Islas Marías

This is an extraordinary film, sadly neglected in the body of work of the legendary Pedro Infante. He plays a wayward youth, who ends up in the infamous prison in Las Islas Marias. The film is bleak and powerful, with many of the best Mexican film talent of the time: director Emilio Fernandez; cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa; the legendary Rosaura Revueltas, who later starred in the blacklisted film Salt of the Earth; Tito Junco, Rodolfo Acosta, and several other superb actors. It was shot on-location in the recently closed federal prison at the tip of Baja. The film powerful captures the state of the disfranchised of Mexico City. It is moving and illuminating.