Post by Capo on Jul 22, 2007 22:15:40 GMT
The Young One
Luis Buñuel 1960 Mexico / USA
A black man accused of rape finds sanctuary on a remote island inhabited only by a young girl and an older man.
One of only two English-language films from the director, a fine sense of location, in both its historical politicism and geographical climate. It's a challenging film, not least in its seemingly and misleadingly (that is, clever) solution, a somewhat happy ending for all, at least on the surface... There is, however, beneath this phony generosity and sense of relief, the lingering fact that a young girl has been deflowered by a fully grown man, the black man is still not free of accusation, and there is at least one character who remains racist till the end. The presence of a priest complicates matters further only a little - it could have been a more challenging presence, because on the whole he seems an always-benign and rather simplistic character - though he does at least hammer the notion of Heaven and Prayer into the innocent girl, which brings up slight implications of false nurturing. Finely shot, too, by the way.
Luis Buñuel 1960 Mexico / USA
A black man accused of rape finds sanctuary on a remote island inhabited only by a young girl and an older man.
One of only two English-language films from the director, a fine sense of location, in both its historical politicism and geographical climate. It's a challenging film, not least in its seemingly and misleadingly (that is, clever) solution, a somewhat happy ending for all, at least on the surface... There is, however, beneath this phony generosity and sense of relief, the lingering fact that a young girl has been deflowered by a fully grown man, the black man is still not free of accusation, and there is at least one character who remains racist till the end. The presence of a priest complicates matters further only a little - it could have been a more challenging presence, because on the whole he seems an always-benign and rather simplistic character - though he does at least hammer the notion of Heaven and Prayer into the innocent girl, which brings up slight implications of false nurturing. Finely shot, too, by the way.