Diable entre les jambes

Beatriz, an aging woman living in a shabby genteel part of Mexico City, has a past that her also aging husband won't allow her, or himself, to forget: her youthful promiscuity that, though she has long ceased such activity, he still thinks she indulges in with other men. He expresses this to her in the basest language possible. Meanwhile, he is having a relationship with a married hairdresser, the film's one sympathetic character. There is also an adolescent live-in maid, Dinorah, who involves herself in the couple's "relationship, " to the point of a near fatal climax.

This film deals with an inability to forget the past the past, misogyny, jealousy and obsession. Its basic theme is sex while having no erotic appeal. Indeed, it leaves one with an unpleasant aftertaste, if only because of the distasteful characters involved.

The photography, though, is enjoyable. Done in black and white, it captures the nuances of the interiors and exteriors of that part of Mexico City.