Woman of the Port is a landmark film that is compared by Georges Sadoul and others to the contemporaneous French style of poetic realism, in its intense fatalism, its social candor, and the luminous, atmospheric camerawork of Alex Phillips. Mexican critic Carlos Monsiváis cites it as "the first singular Mexican film, absolutely personal." Woman of the Port is an early entry in the rumberas or cabaretera genre: characterized by their moody music, these films about the lower depths would scandalize the middle class and become, like the tango in Argentina and rembetiko in Greece, something of "underground" fare. Woman of the Port's Rosario (played by Dietrich-like Andrea Palma-see January 28) is typical of the heroine who is forced by poverty and betrayal into prostitution. Her tragedy is set in motion to the joyous rumbas of Carnival in Veracruz, and builds to a climax that hinges on inadvertent incest.