Los Olvidados (1950)

A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, and the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Alcoriza, Luis Buñuel

Stars:

Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo, Estela Inda

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 12 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Estela Inda	...	La madre de Pedro
Miguel Inclán	...	Don Carmelo, el ciego
Alfonso Mejía	...	Pedro
Roberto Cobo	...	El Jaibo
Alma Delia Fuentes	...	Meche
Francisco Jambrina	...	El director de la escuela granja
Jesús García	...	El padre de Julián (as Jesús García Navarro)
Efraín Arauz	...	Cacarizo
Sergio Virel	...	Miembro pandilla (as Sergio Villarreal)
Jorge Pérez	...	Pelón
Javier Amézcua	...	Julián
Mario Ramírez	...	Ojitos

Storyline

Hell-bent on revenge, the cocky reform-school runaway, El Jaibo, returns to his old neighbourhood in post-World-War-II Mexico City's poor and squalid slums, to reunite with his faithful gang of juvenile delinquents and street urchins. However, as the dangerous ringleader lives and breathes retribution, his destructive obsession to find the informant who supposedly sent him to jail will intricately interweave his bitter fate with that of Pedro, his weak and unwitting accessory, in a despicable act of pure evil. In the end, are humans inherently good or bad--and above all--is immorality contingent with society?

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Plot Keywords:

mexico city | social commentary | street gang | slum | delinquent | 

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Taglines:

A Motion Picture Masterpiece From Mexico

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was very poorly received in Mexico when originally released, with particular resentment directed at the Spaniard Luis Buñuel, as a foreigner, for exposing the nation's problems with poverty and crime. In fact, it was only after Buñuel won Best Director at Cannes that the film's quality was reevaluated by Mexican critics and audiences. Critical opinion of the film in Mexico is now very high: in a 1994 poll for the magazine Somos, Los Olvidados was named the second greatest Mexican film of all time. (Let's Go with Pancho Villa (1936) - directed by Fernando de Fuentes, was ranked first.)

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Goofs

In a shot of Pedro's corpse, the victim can clearly be seen breathing.

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Quotes

El director de la escuela granja: I was imagining that we could lock up misery, instead of the children.

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Alternate Versions

SPOILER: In the director's cut, Pedro is stabbed to death by Jaibo, and Meche and her grandfather dump his body outside the town. The blind man denounces Jaibo to the police, who shoot Jaibo when fleeing arrest. Pedro's mother is left alone alone, in despair. A shorter "happy" ending, never used by the director, was filmed probably to accommodate censorship authorities or the sensibilities of the distributors: Jaibo dies in an accidental fall when he's fighting Pedro, who retrieves the stolen banknote from him. Pedro has a short conversation with Ojitos, and then returns to the reformatory farm-school (to a loud musical crescendo).

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Connections

Referenced in Jackal of Nahueltoro (1969)

User Reviews

one of the all time greats

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.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

24 March 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los Olvidados

Filming Locations:

Estudios Tepeyac, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,613

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ultramar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 77 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1