Bracho’s decades-spanning tale of two star-crossed lovers turns doomed romance into the highest of operatic entertainment, and showcases the charisma of legendary singer/actor Jorge Negrete, a.k.a. “El Charro Cantor.” A young boy watches his father’s life and fortune destroyed by an unscrupulous moneylender; he’s aided first by a kindly priest, and then by the moneylender’s daughter. But what good are loves—or grudges—if they aren’t held for decades, or expressed through song? Gabriel Figueroa ensures the visual gloss for this musical Gone with the Wind of class conflicts, Catholic mores, and suffocating patriarchy, all writ across years of unfulfilled, increasingly deranged passions.