Juan Esplandiu

The film consists of a series of tightly interlinked vignettes, the most sustained of which details the story of a man and a woman who are passionately in love. Their attempts to consummate their passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, by the Church and bourgeois society in general.

Madrid, Spain, early 20th century. A woman turns up dead in a modest home. She turns out to be María la Jerezana, a popular singer who was famous years ago until she disappeared. The Police Commissioner in charge, dissatisfied with the official version, which concludes that the crime was the result of a simple robbery, is determined to find out the truth.