"The idea (of) intolerance; better, said, the idea of horror when confronted with intolerance," is Ripstein's theme throughout his oeuvre. "Fiction inspired by fact" is his description of El Santo Oficio, a chilling depiction of the Spanish Inquisition in late 16th Century Mexico focusing on a family of Jews who, though converted to Catholicism, are exposed as followers of their old faith. "El Santo Oficio, a visually lush, emotionally ascetic work, captures equally the austerity and the fanaticism of that period of intolerance, unique in scope if not degree...El Santo Oficio fully justifies the confidence of Ripstein's chief mentor, Luis Buñuel." (Filmex `75)