Los olvidados [The Young and the Damned] (1950)

(YouTube streaming, June 2020) Consecrated cinema classic The Young and the Damned does have a few things going in its favour. For one thing, there aren’t that many movies set in late-1940s Mexican slums. For another, there aren’t that many strictly neorealist films in writer-director Luis Buñuel’s filmography—while the film does sport one surreal sequence halfway between reality and dream, much of the film is as gritty and realist as possible, fully embracing the life and environment of its street-urchin protagonists on their way to becoming hoodlums. At 88 minutes to present a full-featured narrative (not always a given in Bunuel films!), The Young and the Damned doesn’t overstay its welcome. The film is resolutely not that optimistic about human nature and can occasionally become harrowing viewing. But, after generations of film critics have designated this as a classic, is it still worth a look? Probably. Maybe, if you can tough it out.