„City of God” but more niche

„City of God” but more niche

Buñuel slays it!

This movie is a pretty uncomfortable watch as it’s a brutal look at poverty in 50s Mexico. It follows a gang of kids navigating a life of crime both to survive and often just generally being assholes to hopeless people. This along with the animal cruelty and the implied rape make it visceral but difficult to deny the power of. It’s spectacular in its scope and weight, reminding me most closely of City of God.

It feels more like the Italian neo-realists than Buñuel’s other work. Buñuel tends to lean most into the surreal and aside from the dream sequence, this is firmly grounded in reality.

It was despised by those in power at the time of its release, and its easy to see why. It’s not a flattering portrayal of life in Mexico City, but also somewhat necessary, and important to acknowledge.

The version up on Prime is DVD quality if not worse, and I desperately hope that Criterion can do a restoration of this at some point. It is so deserving and such a beautiful film, it would really pop in full HD.

Buñuel slays it!

This movie is a pretty uncomfortable watch as it’s a brutal look at poverty in 50s Mexico. It follows a gang of kids navigating a life of crime both to survive and often just generally being assholes to hopeless people. This along with the animal cruelty and the implied rape make it visceral but difficult to deny the power of. It’s spectacular in its scope and weight, reminding me most closely of City of God.

It feels more like the Italian neo-realists than Buñuel’s other work. Buñuel tends to lean most into the surreal and aside from the dream sequence, this is firmly grounded in reality.

It was despised by those in power at the time of its release, and its easy to see why. It’s not a flattering portrayal of life in Mexico City, but also somewhat necessary, and important to acknowledge.

The version up on Prime is DVD quality if not worse, and I desperately hope that Criterion can do a restoration of this at some point. It is so deserving and such a beautiful film, it would really pop in full HD.

One of the best 75 films I’ve ever seen.

SPANISH REVIEW:

Gracias Luis Buñuel por entregarnos esta obra maestra que redefinió el cine mexicano como lo conocemos. Los Olvidados se volvió una de mis favoritas y no fue por qué si, estamos en presencia de la cúspide del cine de oro Mexicano y para muchos la mejor película mexicana de todos los tiempos. A pesar de que Luis Buñuel sea español logra dar una de las mejores películas sobre México, una crítica a cómo en ese entonces (y ahora por desgracia) había mucha delincuencia que era mayormente hecha por jóvenes, jóvenes que no tenían educación, comida, un lugar donde dormir y a veces hasta la familia. Tristemente aún hay muchos jóvenes que viven en ese estado, no solo en México si no en todo el mundo.

El filme trata de un grupo de jóvenes (mayormente conformado por niños y algún que otro adolescente) que viven la vida haciendo maldades, desde robarle el dinero a un ciego hasta asesinarse los unos a los otros. Este filme debió ser muy controversial en ese entonces sabiendo que no era muy común ver estos temas en ese entonces. Los actores a pesar de ser muy jóvenes logran dar actuaciones reales que hacen que se complementan a la perfección con la historia del filme. 

Este filme es el claro ejemplo de que el buen cine mexicano siempre ha existido y nunca dejará de existir, véanla si pueden.

Gracias por leer, Dios les bendiga y tengan un Maravilloso Día!

**100/100
**
ENGLISH REVIEW:

Thank you Luis Buñuel for giving us this masterpiece that redefined Mexican cinema as we know it. Los Olvidados became one of my favorites and it was not because yes, we are in the presence of the peak of Mexican golden cinema and for many the best Mexican film of all time. Despite the fact that Luis Buñuel is Spanish, he manages to give one of the best films about Mexico, a criticism of how at that time (and now unfortunately) there was a lot of crime that was mostly done by young people, young people who had no education, food, a place to sleep and sometimes even the family. Sadly, there are still many young people living in that state, not only in Mexico but all over the world.

The film is about a group of young people (mostly made up of children and the odd teenager) who live their lives doing evil, from stealing money from a blind man to killing each other. This film must have been very controversial at the time knowing that it was not very common to see these topics at that time. The actors, despite being very young, manage to give real performances that make them perfectly complement the story of the film.

This film is a clear example that good Mexican cinema has always existed and will never cease to exist, see it if you can.

Thank you for reading, God bless you and have a wonderful day!

100/100

One of the best 75 films I’ve ever seen.

SPANISH REVIEW:

Gracias Luis Buñuel por entregarnos esta obra maestra que redefinió el cine mexicano como lo conocemos. Los Olvidados se volvió una de mis favoritas y no fue por qué si, estamos en presencia de la cúspide del cine de oro Mexicano y para muchos la mejor película mexicana de todos los tiempos. A pesar de que Luis Buñuel sea español logra dar una de las mejores películas sobre México, una crítica a cómo en ese entonces (y ahora por desgracia) había mucha delincuencia que era mayormente hecha por jóvenes, jóvenes que no tenían educación, comida, un lugar donde dormir y a veces hasta la familia. Tristemente aún hay muchos jóvenes que viven en ese estado, no solo en México si no en todo el mundo.

El filme trata de un grupo de jóvenes (mayormente conformado por niños y algún que otro adolescente) que viven la vida haciendo maldades, desde robarle el dinero a un ciego hasta asesinarse los unos a los otros. Este filme debió ser muy controversial en ese entonces sabiendo que no era muy común ver estos temas en ese entonces. Los actores a pesar de ser muy jóvenes logran dar actuaciones reales que hacen que se complementan a la perfección con la historia del filme. 

Este filme es el claro ejemplo de que el buen cine mexicano siempre ha existido y nunca dejará de existir, véanla si pueden.

Gracias por leer, Dios les bendiga y tengan un Maravilloso Día!

**100/100
**
ENGLISH REVIEW:

Thank you Luis Buñuel for giving us this masterpiece that redefined Mexican cinema as we know it. Los Olvidados became one of my favorites and it was not because yes, we are in the presence of the peak of Mexican golden cinema and for many the best Mexican film of all time. Despite the fact that Luis Buñuel is Spanish, he manages to give one of the best films about Mexico, a criticism of how at that time (and now unfortunately) there was a lot of crime that was mostly done by young people, young people who had no education, food, a place to sleep and sometimes even the family. Sadly, there are still many young people living in that state, not only in Mexico but all over the world.

The film is about a group of young people (mostly made up of children and the odd teenager) who live their lives doing evil, from stealing money from a blind man to killing each other. This film must have been very controversial at the time knowing that it was not very common to see these topics at that time. The actors, despite being very young, manage to give real performances that make them perfectly complement the story of the film.

This film is a clear example that good Mexican cinema has always existed and will never cease to exist, see it if you can.

Thank you for reading, God bless you and have a wonderful day!

100/100

es justo como mi papá me contaba

es justo como mi papá me contaba

to be written

to be written