THE STONE KNIFE

In expressive symbols, this reflects the obscure, religious, savage urges of the Mexican people, in the preoccupation with death, as a little girl's dying, a flood, revolution, a strike, all play their parts in the lives of a collection of chosen characters. Chonita's corpse, everpresent through the events, is odorous with death as her parents, assembled mourners, the priest, address themselves to the ritual, which is interrupted by physical incident. In the people, in the events, are the contrasts of the Spanish and Axteo heritage, the destructive and creative forces of the revolution; the counterpoint of words, emotion and remembered instinct. In a generally monotonous, sometimes effective translation, this, for a single-faceted aspect, has a feeling of The Underdogs in its presentation of a truly Mexican picture. For specialists in the Latin-American scene.