"Government censors forced Bardem to tack on an announcement stating that 'This story could take place in any city, any province, any country' at the beginning of Main Street, yet the film's supposed 'universality' in no way detracts from its status as a powerful critique of Spanish machismo. Based on a warhorse of the Spanish stage, La señorita de Trevelez, the story focuses on Isabel, a thirty-five-year-old, unmarried woman. Although already considered 'too old' to marry, Isabel continues to take part with her younger friends in the evening strolls that are considered the local 'marriage market.' A group of locals decides to play a joke on this celebrated 'spinster'; they convince Juan, a solid but timid sort, to pretend he's interested in her, while secretly planning to dump her in the end. Unexpected emotions emerge in both after their ill-fated encounter, but codes of honor have to be followed to their grim conclusions. Widely considered the finest of Bardem's works." -Richard Peña