For this week’s class we screened La Joven and discussed the journey of Bunuel moving from
city to city due to complications within the film industry. Prior to screening the film we discussed Bunuel’s
financial situation as he was bankrupted in 1938, leading to Bunuel travelling by transatlantic ship to NYC.
Within his time in NYC, Bunuel would become friends with Iris Barry, work for MoMA and work on
rebranding himself as a documentarian after his film Las Hurdes, Land Without Bread. MoMA would
promote critical art even during the war (WW2), to which Bunuel was in charge of screening as he was
hired by an American government agency. Bunuel would also request a copy of Land Without Bread for
the MoMA, however would later be met with a hardship by his own acquaintance Salvador Dali; who
would label Bunuel as an atheist, later gaining pressure to fire Bunuel due to the Film Industry’s code and
influence stating they are hosting a “dangerous communist”. These moments would further show Bunuel
his time in NYC as prejudicial, leading to Bunuel creating his film La Joven.
La Joven would prove to be one of Bunuel’s influential pieces as it portrays a young girl and an
African-American man who both undergo hardship; the girl and her abuser and the African-American man
who would be accused of a rape he did not commit. This film reflects again Bunuel’s time in NYC, to
which he is portraying the prejudices America places on society on those who are deemed unlikable and
would be initially condemned. I personally feel that scenes such as the nights where the abuser would
mentally gaslight the young girl and the scenes where although the character Traver would be in hardship
with the landowners, him fighting back were portrayed extremely strong in close up shots, great
storytelling and overall subliminal messages showcasing the true struggle of living in America.