The Brute

Pedro Armendariz and Katy Jurado bring a sultry sexuality to Bunuel's remarkable study of machismo and abusive power relationships. Armendáriz is El Bruto, an almost Frankenstein-like figure, unable to control his monstrous strength and temper yet strangely sympathetic and vulnerable as he searches for companionship. Even more monstrous, however, is Jorado's venal landlord husband who hires El Bruto to terrorize his working class tenants into accepting his exploitative terms. Partnered with Los olvidados co-writer Luis Alcoriza, Buuel used a sharp, at times almost grotesque, caricature to deliver an angry, deeply cynical vision of class warfare and inequity.