A Sweet Scent of Death

Running time: N/A

The town of Carranco has always had its trouble, but when the naked body of a teenage girl, Adela, turns up in the town's oat fields, Carranco is turned upside-down. The "logical" conclusion is that Adela's lover, the gypsy known as El Gitano, is the suspect, especially since he has left town so quickly after a passionate night with Adela. This sparks fire in Ramon, Adela's teenage sweetheart, and he is elected by the locals as "angel of vengeance." Wanting, however, desperately to recapture the control he has obviously lost years ago, the sheriff suggests caution to the "deaf" ears around him. Unfortunately, the sheriff is distracted by a power struggle with the remaining "law" in town, a group whose wealth outweighs the sheriff's authority. Reminiscent of the themes touched upon in John Sayles' Lone Star, seasoned Mexican director, Gabriel Retes, forges new ground, shrewdly exposing one of man's perpetual dichotomies--whether or not an "eye for an eye" is ultimately the right choice. Underneath, A Sweet Scent of Death is much more than a tale of murder. It is the story of a boy, a girl, and a town which must confront the ghosts of their past. --Mike Rabehl