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This fiery social melodrama is one of the highlights of Buñuel’s Mexican period. It sees tyrannical landlord Don Andrés hire the tough, simple-minded slaughterhouse labourer Pedro (Pedro Armendáriz) – nicknamed ‘El Bruto’ for obvious reasons – to evict a group of poor residents from some slums on land which he wants to sell. He is dismayed to discover that the man becomes an object of desire not only for his strong-willed young wife Paloma (Katy Jurado), a woman enticed by his all-too evident muscularity, but also for the sweet-natured daughter of one of Andrés’ wronged tenants, who forces him to question just whose side he should really be on.

Recalling Los Olvidados in its concerns with social injustices, the film also sees Buñuel experimenting with religious symbolism.