In the Mexican movie, Los olvidados, (1950) the director Luis Buñuel highlights the shortcomings of Porfirio Díaz. In particular, it showed his failing to provide the needs of the lower-class population comprised of the indigenous groups and peasant farmers. Intent on calming the imminent and pending revolution through economically disabling its active lower-class population, “economic growth under Díaz had a cost … became angry enough to attack the system,” fight and commit petty crimes like theft (Skidmore et al. 227-232). Luis Buñuel, through Los olvidados, tells a story of some children: (Pedro (Alfonso Mejía), Ojitos (Mario Herrera), Jaibo (Roberto Cobo) and Julian (Javier Amezcua)) in one of the marginal and minor neighborhoods of Mexico during this era. Through the use of imaging, sounds, purposeful framing, and camerawork in the scene when Jaibo steals Pedro’s money (1:03:18-1:06:18), Buñuel vividly illustrates the crimes like violence and theft that characterized the poverty and economic challenges that the farmers and indigenous groups faced in Mexico during the first era (1884-1911) of Porfirio Díaz.
The beginning of the scene features el Jaibo and Pedro tussling over money. El Jaibo first tries to entice Pedro to give him the money, but Pedro refuses, stating that it was his money “given by the Principal” (Buñuel). He finally overpowers Pedro and escapes into a moving school bus. Pedro’s statement during the altercation serves to highlight the fact that the children, though sidelined by the government, were aware of their entitlement to their land and the country. Amidst the heated quarrel, the sound of an approaching school bus freezes the fight for a moment. Seconds after, el Jaibo finally manages to take the coin away from Pedro, who he leaves on the ground struggling to get up. At that moment, the camera rapidly shifts to the oncoming school bus in a medium close-up shot to illustrate that the focus is about to shift from the economic struggles to a revolution. Ideally, the oncoming bus signifies the impending and awaiting revolution against the government by the lower-class population who felt neglected and abandoned by the government. The unusually loud sound of the bus implies the intensity and supposed magnitude of the revolution. The momentary freeze in the fight between el Jaibo and Pedro marks the transition period when the focus among the neglected group is expected to shift from silence and inactivity to active participation in the political upheaval.
Moments later, el Jaibo is at a field playing with fellow peers when Pedro storms the playfield demanding for his coin. Condescendingly, el Jaibo asks ‘which coin’ as though he is unaware of the coin he just stole from Pedro moments ago. At this point, sounds of laughter emanate from the background, and the camera focuses on the two rivals, Pedro and el Jaibo, who are on the verge of another physical exchange. Starting from an aerial view, the camera slowly pans towards the playfield and rests with a close-up shot of el Jaibo and Pedro facing each other having a verbal exchange. The framing strategically moves with respect to what is being filmed to demonstrate the tense atmosphere and the tension created among the neglected groups, which underlies the revolution (Gilly 7). As Pedro continues to champion for his right to the coin, the other children together with the adults slowly converge to witness the now full-blown fight. The passive bystanders cheer as el Jaibo knocks the helpless and young Pedro to a near unconscious state. While this is happening, the camera shifts from the laughing and cheering crowd to the bloody Pedro lying on the ground, and struggling to stand up. The camera movement juxtaposes the mood of the Caudillo and that of the revolting citizens. David Brading, the author of Caudillo and Peasant in the Mexican Revolution notes that the caudillos (local military recruits) were meant to facilitate the taming of the revolution, but later encountered a fierce environment as the peasants rebelled against the administration (13). The actions of el Jaibo in this instance indicates the attempt by the caudillos to thwart the efforts of the farmers to champion for their economic rights. The laughter and the cheers are typical of a jovial and fun mood within Diaz’s government as his foot-soldiers oppressed certain citizens while the administration forwarded the flawed narrative of rapid and extensive economic prosperity (Eakin 24). In addition to the sounds, camerawork, and purposeful framing, Buñuel uses monochrome as an imaging technique to historically situate the film. The period between 1880 and 1970 was characterized by the use of monochrome (black and white) in movies (Ronalds 73). Coincidentally, the first reign of President Diaz was from 1884 to 1911. The entire scene is in black and white and therefore represents the importance of not using color.
The use of different cinematography techniques by Buñuel in this scene illustrates the relationship between President Diaz’s administration and the lower-class citizens. Although the government constantly claimed equal economic opportunities for all the citizens, the claim seems flawed from Luis Buñuel’s standpoint which shows how the government neglected a part of the population and tried to suppress their voices when they sought to be heard. Buñuel exemplifies the chaos and confusion they ensued in the lead-up to the revolution which pitched the caudillos against the neglected citizens.
Works Cited
- Brading, David. Caudillo and Peasant in the Mexican Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Print.
- Eakin, Marshall. The History of Latin America. New York, NY: Palgrave, 2007. Print.
- Gilly, Adolfo. The Mexican Revolution. Thetford: The Thetford Press, 1983. Print.
- Ronalds, Francis. “The Beginnings of Continuous Scientific Recording using Photography: Sir Francis Ronalds’ Contribution,” European Society for the History of Photography. 2016. Web 20 February 2016.
- Skidmore et al. Modern Latin America. 8th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.