In the midst of the Mexican Revolution, the landowner Mendoza manages to get along with both the government and the revolutionary group. For the former, he is a supporter of Huerta. For the latter, he is a Zapata supporter. Depending on the political preference of whoever visits him at his hacienda, he has portraits of Huerta or Zapata put up, and organizes a party in honor of his visitors. However, time goes by and the situation becomes untenable. For whom will he take sides?
Acting
Alfredo del Diestro's face doing Olympic-level gymnastics between fear and fake cheer.
Direction
De Fuentes turns a hacienda into a pressure cooker with doors.
Writing
The script treats political cowardice like tragicomedy before that was even a genre.
Director
Fernando de Fuentes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Fuentes made this as part of his unofficial 'Revolution Trilogy,' essentially inventing Mexican national cinema and making the government deeply uncomfortable.
The film was controversial for suggesting the middle class survived by moral flexibility—a critique so sharp the director had trouble funding his next projects.
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