This fictional tale can be interpreted as a synthesis of the events of the Revolution-and the unraveling of the semi-feudal, paternalistic hacienda system that was idealized in films such as Over on the Big Ranch. An unconventional landowner's son who believes in the egalitarian ideals of the Revolution secretly marries a peasant girl and all are drawn into the violence of this singular moment in history. The cinematic frescoes of Emilio Fernández (El Indio), like the murals of Diego Rivera and Siqueiros, reflect both the Spanish and Indian folkloric traditions and a certain popular taste for melodrama. His was a cinema of sublime plastic beauty, music, and always of ideas: "A work is great in the measure that its themes are (great)," Fernández said. With Flor Sylvestre, made before his celebrated María Candelaria, he began a long and fruitful collaboration with the cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, actors Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz, and screenwriter Mauricio Magdeleno.