Custom «Los Oldividados» Essay Paper

This essay would compare the Los Oldividados film and the Diarios de motocicleta film. Los Oldividados is a 1950 Mexican film that Luis Bunuel directed. The film highlights the lives of poor children in Mexico City. It indicates the lives of destitute children in a slum in Mexico City and their survival tactics. El Jaibo is the leader of the poor children that struggle to meet their needs in the city by robbing other people hence risking police arrest and death. On the other hand, Diarios de Motoclicleta is a 2004 film that highlights the journey and memoir of Ernesto Guevara who later becomes an iconic Marxist revolutionary known as Che Guevara. The movie highlights the manner in which an uncaring regime subjects its people to social injustices and poor living conditions hence transforming Guevara into a revolutionist to advocate the rights of these people.

This essay compares the Los Oldividados film and Diarios de Motocicleta film in terms of themes, subject matter, point of view, cinematic style, historical framework, cinematic status, and audience reactions.

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Themes

The theme of the Los Oldividados film is the never-ending cycle of poverty among people living in the slums of Mexico City. It indicates the way in which most children in the slum turn into criminals in the course of seeking a better living. For instance, El Jaibo grows into a criminal, and he is even ready to kill people to obtain money that would help sustain him. More so, Pedro, whose mother also lives in deplorable conditions in the slum shares in the crimes committed by El Jaibo by concealing evidence. The high level of poverty in the slums is the push factor for such criminals operations among slum children (Polizzotti 7).

The theme of Diaros de motocicleta is political tyranny. The existing political system subjects its own citizens to poor living conditions and extreme social injustices. The political system divides society into the haves and the have not hence making it difficult for all citizens to be served equally. Copper-mine workers are treated poorly, and Guevara is highly touched by the horrific scenes he experiences during his travel that he had intended to cover 8,000km (Guevara 10). The horrifying experiences Guevara witnesses motivate him to start advocating the rights of all people as a Marxist revolutionary. At the end of the film, Alberto Grenado mentions the eventual execution of Che Guevara in the Bolivian jungle hence indicating a high level of social injustices.

Subject Matter

The subject matter of the Los Oldividados film is life in a Mexican City slum and the manner in which youngsters living in such conditions try to make ends meet. The movie features El Jaibo as the ringleader of all other youngsters living in deplorable conditions in the slums. The subject matter of the film is poor living conditions and the entire nature of slum life. It indicates that the behavior of one is affected by the conditions that one is made to live in. Therefore, the focus of the movie is slum life and the way in which individuals in slums would try to meet their needs.

On the other hand, the subject matter of Diaros de motocicleta is the journey and the memoirs of the 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara who later becomes an iconic Marxist revolutionist commonly referred to as Che Guevara. He sets out on a journey that later reveals to him the deplorable conditions that an uncaring regime exposes its own people. The poor living conditions of the people and high levels of social injustices motivate him to become a Marxist revolunist with the aim of calling for a change.

Point of View

The point of view of Los Oldividados is that poverty can lead to the development of highly deviant behaviors among individuals starting from their earlier. The movie is of the view that children in slums would mostly grow up into unmanageable adults because of the hard living conditions they face from their childhood days. They would always resolve to shorter ways of accessing their needs. For instance, El Jaibo resolves to armed robbery and even murder with the aim of meeting his needs (Polizzotti 17). The push-factor in this instance is poverty and lack of hope among these individuals.

The point of view of Diaros de motocicleta is that tyrannical and uncaring regimes would always expose even their own citizens to suffering. In the travels of Guevara, it is indicated that he meets and witnesses the real situation that other people commonly referred to as the “have not” are forced to face. The regime is so cruel that it exposes its own people to class differences and immense levels of social injustices. The harassment that copper miners are exposed to is another view that citizens can suffer immensely under a tyrannical and uncaring regime. People are discriminated against, and lepers are isolated from the entire community (Guevara 58).  

Cinematic Style

The cinematic style employed in Los Oldividados is simple and brings out all instances in a clear manner. For instance, the cinematic style takes a clear and simple approach in highlighting the lives of youngsters in the Mexican City slum. It employs a simple, but clear cinematic style that also helps in the clarification of the manner El Jaibo kept on murdering other people for the satisfaction of his needs. This is brought out clearly and in a manner, that someone can relate it to the real life situation.

Similarly, Diaros de Moticicleta utilizes a simple cinematic style that also enables individuals connect this situation to a real life situation. It employs a simple cinematic style in indicating the manner in which Guevara arranges for his long journey and the way in which he comes witnesses the real situation. The simple and advanced cinematic style employed in the movie facilitates proper connection of events in the film hence helping views get the true picture of the situation being addressed in the movie. It also enhances faster understanding of the movie.

Historical Framework

The historical framework of the Los Oldividados film points to the rampant poverty in big cities. High levels of poverty in urban slums and other criminal offense committed by individuals residing in these areas is an issue that has been disturbing the entire world. The historical framework of the movie is built on the view that high cases of inequalities in urban areas lead to deplorable and undesirable living conditions. The historical framework of the film is the rampant levels of poverty that affect most parts of urban centers. This ultimately breeds delinquent children who become a disaster to the city. The historical significance of the movie in highlighting urban poverty made it to be inscribe in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” documentary.

Notably, the historical framework of Diaros de Moticicleta points to the long journey of the search for equality and fairness in South America in the 20^th Century. The film highlights the history of South America and the manner in which most individuals had been subjected to class differences and social injustices. It highlights the manner in which the long journey for the search of justice in South America took place and the ultimate revolution that brought some hope to the people of South America in their own country. The historical framework of the movie points toward a revolution that was aimed at bringing some hope to the suffering individuals in South America.

Cinematic Status

            Cinematic status is a vital aspect for the success of each movie. The cinematic status of Los Oldividados is of very high quality (Polizzotti 67). All the scenes of the movie were produced in a high quality manner that reflects actual situations effectively. This was aimed at attracting the interest of many viewers. It employs fiction in some instances hence enabling individuals get a clear view of the deplorable conditions in the Mexican slum.

            In a similar manner, the cinematic status of Diaros de Moticicleta is of high quality. The movie highlights the travels of Grenado and Guevara in a clear and high quality manner. The cinematic status is of excellent quality because viewers can get a clear view of the travels undergone by these two allies. It employs some level of fiction in the journeys hence making it more superb (Guevara 34).

Audience Reactions

Audience reactions toward the Los Oldividados movie were so positive. Most of the audience perceived the movie a through way to addressing the lives of individuals living poorer lives in the city. It was also recognized by international bodies such as UNESCO for its significant identification and indication of the poor living conditions slum people in urban areas face. It is asserted that the movie holds a 94% score on the Rotten Tomatoes website based on 29 reviews.

Diaros de Moticicleta received mixed reactions from the audience. Most individuals pointed out that the movie utilizes significant cinematography styles to bring out the long travel to revolution and advocating the rights of individuals in South America. It is a true sense of indicating a tedious journey toward the road of revolution. Other critics asserted that the movie was not effective at hitting the desired point because of its very simplistic nature. The movie received 75% score according to critical reviews.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Los Oldividados movie and Diaros de Miticicleta movie highlight different matters in society. They are related in some aspects such as cinematography styles and differ in other aspects such as the subject matter and the key theme addressed. However, they address significant issues of urban poverty and political revolution.