Written by: Luis Alcoriza & Luis Buñuel
Starring: Alfonso Mejía, Stella Inda, Miguel Inclán, Roberto Cobo, Alma Delia Fuentes
Rating: [3.5/5]
With all of the hardships that exist in the world, one would hope at the very least children would be spared the harsh realities for long enough that they can enjoy the wonders of their early years for as long as possible. Something that does not necessarily happen at all times, especially when looking at neighborhoods ravaged by crime as explored in The Young and the Damned. As the title indicates, it provides us with a story filled with pain but also plenty of power when seeing it through the lens of children.
In a Mexico City slum, a street gang of kids run around and wreak havoc in any way they can. When the leader of this gang returns to the town from a stint in juvenile jail, he enlists the help of young Pedro (Alfonso Mejía) to find the kid who turned him in and ensured he would spend some time behind bars.
Watching any film depicting harsh realities as done in this one comes with a level of difficulty that affects everyone differently. However, having this transpire with little children leaves a much more lasting impact and one Luis Buñuel sought to communicate as we follow these Mexican youngsters and all of the turmoil they face. In this film, we have different kids trying to make the best of their situation and deciding different paths for themselves which certainly comes with different outcomes and consequences. We follow two main characters as they operate this tale with El Jaibo (Roberto Cobo), the leader of this crew, and Pedro, who wants to find a way to get out of this somehow.
Seeing the difference between these two shows a starkness between those too far gone in this hole versus those who still have the opportunity to get out and make something different with their lives. This film does so well in displaying this particular difference between them and as we follow El Jaibo through all of this we see the degree to which this teenager can wreck the lives of many, which also includes Pedro. We start on the ground level for the most part with these kids as they operate in the streets and occasionally we receive the scenes of the parents who get involved and express how they feel about their children and the terrible circumstances that contribute to this hooliganism. Other than that we spend the majority of this film through the lens of these children and how they can highly elevate their feelings and the way they express them towards each other.
Pedro, while a troublemaker in his own right, does not measure up to what El Jaibo does, and when learning what he was in juvenile jail for solidifies everyone should steer clear of him, yet the characters cannot. Whether through their decision or not El Jaibo dominates the lives of these other teenagers almost to a suffocating degree. It brings this inevitable feeling of him striking once again with the only question remaining being who will sit on the wrong end of it by the end.
Telling a story of this style feels like quite the change of pace for Luis Buñuel, whose most famous works typically lie in the satirical as he pokes fun at institutions like the rich, the bourgeois, and religious institutions. Each of those films has a bit of a comedic tinge to them in the way they seek to poke fun but The Young and the Damned has absolutely no aspirations of falling into the same category as it seeps into the self-seriousness of what this story deserves. Buñuel, instead seeks to use this film as a way to highlight the horrors of what transpires in these Mexico City slums to an unflinching degree, and ever the provocateur, it comes as no surprise government officials were not a fan of the honesty in this particular portrayal.
Certainly not the easiest watch and not trying to be so, The Young and the Damned displays Luis Buñuel operating on a different level that he’s remained famous for but it makes for a different enriching experience. The story of Pedro and El Jaibo and what they experience and inflict on others makes for a harrowingly intense film. It remains unafraid to show what it does to exhibit the horrors that occur with these characters only further amplified by the fact these are children engaging in these behaviors.
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