The Brute [El Bruto] **** (1953, Pedro Armendáriz, Katy Jurado, Rosita Arenas, Andrés Soler) – Classic Movie Review 9958

The 1953 drama The Brute [El Bruto] was filmed fast by Luis Buñuel in Mexico, with intriguing performances and a fiery mood.

Buñuel’s complex, heated, highly charged tale is of a none-too-intelligent meat-packing giant, Pedro – El Bruto (Pedro Armendáriz), who is paid by a greedy landlord Andrés Cabrera (Andrés Soler) to frighten his slum tenants. Armendariz takes up with Soler’s wife, Paloma (Katy Jurado), but then falls for Meche (Rosita Arenas), a daughter of one of the tenants, enraging Jurado.

The Brute [El Bruto] is riveting, and highly emotional throughout, even if it lacks the kind of finesse Buñuel could have given it in his old age.

It is splendidly filmed in black and white with a great lusty atmosphere by Agustín Jiménez, and the acting is spot on, particularly by Armendáriz and Jurado, who are ideal.

The Brute [El Bruto] was shot at Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Also in the cast are Roberto Meyer, Beatriz Ramos, Paco Martínez, Gloria Mestre and Paz Villegas.

The Brute [El Bruto] is directed by Luis Buñuel, runs 83 minutes, is made by Internacional Cinematográfica, is released by Columbia Pictures (1953) (Mexico) and Les Films Marceau (1953) (France), is written by Luis Buñuel (story and screenplay) and Luis Alcoriza (story), is shot in black and white by Agustín Jiménez, is produced by Óscar Dancigers, Sergio Kogan and Gabriel Castro, and is scored by Raúl Lavista, with Art Direction by Gunther Gerszo and Roberto Silva.

It was released on DVD as a double feature in March 2011 with Luis Buñuel’s Susana [The Devil and the Flesh] (1951).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9958

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