That last image is the final one in the film, and it\u2019s the culmination of the unrelenting despair that hangs over it from the very first frame. \u201cThis film is based on true facts,\u201d reads the opening caption. \u201cNo character is fictional.\u201d That is echoed by the narrator, who says, \u201cThis film shows real life. It\u2019s not optimistic.\u201d Optimism was the furthest thing from Bu\u00f1uel\u2019s mind when he set out to dramatize the plight of those born and raised in the slums of Mexico City. It can also be seen as an extension of his 1933 documentary Las Hurdes<\/em>, which depicted, in stark detail, the crushing poverty endured by the residents of one of the poorest regions in Spain. That was his third film after the Surrealist masterpieces Un Chien Andalou<\/em> and L\u2019\u00c2ge d\u2019or<\/em>, both made in collaboration with Salvador Dal\u00ed, and for a time it seemed like it might be his last of any consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the completion of Las Hurdes<\/em> (which, like its predecessors, caused a scandal), Bu\u00f1uel made inroads into Spain\u2019s film industry through Film\u00f3fono, for which he worked as a writer, producer, and uncredited co-director, before traveling to the United States. There he worked for a time for the Museum of Modern Art, and in the dubbing department at Warner Bros. in Hollywood, where steady, meaningful work was hard to come by. He didn\u2019t officially step behind the camera again until 1947, when he directed the musical Gran Casino<\/em> for producer \u00d3scar Dancigers. While that was not a success, artistically or commercially, their next film, the comedy El Gran Calavera<\/em>, was enough of a hit that Dancigers kept his promise to let Bu\u00f1uel propose his next project, which became Los Olvidados<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the script, by Bu\u00f1uel and Luis Alcoriza (who worked on many of his follow-ups over the next decade), revolves around a whole gang of street kids, its focus is on two: unrepentant delinquent Jaibo (Roberto Cobo) and impressionable Pedro (Alfonso Mej\u00eda). Jaibo is mentioned in hushed tones before he appears, having escaped from the reformatory where he\u2019s been locked up for a year since another boy ratted on him. (For what offense, we never find out.) Pedro is one of those who idolizes Jaibo, and Bu\u00f1uel and cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa give the older boy a movie star entrance to match his reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Jaibo is intent on getting even with Julian, the boy who turned him in, Pedro longs to be reconciled with his mother (top-billed Estela Inda), who berates him for hanging out with \u201cpunks.\u201d Also dismissive of the troublemakers he has to deal with on a daily basis is blind beggar Don Carmelo (Miguel Incl\u00e1n), who is so unpleasant he elicits no sympathy whatsoever from the viewer. He\u2019s even capable of moving the two most innocent characters \u2013 a country boy nicknamed Small Eyes whose father abandoned him and a girl named Meche who puts up with the unwanted advances of Jaibo and Carmelo \u2013 to threaten him with violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jaibo doesn\u2019t just threaten people with violence, though, and when he kills Julian, he tells Pedro they\u2019re \u201cbound together forever,\u201d which is another way of saying he\u2019ll keep turning up like a bad penny to ruin Pedro\u2019s every chance of turning his life around. That implied threat triggers the first of two surreal sequences, which aren\u2019t as elaborate as the ones in Bu\u00f1uel\u2019s previous films, but are still evocative and laden with symbolism. He did entertain some outlandish ideas, however, such as a full orchestra performing on the girders of a building under construction in the background of a few shots. Dancigers nixed that, but let him indulge himself in ways that wouldn\u2019t break the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gamble paid off, even if initial reactions to the premiere were so negative, Dancigers pulled Los Olvidados<\/em> from theaters after just three days. Luckily, it fared better at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival, where it netted the Best Director prize and set the stage for its strong showing at Mexico\u2019s Ariel Awards. More importantly, its international success strengthened Bu\u00f1uel\u2019s relationship with Dancigers, who produced eight more of his films, including 1953\u2019s \u00c9l<\/em>, which Criterion is releasing later this month. With luck, more work from his fruitful Mexican period will follow suit, and this should be at the head of the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLos Olvidados\u201d isn\u2019t on any streaming services, but it can be found where one might look for rare films.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Los-Olvidados2-1024x576.jpg\")
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