The River and Death

The River and Death is a Mexican drama about two families in a small village locked in a vendetta that has lasted for generations. Men on both sides have killed one another in the name of family honor, and the killings have never truly stopped. Only two sons remain. One, Gerardo, left to train as a doctor in the city and has adopted a modern outlook. The other stayed behind and waits for Gerardo to return home so he can kill him and end the feud. The villagers themselves want the bloodshed to continue, and Gerardo's mother expects him to take up the family duty.

Luis Buñuel directed the film and wrote the screenplay with Luis Alcoriza. Released in 1954, it is the fifth of the fifteen films he directed, following Él and preceding Nazarín. Armando Orive Alba produced it for Clasa Films Mundiales. Columba Domínguez, Miguel Torruco, Joaquín Cordero, Jaime Fernández, Víctor Alcocer and Silvia Derbez appear in the credited cast of forty-four.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.8 from around a thousand votes, while on TMDB it has a rating of 6.4 from a small number of votes. The two audience scores are close to each other, suggesting a fairly consistent if modest reception.