This French-Mexican coproduction is a still-topical exploration of fascism and personal ethics, set in a nameless Latin American republic under military rule. An idealistic young man tries to use his position as head of the political prison to effect reform from within, but through a series of concessions ends up supporting the establishment. The film was criticized for its flaws of construction but Buñuel's uncompromising, radical intelligence reveals itself. William K. Everson notes: "It has an existentialist quality in its writing and construction. The right things happen for the wrong reasons-and vice-versa-and there is no escaping one's destiny." A wan Gérard Philipe in his last screen appearance is fitting for the character of a nonviolent reformer who "does not realize that his idiotic idealism is the dictatorship's strongest guarantee" (Ado Kyrou). María Félix shows why she was known to her fans as "The Man-Eater." Her over-the-top eroticism is Buñuelian by definition.