internacional Cinematográfica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Vastly underrated Bunuel masterpiece

Perhaps hardcore Bunuel fans won't like El Bruto that much. It doesn't contain much of his surrealism. It is a lot like many of his other Mexican films: dark, melodramatic, brutal, and tragic. El Bruto is mostly a social melodrama, with a wealthy man trying to evict a group of poor residents from some slums that he owns. To intimidate these rebellious residents, he hires a giant thug, nicknamed El Bruto (the Brute, duh!). El Bruto is big and dumb and he follows orders well. But he's not a bad guy. He can be tough and mean, but, deep down, he's a gentle giant. Pedro Armendáriz is fantastic as the lead. The other major actors are as good. Katy Jurado, most famous for her role in Fred Zinnemann's High Noon from the same year, is much better in this film from her home country. The script is excellent, with some good (if a bit predictable) twists. I think that those who haven't "gotten" Bunuel yet might want to see this one. It's probably his most easily understood fim. It may not be exclusively Bunuelian, but El Bruto ranks with Luis' best films. 10/10.