There are some very fine reviews of the film on this board that deal with the political subtext of the director and how the picture was a commentary on class distinctions in Spain during the era. One needn't know any of that to appreciate the picture, but having that understanding makes this somewhat a different movie. So venture forth as you will.
Personally, I viewed this story as two people having an affair with polar opposite reactions in regard to the responsibility they felt for striking the bicycle rider and failing to get the injured man help. At the outset, both Maria (Lucia Bose) and Juan (Alberto Closas) were equally culpable for leaving the man to die on the road, though Juan gives the impression that his guilt must be dealt with. As time goes by, circumstances intervene that threaten disclosure of the accident, thereby creating a domino effect that would destroy Maria's marriage and societal status. The character of Rafa (Carlos Casavarilla) is an interesting one; watching him one is never sure how much he knows and whether his remarks to Maria are simply innuendo or coincidence.
The picture makes use of elements that both Hitchcock and Serling would find fertile for the imagination. In fact, Rod Serling did utilize a similar theme in a fifth season episode of his landmark series The Twilight Zone titled 'You Drive', though his story takes an absurdist tone by having a vehicle extract it's own brand of justice. What I found most ironic in the way this story concluded, and maybe I read too much nuance into the reaction of the bicyclist who Maria swerved to avoid, was that he felt remorseful for the woman who lost her life trying not to hit him, almost as if he caused the accident himself.
Personally, I viewed this story as two people having an affair with polar opposite reactions in regard to the responsibility they felt for striking the bicycle rider and failing to get the injured man help. At the outset, both Maria (Lucia Bose) and Juan (Alberto Closas) were equally culpable for leaving the man to die on the road, though Juan gives the impression that his guilt must be dealt with. As time goes by, circumstances intervene that threaten disclosure of the accident, thereby creating a domino effect that would destroy Maria's marriage and societal status. The character of Rafa (Carlos Casavarilla) is an interesting one; watching him one is never sure how much he knows and whether his remarks to Maria are simply innuendo or coincidence.
The picture makes use of elements that both Hitchcock and Serling would find fertile for the imagination. In fact, Rod Serling did utilize a similar theme in a fifth season episode of his landmark series The Twilight Zone titled 'You Drive', though his story takes an absurdist tone by having a vehicle extract it's own brand of justice. What I found most ironic in the way this story concluded, and maybe I read too much nuance into the reaction of the bicyclist who Maria swerved to avoid, was that he felt remorseful for the woman who lost her life trying not to hit him, almost as if he caused the accident himself.