Film: Los Olvidados (The Young and the Damned)

Made during director Luis Buñuel’s prolific yet still under-appreciated two-decade period in Mexico, Los olvidados proved an exception to the downward trend of Mexico’s film industry that began in the early 1950s. The film won Mexico’s second major prize at Cannes, following in the footsteps of María Candelaria’s (1944) landmark win. This against-formula juvenile crime drama showcases the power of indigenous actress Estela Inda (1924–1995), recipient of a Silver Ariel for Best Supporting Actress for her most memorable performance as the mother of the film’s young, impressionable protagonist; both characters try their damndest to rise above the crime festering in the slums of Mexico’s capital city.

DIRECTED BY: Luis Buñuel. WRITTEN BY: Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza. WITH: Estela Inda, Miguel Inclán, Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo. 1950. 85 min. Mexico. B&W. Spanish. DCP. Digital copy provided by Filmoteca UNAM. Screening courtesy of Televisa Foundation–Univision Foundation.