At the end of the 19th century, Soledad Romero, Sara Montiel, a well-known singer, is accused of murder. During the trial, the sad history of her life came to light. The movie chronicles the events of her troubled life, narrated through continuous flashbacks. At first, she is a missionary nun in Equatorial Africa. The usual misfortune occurs: Soledad is raped by natives and has a daughter presumed dead. Once outside the convent, she becomes a famous singer who succeeds professionally but fails in love. Finally, Soledad finds the man she believes to be the true love of her dreams, Ivan Rassimov, but naturally, in keeping with any extreme drama, things do not develop as expected, leading to an unpredictable and incredible conclusion.
This is a moving and deeply dramatic story by then-famous writers Antonio Gala and Fernando Vizcaíno Casas. All the clichés of the melodramatic genre are present in this movie, directed by the endearing Mario Camus, who in those years dedicated himself to making cinematic products that served as vehicles for the brilliance of dazzling national stars such as Rafael in "Digan lo que digan", Marisol in " Los días del pasado", y Sara Montiel in "Esa mujer" or international actors as Terence Hill in " La Cólera del viento ". This is another of the many literary adaptations made by the great Mario Camus, effectively directing stories based on novels written by such well-known authors as Ignacio Aldecoa, Benito Pérez Galdos, García Lorca , Camilo José Cela and Miguel Delibes.
The movie is to some extent a revision of the 'Nun Films' in the Sixties, these usually went to Africa to fulfill their missionary vocation, which has its classic one, in "The Nun's story" by Fred Zinnemann with Audrey Hepburn, and this "Esa mujer" is made in similar style of another Spanish film, "Encrucijada de una monja " by Julio Buchs with Rosanna Schiaffino playing a nun who is also raped.
The picture was professionally directed by Mario Camus. In his early days, Mario worked with Carlos Saura on various scripts in the 1960s, such as: "Los Golfos", 1960, y "Llanto por un bandido", 1964, and directed several short films as well. Camus displayed a literary bent and was perhaps the best adaptor of Spanish film, a fact that would be a constant in his movies. His first feature films were "Los Farsantes" 1963 and "Young Sánchez" 1964, which is one of the great boxing films and won the award for best movie at the Buenos Aires Festival. And, of course he made splendid adaptations of notorious novels, as is the case of the important television series "Fortunata y Jacinta", 1979, and also "Los desastres de la guerra",1984. Shortly after, he directed his most successful work, both with the audience and critics: "Los Santos Inocentes", 1984. For all which, Camus is always considered an expert on interesting dramas as he demostrated by his 'La Colmena' que ganó el Oso de Oro en el Festival de Berlín, 'La casa de Bernarda Alba', "Con el viento Solano', 'El prado de las estrellas', 'La playa de los galgos', 'El color de las nubes', 'Sombras de una batalla', entre otras.
