Prisoner, sponge diver, and one woman—someone's drowning.
Antonio dives for sponges which are sold by his sweetheart Rossana. One day, the escaped prisoner José-Luis appears and is hid by his friend Antonio. Although José-Luis does not want to betray his friend, a love affair with tragic consequences between him and Rossana develops. The Net was one of Mexico's entries at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.
Cinematography
Gabriel Figueroa's shadow-drenched Mexican coast—pure visual sorcery.
Direction
Fernández squeezes epic tragedy into 80 tight minutes.
Acting
Podestà's smoldering presence launches her international career.
Director
Emilio Fernández
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rossana Podestà was only 18 and spoke no Spanish; she learned her lines phonetically.
Fernández and Figueroa were Mexico's dream team, essentially inventing 'Mexican cinema' as global art—this was their attempt at neorealist tragedy.
MX
