Fernández's last great film about provincial life, dramatically set under the volcanos, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, is "very much in the tradition of John Ford: sentimental, violent, and pioneering" (Donnelly). It focuses on the struggles of the agrarian underclass in the story of a young man, returning from an unjust prison sentence, who finds his desire to be a simple farmer thwarted by small-town politics, family treacheries, and romantic rivalries. Village life, replete with cock-fighting, fiestas, and horse-racing, is more than a backdrop to the drama in this film which typifies Emilio Fernández's extraordinary talent: "(Fernández) weds his faith in Mexican identity (which for him is paramount) to his artistic ambitions....(His works transcend narrow nationalistic sentiment due to) their populist conviction, aesthetic power and the depiction of customs, tastes, traditions, landscape and songs....In a timeless time-always connected to the Revolution-being Mexican is a redeeming burden, and the legendary origin of vibrant images. Everything is symbolic, everything is alive." (Centre Pompidou)