Luis Buñuel - The Young One (La Joven) (1960) The last American film by Buñuel is not an easy film to watch, but it's a film that seems to be just as relevant today as when it came out in terms of message and discussion of racial and sexual dynamics in American society. It's little wonder that the film is directed by a Spaniard and partially written by a blacklisted writer, this is a clarity of view that comes in part from being an outsider looking at American society and being able to diagnose some diseased parts of it. The story follows a black man, a jazz musician, wrongly accused of rape who runs off and finds himself stranded in an Island off the Carolina coast. This island is inhabited by two white people, an innocent girl of around 14, and a predatory pedophile, both white. However, although they are indeed White Trash (which was the alternative American title for the film), it's the black man who is a cultured musician, a truly artistic and sensitive man, who is treated like an animal. It's no surprise that Buñuel peppers the film with shocking images of real animals being killed. Some of the discussions in the film are truly pertinent down to our days. The discussion about the relative merits of the words "white trash" and the n-word and how they have completely different weights is still something that crops up in arguments now. The way in which Travers, the black musician, explains the need for black people to be armed against white abuse and to give them some sort of equal footing, sounds like the rationale behind the Black Panthers. The way in which sex is treated is somewhat more problematic here, one of the main antagonists is clearly a rapist and a pedophile, but in an unfortunate turn he sees the light at the end and ends up being redeemed, in a somewhat unsatisfactory way. Still, a great dynamic film which feels completely relevant. (4/5) #lajoven #movie #cinema #cinephile #film #bunuel #screenshot #luisbunuel #theyoungone #1960s #spanish #drama #filmposter #movieposter #poster #posters (at Lisbon, Portugal) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-9O_bQlfGK/?igshid=uf9zbrj91ibn
