Bardem’s moral thriller about an adulterous couple coming apart at the seams while trying to hide their accidental killing of a cyclist mixes Hollywood melodrama and Italian neorealism in innovative and striking ways. Bardem was consciously trying to reinvent the Spanish cinema under the Franco regime, and he was largely successful, fusing tense entertainment with a striking critique of the class divisions in Spanish society via strong camerawork and the clever use of match cuts to draw connections among various characters. (DVD)