Victims of Sin (Criterion) 07/24 Blu-ray (Rental)

A treasure of Mexico’s cinematic golden age, this deliriously plotted blend of gritty crime film, heart-tugging maternal melodrama, and mambo musical is a dazzling showcase for iconic star Ninón Sevilla. She brings fierce charisma and fiery strength to her role as a rumbera—a female nightclub dancer—who gives up everything to raise an abandoned boy, whom she must protect from his ruthless gangster father. Directed at a dizzying pace by filmmaking titan Emilio Fernández, and shot in stylish chiaroscuro by renowned cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa amid smoky dance halls and atmospherically seedy underworld haunts, Victims of Sin is a ferociously entertaining female-powered noir pulsing with the intoxicating rhythms of some of Latin America’s most legendary musical stars. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New interview with filmmaker and archivist Viviana Garcia Besné New interview with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto on the work of Gabriel Figueroa Archival documentary on cine de rumberas, featuring interviews with actor Ninón Sevilla Trailer New English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by scholar Jacqueline Avila