The alternative ending is...
In the fight at the end Pedro pushes El Jaibo down, and he dies in the fall, he recovered the money, and went to the farm, but before that. he talks with the "Ojitos" about the origin to the money, and the final shot is from Pedro in the entrance of the farm, going inside.
Happy Ending, I Guess, I Prefer the other one
I agree with rain_on_tin... the "sad" ending is better.
shareI just saw the movie last night at the theatre. I asked afterward and they told me it was a 35mm print, not a DVD. Anyway, before this, we're watching the movie and we see the "downer" ending; i.e., it's about as bad as could be imagined. Then, on the screen words start scrolling; explanations about how an alternate "happy" or "hopeful" ending was found recently. Then more sentences about how Bunel's original ending "proved" he was one of the greatest directors of all time--blah, blah, blah. Then the alternative ending is shown. People who were walking out had to stop and stand in the aisles to watch (hah, hah!).
Now my opinion: That first ending was completely honest and drove home the main theme of the movie: that driving poverty is the cause of so much social and personal ill. We needed that awful, unhopeful, unredeeming ending to show that even the good can be extinquished by forces beyond their control. The alternate, hopeful, ending makes us feel redeemed ourselves; that good overcomes bad. But Bunel is right. We should not feel good after watching this movie, because that let's us off the hook. Knowledge is not enough. We need to be uncomfortable to be able to change what's wrong in the world.
Sure glad they didn't use that!! The ending is one of the most memorable (and depressing) ever. It's a good thing that it came out long ago. Today, they'd be forced to shoot 20 extra endings for the dvd release. ;)
shareBunuel and the producers made the right choice with the other ending. Much more effective for what the film was trying to say. Who knows, maybe the alternative ending could have worked if I hadn't had seen it ten seconds right after the other one. But it was a little too cute, which is especially disconcerting in a Bunuel film.
shareWell many people for several years thought that the "alternative ending" was only a joke. I have seen interviews with Roberto Cobo (who plays "El jaibo") where he said that the alternative ending was never shot.
Obviously he was wrong, and he died thinking the other ending was just a myth.
I think the alternative ending was "discovered" right after Roberto Cobo's dead. But that comment by Cobo tells you that it never was used by Buñuel.
Anyway is good to see this ending wasn't lost. It's interesting from a historical point of view but way too optimistic for Buñuel tastes. It wouldn't have worked.
Well many people for several years thought that the "alternative ending" was only a joke. I have seen interviews with Roberto Cobo (who plays "El jaibo") where he said that the alternative ending was never shot.if he participated then he must have known.
Obviously he was wrong, and he died thinking the other ending was just a myth.
if he participated then he must have known.
---------------------------------------------------
Note necessarily, First of all Roberto Cobo was terminally ill when he said that. Hence he could have easily forgotten something he shot 50 years before. And something that most likely he never saw on screen.
second: Seems that Buñuel shot that scene not given it any importance (Don't forget the "happy ending" was imposed to Buñuel), but after the theatrical release (with the "right" ending) seems he never talked about it anymore, he just "forgot" it like almost everybody else.
So even for some of the actors and technicians involved in the filming that scene wouldn't be particularly remembered.
Anyway the TRUE is that Roberto Cobo DIDN'T remember about the alternate ending. And died thinking that all those "rumours" about the "alternate ending" were all invented because, as I've said before, the missing footage of that alternate scene was "found" after his death.
[deleted]
My copy of the film is an import with no special features - I was not aware there was an alternative ending. While it's nice to imagine a happy end, it's hard to imagine anything working as beautifully as the end of this film, which is one of the most shattering I've ever seen.
share The alternate ending was just obviously the will of some producer with all the money who was seeking a happy ending that probably wouldn't leave the audiences thinking about much. Thankfully, Bunuel did not sacrifice the message of this powerful movie by succumbing to the will of this person.
