Revolution show how the intentions of those who are fighting are diverted by the struggle itself--so much so that they have no clear notion of what they are fighting for. The unarticulated nature of the rebels' goals does not, however, mean that they are not clear on the source of their problems. But, as the incident with the begging woman on the train shows, their ignorance of the world allows them to be manipulated very easily and they can fight for years without bringing themselves any closer to any changes that might actually help them. The old woman on the train repeatedly begs for help with a story about how a "well-dressed" man stole her belongings at the station. She plays cleverly on the generalized notion of the peasant-soldiers that the "well-dressed" segment of society has been exploiting them. But their gullibility shows how difficult it would be for them to say with any specificity just how or why they had been so exploited--or what could be done about it.
The characters in Bu¦uel's film live in a world that is overshadowed by the ghostly skeleton of a modern b
...