Los Olvidados | The Young and the Damned (1950)

Synopsis 

The film is about a group of destitute children and their misfortunes in the slums of Mexico City. "El Jaibo" escapes juvenile jail and reunites with his street gang that he leads.

Together, El Jaibo's gang attempts to rob a blind street musician. They fail at first, but later track him down, beat him up, and trash his instruments.



Later, with the help of Pedro, El Jaibo tracks down Julián, the man who supposedly sent him to jail. El Jaibo puts his arm in a fake sling and hides a rock in it.

El Jaibo confronts Julián, who denies that he ratted on him. Julián refuses to fight El Jaibo because it wouldn't be a fair fight with El Jaibo's broken arm.

As Julián starts to walk away, El Jaibo hits him in the head with the rock. He then beats Julián until he is dead and takes his money. El Jaibo coaxes Pedro not to rat on him, since he split Julián's money with Pedro, thus making him an accomplice.

Pedro's mother is extremely resentful at her son's behavior, and even shows signs that she doesn't even love or care for him as a son.

Pedro is extremely saddened by this and vows to start behaving better. He takes up a blacksmith's apprenticeship.

One day, El Jaibo comes to talk with him about their secret, and unbeknownst to Pedro, steals an expensive knife from the blacksmith's table.

Pedro is accused of the crime and sent to a juvenile rehabilitation program, the 'farm school', where he misbehaves at first, but is won over by the kindness of the principal.

In a turn of events that seems to owe a great deal to Oliver Twist, when Pedro is sent on an errand by the principal with a 50 pesos bill, he encounters El Jaibo, who steals it. Pedro then tracks down El Jaibo and fights him.

The fight ends in a stalemate, but Pedro announces to the crowd that it was El Jaibo who killed Julián. El Jaibo flees, but the blind man has heard the accusation and tells the police.

Pedro tracks El Jaibo down once again, but El Jaibo ends up killing Pedro. While fleeing, El Jaibo runs into the police, who have learned about the murder of Julián from the blind man.

As El Jaibo tries to run, the police shoot and kill him. Meche and her grandfather find Pedro's body, and not wanting to attract the police, dump his body down a garbage-covered cliff.

On their way, they pass Pedro's mother, who, though once unconcerned with her disobedient child, is now searching for him.

Cast: Alfonso Mejía, Estela Inda, Miguel Inclán, Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes, Francisco Jambrina, Jesús Navarro

Cannes (Competition): Best Director, Berlinale (Retrospective)

Read about this film

Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish
Color: Black & White
Runtime: 80 min.