The ending he choose sums up the theme of his movie -- In a poverty stricken society, where young people are without their parents, or without the love or support of their parents, they turn to the streets for a sense of community and family. Pedro doesn't really feel the love at home, he tries to be good but he keeps making mistakes, so he turns to the kids on the street for love. This love can just be food for an empty stomach, a place to sleep when you have nowhere else to go, or even some alcohol to take your mind off life's miseries.
Jaibo is the ring leader in the streets because he has never known any love, he can't even remember who his mother is, but he's made it on his own. In this poverty stricken situation with no institutions for support, and no family or love for the youth, it just becomes the survival of the fittest in the streets. I'm not saying Jaibo was a role model by any means, and Bunuel show what this life leads to in his origional ending, but considering the context of his situation It is remarkable that he lives as long as he does.
The "hollywood" ending has Pedro win a struggle with Jaibo. Jaibo falls and breaks his neck, which kills him instantly, leaving Pedro a lot more guilt free then if he had stabbed him to death, which is why I think he brought the shank. Then he returns to the farm with the money he was entrusted with, and the movie ends pretty happy.
The original ending was real and kept with the over all theme. The final shot was of Pedro being tossed into the garbage dump, Jaibo has been gunned down by the cops, it just shows that as hard as these two struggle JUST TO STAY ALIVE, in the end they were still as insignificant and disposable as trash. It makes you think how could the government let this situation get so bad, wheres the support, wheres the love? The film doesn't serve to put a negative connotation on any one culture or ethnic group, but tries to display the utter desparity of people in similar situations.
This is very contemporary to problems we have in every major city in the united states today, while the news tells the crime rates and vilifies a certain minority group, we often don't take the time to analyze their day to day situations and the problems they face.
Jaibo's death is far more dramatic in the original version. Despite being a despicable character you can't help but feel sorry for this troubled soul after watching that close-up of his dying face super imposed with panning shots of the street & the dog. Adding that gloomy narration completes the magic of film only possible from Buñuel.
shareI agree with you.
In the Director's cut, Jaibo is dying alone like a itchy dog ("perro sarnoso"), and he appeals to his mother like the pure child he would have liked to be: «Estoy solo... solo...» (I'm alone... alone...). And he «hears» his mother assuaging him tenderly, «Como siempre, mi hijito... Como siempre... Duérmete... duérmete...». The repetition of the words, his and hers, in a voice off dialogue, is like an echo, or a poem.
This is one of the most powerful scenes ever filmed in over a century of filmmaking.
The alternate end would be alright to give a sedative to the viewers after the saga of the forgotten people in the gutters, but that was never the aim of Luis Buñuel!
Today I added links in imdb to both finals, I hope they work, so other users may see what we've been discussing here.
Been meaning to give myself a Bunuel marathon since I first watch object, after 9 years I finally got around to it and I just watched Los Olvidados and (ending amazing)discovered Pedro released the alternate ending just 3 and a 1/2 weeks ago (according to wiki..), but can't seem to find it anywhere online. If you still have it could u send me the link?
shareThe alternate ending would have resulted in a very different film.
As it stands, I can appreciate the optimism of the alternate ending, but the fact that Bunuel was forced to film it proves that his heart wasn't in it. He didn't want to make that kind of movie.
We had to have that chilling final shot of Pedro rolling into the garbage. A happier ending would allow the audience to feel confident that poverty is well on its way to being vanquished, and that's certainly not what Bunuel wants.
Bunuel says: WE have to vanquish poverty. That's not his job. It's our job. We're the actual people. We're the ones who are in charge of reality as it is. The movie even says in the disclaimer that it's out to portray life as it really is, not in the way we want it to be.
I think the biggest tragedy of the ending is that Pedro has every intention of returning to the boarding school and returning the money. If only he had gotten it back from Jaibo. But with Pedro dead, the boarding school principal will be left feeling that it was a mistake for him to release Pedro in the first place -- when, really, it wasn't.
Pedro had learned his lesson. It's just that poverty (aka Jaibo) swallowed him alive before he could clear his own name. Life is like that. It has a way of screwing us over.
That's why Bunuel made the movie.
"What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter."