Product Description

GRAN CASINO: Set in the early 1900's, Bunuel's surprisingly mainstream and riveting romantic melodrama is the powerful tale of two escaped convicts, Gerardo (JORGE NEGRETE) and Demetrio (JULIO VILLARREAL), who convince an Argentinian oil magnate to let them work on his rig. When he suddenly disappears, his sister (LIBERTAD LAMARQUE) immediately suspects the two workers of foul play, but her attraction to Gerardo soon leads her to secretly team up with him to conduct their own murder investigation. Intricate and riveting, Bunuel's powerful melodrama combines murder, suspense and romance. Bunuel's riveting Mexican melodrama about an escaped convict's shocking relationship with his murdered boss's sister. THE YOUNG ONE: One of only two films shot by Bunuel in English, this provocative film is a mesmerizing story of power, deception and manipulatio set on a remote island off the Carolina coast. Falsely accused of a crime and on the run, an African/American musician (BERNIE HAMILTON) crosses paths with the island's game warden, a prejudiced man (ZACHARY SCOTT) determined to win the love of a naive teenage girl who instead shows affection for the fugitive. This fascinating melodrama shot by Bunuel in English intertwines power, deception and manipulation. Shot in English, Bunuel's mesmerizing melodrama creates a combustible mix of manipulation, deception and power.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57776 in DVD
• Brand: LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2007-08-07
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: Spanish, English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 191 minutes

Customer Reviews

Two absolutely wonderful movies
For a long time I thought Luis Buñuel was an arty, removed kind of director. Thanks to DVDs like the ones in this edition it slowly dawns on me that he was extremely prolific and was also adept at tackling different genres. Gran Casino is a kind of a melodrama with humor and songs - it reminded me of Hollywood movies of the 1930s. A lot of the action takes place in the night club cum casino. There is a very long take of a singer who descends the stage, making her way through the audience along the periphery of the room and back to the stage, all the time singing, while the camera performs a 360 degree turn - it's very neat. The main character is a singer from Argentina, she performs a few of the best known tangos accompanied by a moody but competent pianist. There even is a tiny surrealist element: one dance number is performed with the dancers clutching tiny electrical torches which are absolutely out of place and do not seem to belong to the period the movie is set in. With those torches they pick out members of the audience.
The Young Ones is a very beautifully filmed drama in English concerning the coming of age of a girl in a very removed place. The girl reminded me a little of the movie Nell. An African American who has to run from an enraged mob seems to be the first real contact with the outside world. He is a clarinetist, music is an important item of this movie. The way nature is depicted reminded me of movies by Jean Renoir, it's almost like a painting.
I spent a marvellous time with these two movies.

neglected Bunuel
First off, AMAZON, it's THE YOUNG ONE, not THE YOUNG ONES.

I tried to watch GRAN CASINO first. The discs were mislabeled, so I got to see THE YOUNG ONE instead. The mislabeling of discs in a premium "collector's edition" was surprising.

THE YOUNG ONE is set on a island populated by a white game warden and a 13 year old orphan girl in his care. A black musician is accused of rape by a crazy white drunken dowager, and flees a lynch mob in a boat. Guess which island he washes up on. Did I mention that this film is provocative? Way before it's time, the film died at the box office upon release in 1961. The few audiences, black and white, that saw the film back then expressed a desire to lynch Bunuel.

The black fugitive and white warden play hide and seek around the island. We see the orphan's naked legs. The warden rapes the orphan. The fugitive and warden threaten each other with guns and grenades. We see the orphan's naked feet. A hypocritical reverend and a racist boatman come to the island to baptize the orphan. This is about where I starting losing track of who was supposed to be the good guys and bad guys. Adding to the moral ambiguity, the orphan doesn't seem to see herself as a victim, dissembling when the suspicious reverend asks what's going on.

Filmed in English in glorious black and white, THE YOUNG ONE is a long unavailable gem that easily justifies the cost of the package.

GRAN CASINO is in Spanish with English subtitles. The film is a semi-musical vehicle for some Mexican stars of the day. The stars do lots of singing and dancing *YAWN*. There's a dash of social commentary with the titular lavish casino contrasted with the oil field that supplies the wealth, but nothing close to the whallop of THE YOUNG ONE.

The high rating is on the basis of THE YOUNG ONE, which has previously only been available in foreign formats for about $30. GRAN CASINO is pure fluff and an ill fit in the package. It begs the question why Bunuel's other English film, ROBINSON CRUSOE, wasn't bundled instead.

TWO GEMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
"GRAN CASINO" WAS THE FIRST MOVIE BUÑUEL MADE IN MEXICO, AND IT DOES FOLLOW THE PATTERN FOR THE LAVISH MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS OF THE PERIOD. HE WAS FORCED TO WORK WITH THE TWO REIGNING STARS OF THE MOMENT: NONE OTHER THAN LIBERTAD LAMARQUE AND JORGE NEGRETE!!! MECHE BARBA PLAYS THE INDISPENSABLE EVIL RUMBERA. BUT ASIDE FROM THE MUSICAL NUMBERS THE PLOT INVOLVES A BARBED POLITICAL COMMENTARY--THE DEFEAT OF EVIL OIL BARONS AT THE HANDS OF THE PROTAGONISTS. "THE YOUNG ONE" HAS BEEN REVIEWED ENOUGH. LET IT BE SAID I TURNED ON THE COMMENTARY, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST SUPERCILIOUS AMOUNT OF VEDDY BRITISH ACADEMIC NONSENSE I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE, I HAD TO TURN IT OFF AND START THE MOVIE AGAIN.