Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Los Olvidados
Inscribed 2003
What is it
The original negative in cellulose nitrate in 35 mm black
and white of Los Olvidados, the film made in Mexico City
in 1950 by Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel. The
film depicts the nihilism and poverty of life in the slums
of the city.
Why was it inscribed
Los Olvidados is an acknowledged classic of world
cinema and the inscription relates to the original
negative of the film. Although shot in Mexico City,
its themes are universally relevant.
Where is it
Filmoteca de la UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
The film was made in 1950 at a time of optimism in
Mexico. The country had its first civilian president and
the Mexican film industry was still experiencing the later
stages of an acknowledged golden age. The films produced
494 Los Olvidados
in Mexico reflected this national feeling of optimism, and
Los Olvidados stood in stark contrast.
Los Olvidados translates into English as ‘The Forgotten
Ones’, although it was released in the USA under the name
‘The Young and the Damned’. It depicts the child and adult
inhabitants of a Mexico City slum where, devoid of hope
or purpose, their lives are followed out to brutal and
pointless ends.
Shot in black and white, the film showed many
influences – Italian neorealism, British documentary,
French poetic realism and surrealism – and itself was
influential in various realist cinematic movements that
followed, including new Latin American cinema, French
new wave cinema as well as several remarkable Indian,
Spanish and Italian directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini.
It was the third film Luis Buñuel had made in Mexico
where he had lived since 1946 and it took him two years to
research and write. His career had stalled since his selfimposed
exile from Spain and his best work was assumed
to be past.
Los Olvidados was filmed mostly on the streets of Mexico
City in only 21 days and edited in three. Its themes were
considered so controversial that several of his collaborators