An "inside joke" for Mexicans
Mexico City is most definitly, among other things, surreal. Who better to transmit this than Buñuel? Although done for a mexican entertainment company ( at that time, literally, the only mexican entertainment company) that is known for anything but artistic freedom OR expression, it's obvious he was able to impose his own vision on, what would other wise have been, a rather dull comedy. (He's credited only as director). The plot is very simple and yet he managed to incorporate dialogues and double-meaning "one-liners" that touch on complicated issues and images that are strong and provocative. And it's done in a very subtle, almost sensual, surreal way. He really manages to portray our social contrasts and religous fervor. And it's also funny. Unfortunatly for foreigners, it's also very mexican, so many simply won't "get it". There's this one scene, where 2 of the main characters are offered food on the street car. The masterful surrealism doesn't lie in what the food is, but in that it would be carried out just as casually in real life here!! If you like Buñuel, you really should see this.

A portrait of Mexico
This is one of the many movies that Buñuel made in Mexico. Being from Mexico, I know that Buñuel must have had a very hard time with the studio, Televisa. In fact, the script for this movie, oficially, isn't Buñuel's. And yet fortunatly he managed to impose his vision of the story. This is clear in a few scenes of the movie, sometimes visually and sometimes in the actual screenplay itself, and in one key scene, both of them simultaenously, though he got no credit for it. Without his obvious impostition this would have been one more of many worthless mexican movies, fortunatly his will prevailed and turned what would have been a meaningless story into a very accurate portrait of Mexico, capturing the importance and abundance of our surrealness. Mexico city if very surreal and who better to transmit this than Luis Buñuel. Unfortunatly, this movie being so mexican will prevent foreigners from "getting it". However, it is a key moment in Buñuel's filmography and should be seen by any Buñuel "fan".