Movies - La joven

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	Movies - La joven

La joven (The young one or White Trash in the United States, Island of Shame in the United Kingdom) is a film, currently out of print and difficult to find.

Produced in Mexico in 1960 and shot in English. La Joven is one of Luis Buñuel's more serious films, dealing with subjects of racism and rape.

Based on a story by Peter Matthiessen called Travelin' Man, it tells the story of Traver, a black Jazz musician who is on the run after a white woman accuses him of rape.

Traver steals a boat and ends up on an island off the Carolina coast inhabited by Miller, who owns a bee farm with his recently deceased partner Pee Wee. Pee Wee, a drunk whose liver has finally quit, has left behind a teenage daughter named Evalyn ("Evvie", whose age is unknown). Miller is cruel to Evvie until one day he pulls back her wild child hair and notices that she is quite beautiful. Miller gets plans to have the youngster for himself and goes to shore to buy her gifts.

While she is gathering honey from the bee farm, Traver finds Evvie alone on the Island and begs her for some food. He follows her to the cabin and steals a shotgun and some gas for his boat. When Evvie protests, he gives her 20 dollars and leaves. Traver accidentally shoots a hole in his boat, forcing him to go back to the cabin and find some tar and subsequently to spend another evening on the Island. He plays his clarinet, and Evvie hears the music in the dark.

Miller returns the next day with some high heel shoes for Evvie (here we find the film's only Bunuelism, the shoe fetish) and she tells him about Traver. He's enraged with jealousy and goes after Traver, only to find his boat which he shoots another hole in. The two have a stand off which ultimately results in Miller hiring Traver so that Evvie will be forced to spend the night in his cabin.

The following day, the local preacher, Rev. Fleetwood, and a racist man named Jackson come to the island to baptize Evvie. The Reverend learns that Miller has assaulted the poor girl and Miller learns about the rape charge against Traver. The two themes of rape and racism intertwine as the tension on the island mounts.

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