Bunuel's masterpiece. Brutal but honest portrayal of poverty and the products of it. There is no Aladdin in these Mexico City slums. All of the characters have depth to them that prevent them from being just cliches you expect from such story. The poor blind man is not going to be a wise mentor, the mother isn't going to be a virtue of patience and compassion and the bad boy isn't going to do amoral and heinous things just because he just likes them. In the end of such story, there is nothing but despair.

Brutal portrayal of the lives of Mexican street kids. Like a non singing non dancing latter day Oliver Twist with more murder and predatory seedy adults involved. Not a heart warmer.

It wouldn't be a Buñuel film unless someone maims an animal. Los Olvidados is one of the great depicitions of poverty in film - here as a despondent mire whose victims are taken in regardless of whether or not they are appropriately deserving. Some may find themselves fallen by chance, others as a result of some misdeed performed against them, others inevitably due to some vice, but all become trapped in an inescapable cycle where efforts to better ones position are met most often with failure. The most disturbing aspect that the film portrays is the common nature of mutual harm among those at the bottom; instead of recognizing opportunities, it is often jealousy or greed that motivates Buñuel's characters to act in ways that perpetuate the cycle of hate. The surrealist elements aren't necessarily as prevalent in Los Olvidados as in other films from the director, and it lacks some of his trademark off-kilter humor, but Buñuel still succeeds in creating an important piece of social criticism. (4.5/5)

1001 movies to see before you die. This is an impressive Mexican film showing poverty and how it can lead to crime. A great story that keeps you captivated.

The greatest Mexican movie ever made. Even for today's audiences, it is gruesome and depressing. Nevertheless, it is a faithful portrait of a reality still existing today. But the whole movie is not as impressionistic as we might think, thanks to Buñuel's wonderful dream sequence. Pure surrealism and realism put together in the most effective, yet cruel way, in order to give us art.

Wow, these are couple of little shits. I hope they get what's coming to them, bullying an old blind man like that. This Jaibo character is a straight up delinquent. He's a good for nothing bum and he'll get what's coming to him. I feel bad for the kid who's still waiting for his father to return. But I'm glad the blind man took him in. He's a great character. Jeez man, these kids are absolute trash. Now they're bullying a man with no legs. Holy shit, that scene where Pedro's spirit wakes up from his sleep and the chicken comes flying down and Julian with the gash in his head is under Pedro's bed. That was so imaginative and creative and it was all done with practical effects. Very ahead of it's considering this movie was made in the early 50's. I really hope for the worst for this Jaibo guy. I hope he dies in the most horrible way possible. Pedro's situation is an unfortunate one because he's a good kid who just got roped in with the wrong crowd. I sweat to god Jaibo is like the lingering festering cancer that is sin. And he's always around every corner waiting for the right moment to strike and make someone commit a sin. Sometimes you have to speak up especially if there's ever scum pieces of shit like Jaibo in your life. Kind of a dark ending, especially with Pedro, but I understand why Bunuel decided to go that route. He was trying to show us that it doesn't pay to be a street thug or to be easily persuaded by the wrong person. I really had hoped that Pedro would have been given a second chance. He was almost there, almost to the point of reforming into a better kid. He just needed a bit more time. If Jaibo would have never been in his life, he would have been a completely different kid, a better kid. But I am glad with Jaibo's ending. Justice served in a righteous bowl of universal karma. I just wish his death would have been a bit more gruesome. I guess Bunuel did the best that he could for the early 50's. It's pretty sad to watch all of this. This is a movie about victims of circumstance and about sin. It does bring me peace watching this and knowing that I didn't end up like these kids. It makes me realize and be thankful for the amazing parents that I have and the way that they raised me. I'd watch this movie again but only to remind myself of how fortunate I am to be where I am. This would be a great movie to show to kids who are going down the wrong path in life. And it's sad because it's not really there fault. It's always the parents fault or the parent's parent's fault.

A few key scenes transcend this violent tale above its simplistic roots and into something truly meaningful and memorable.

The Young and the Damned is something of a realistic version of the first act of A Clockwork Orange. A gang of young men and boys victimize innocent people in their neighborhoods for survival and for amusement. Bunuel's film is ahead of its time in both style and substance, and, like all his films, very captivating.

It's incredible how Buñuel can use surrealism even in a film full of realism and social issues.

una película cruda, violenta y realista. un film que retrata a la perfección la marginal vida que se lleva en una ciudad plagada de pobreza e ignorancia.

Devoid of sentimentalism, terrifying, and heartbreaking. One of Bunuel's great masterpieces, and the film that revitalized his career as an international filmmaker of note. Basically, the story portrays the lives of a group of impoverished boys in contemporary Mexico City. There are no easy answers, no moments of redemption; even everyday reality is subject to spontaneous dissolution. This may be the best film of its kind ever made...and it's only one of a slew of cinematic masterpieces Bunuel directed.

Remarkably crafted across the filmmaking board with an eye for honesty, this historical picture of the ghettos of Mexico is one that begs us to wonder if progress may ever be made with criminal systems.

I don't think it aged well at all. It's lost in time, poorly acted, and annoying in many ways.

Grim portrait of Mexican child slumdogs in the poorest Mexican ghettos practically forced to form gangs just to survive. For the most part they lack caring families, some don't even have families, and lack a caring society, and above all lack resources for a way out of their dismal dead end existence. Harrowing, but brilliantly made.

It's a masterpiece that tangles individual and social ills into a knot, which, as we're warned in an opening voiceover, it offers no easy way to untie, rousing a sickening sense of injustice.

Heartbreaking and powerful in every sense of the words, Los Olvidados is a soulful experience that immerses us to the poverty, the origin of violence and the consequences of it. Luis Bueñuel is a genius, blending elements of the italian neorrealism with his unique and subtle surrealism. Maybe its too pessimistic but that was the idea, and the hole at the end is fill with clever dialogue, memorable characters and beautiful (in a backward way) messages of family, adolescence, and fate.

An authentic masterpiece. You must know Mexico to acknowledge the realism of the film.

There were definite characteristics of Buñuel's trade throughout the film though it was mostly pretty straight forward with its tale. The tone throughout the whole film was fairly dark and imposing. The sequences did a great job at aggravating you through its situations and the people's actions. The cruelty of young men to others is vast as is their recklessness in sexuality and conquest. Can ones desire to break beyond the unfortunate grip of juvenile immaturity to achieve a greater life than that of those around you? These themes are spread throughout the film. Sometimes societies underbelly drags everyone down with it.

What a gem of a movie! It's one of these films that despite the large quantity of films I've watched it still finds a high rank in my all time favorites and currently, after my first viewing, I've placed it in the 16th place. It is in good company right between "Oldboy" and "Barton Fink". This film is Buñuel's take on Mexican neorealism and it surpasses all the films of Italian neorealism that I've seen. This, in reality, is Buñuel conquering both worlds. After he had conquered the surrealistic world with the ever so incredible "Un Chien Andalou" he conquers the realistic world with this one. The story of the movie revolves around a gang of teenage and even younger delinquents who roam the unforgiving streets of Mexico City in search of money, fun, cigarettes and even love or a purpose in life. It is a cruel setting with the whole of society, except for a small minority, including their parents being extremely tough on these children and never showing a glimpse of forgivness to their behaviour. Never admitting the fact that they've created these little monsters, as they consider them, and always whistling to their own tune of survival. The screenplay is amazing. Every event is stringed to the other in a way that, from these everyday brutal events, a coherent and enticing plot is created that keeps your attention glued to the screen. The movie is based on actual facts mind you! The ending is a logical conclussion to the whole story and suits the tone and events the preceed it like a glove. Now let's talk direction. Buñuel proves for the second time after "Un Chien Andalou" that he is an auteur and a true master of cinema. He does that in a completely different style and genre to the aformentioned movie. His shots are as if someone has carved Guernica to a cave wall. Rough, brutal but also absolutely beautiful in a twisted way. In contrast to Guernica though they are completely realistic. Well, there is a little surrealism in the film. It features two dream sequences that are handled in a sublime and very effective way. Every close up Buñuel choses is a justified one and his actors really offer some great and iconic faces to get up close and personal with. But other than the close ups the movie doesn't dissapoint either. The cinematography is stunning. Every location is searched to the last bit and as a whole Mexico City creates something of a canvas for Buñuel and his cinematographer to paint on. This only adds up to the harsness of the screenplay and the events that are depicted. The use of music is the least memorable part of the movie but still it augments the picture in a fine way. That being said, no realistic movie would be complete without the matching performances. Needless to say the movie fails to dissapoint in this department. The cast is brilliant as a whole but the standouts are Alfonso Mejia, Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes and especially Miguel Inclan. Miguel Inclan portrays an old blind man who acts as a self proclaimed judge for these children never letting a bit of kindness find his way in his words. But that's not to say that the younger members of the cast are a bit less spellbinding. The performances were so naturalistic that I thought I was watching a documentary for the most part of the movie! It felt like real life. Now, about what the movie has to say. The gist of it all. It is very simple and very profound really. DON'T KILL YOUR FUTURE! The way that society, their parents mostly, is treating these children is destructive. The children are not to blame really. Besides they 're too young and too mislead to really understand anything. Society breeds murderers. And that, my friends, is not only a mistake. It is a crime. A crime against life. Because people from all lengths and widths of society can make one divine act in their life. They can create life by having children. To not preserve that life and waste it equals suicide. That's why I think that the movie is timeless from this standpoint. In conclussion, I think that only one Buñuel movie is better than this one and that's "Un Chien Andalou". Still I don't think that I'll ever watch another Buñuel movie that will surpass the brilliance and sheer perfection of "Los Olvidados".

Tough, gritty, bleak, realistic little masterpiece by the great Luis Bunuel on the harsh realities of poverty, especially for children who fight for survival on the streets of Mexico and have little choice but to turn to criminal activities. Excellently written, directed, shot (in black and white), and acted, this is a perfect little film.