A bittersweet dissection of machismo and homophobia in Latin America, the script is based on a novel by noted Chilean writer José Donoso and cowritten by Manuel Puig. In an isolated town dominated by a corrupt politico, the bordello, though condemned by the self-righteous, is the only place still provided with electricity. This is the domain of the transvestite La Manuela, madam La Japonesa, and their daughter, La Japonesita. When La Japonesita is roughly treated by a customer, La Manuela (Los Olvidados's Roberto Cobo in an outstanding performance) steps in and distracts him with an erotic dance in Andalusian drag. The macho customer's response is impassioned. Arturo Ripstein directs using static long-shot compositions to emphasize the oppressive spaces within which the characters are entrapped; when the boundaries are crossed, the result is an explosion of melodrama worthy of R. W. Fassbinder.