A lonely, aging postal worker finds himself the victim of a cruel practical joke in this pessimistic Mexican drama. The trouble begins when crotchety postman Andre begins complaining about his young neighbor Marianna's propensity for playing loud music every time she entertains a lover. To get back at him, Marianna begins sending him anonymous love letters. The old man is intrigued by the mysterious letters and hires a cheap detective to find their author. The detective is convinced the perpetrator is Teresita, a veteran hooker who joins in on the scheme to earn a little extra cash. Andre's friend and colleague tries to warn Andre that it is all a game, but his friend is in love and will not listen. Meanwhile, Marianna attempts to woo Luis Felipe, a hard, unfeeling tabloid journalist who has her take grisly pictures of murder victims for him. Both Marianna and Andre are destined to meet an unpleasant fate at the story's end.

Leon has a crush on Ofelia, so he decides to steal money from his father and cross the country looking for Ofelia who traveled to Guadalajara. On his journey, Leon goes through many adventures and takes the final step from childhood into adolescence.

In Mexico City's infamous Lecumberri prison, three drug-addicted convicts celebrate getting drugs from one of their the mothers. They are found out and locked up in the "apando," the dreaded punishment cell. Protests over the treatment of those held in the cell lead to a bloody confrontation.

The legendary life of Mexican singer Lucha Reyes is the basis of this fictionalized biography ( or as director Arturo Ripstein puts it "an imaginary biography"). Lucha Reyes was an unconventional, and sexually liberated woman, most famous for her "cancion ranchera" style singing. Her story begins in 1939, where at 33 she still lived at home with her mother, Dona Victora, the madame of a renowned Mexico City whorehouse. Lucha marries the liberal Pedro Calderon and then buys a beggar's daughter. She becomes the mother to this child, Luzma. Lucha craves lasting love like junkies crave heroin. But for her loyal daughter, she never finds it and in the end no one can help her.

And I was so surprised at how well Joseph Conrad works in a MexicCity setting. I noticed that there were no comments on this movie so far, and, since I liked it a lot when I saw it around 15 years ago (it's 2006 now)I want to draw people's attention to it. I can't go into much detail about it after that long a time. It's an understated but fascinating story of the relationship between the two women (the mother of the guy who ran off to sea years earlier and has never come back) and her co-worker in a large office. The younger woman becomes interested, even romantically, in him just from hearing about him, and you, the audience, do, too. Then when he suddenly appears one day, both she and you are in for having your romantic illusions shattered. I was very struck by the last visuals, involving scenes from the ocean, apparently invading a Mexico City apartment. I found on the web that the English title was Shipwreck (though I don't recall that title), and that it was based on Conrad's short story: Tomorrow, which I must try to find and read. I hope my comments will inspire others to find this affecting "little" movie. Note to IMDb: Could "Shipwrecked" be added as an alternative title, or cross reference?

A young girl recounts her girlhood and eventual marriage to a general of the Mexican revolution. by one of the most outstanding writers of the new feminist Mexican literature, it is at once a haunting novel of one woman's life and a powerful account of post-revolutionary Mexico from a female perspective.