Tizoc 1957

In a small village near the Oaxacan sierra in the 19th century, a humble and brave Native trapper named Tizoc prepares for his wedding to a fellow Native girl named Machinza. He bears an unresolved quarrel with her family, a feud that stretches back across generations between their tribes, and his skill at hunting without firearms only heightens the tension with Machinza’s kin. The town’s priest, Fray Bernardo, watches with wary caution, wondering if love can quiet ancient animosities without inviting danger.

Meanwhile, a Criollo woman named Maria arrives in the village with her father, a wealthy cattle driver who wants to check on his businesses. After Tizoc notices her presence, the town’s priest is struck by Maria’s striking resemblance to the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On a hunting expedition that goes wrong, Tizoc rescues Maria’s father, and this act sparks Maria’s growing interest in him. At first she is alarmed by what she perceives as his rough manners, but she eventually seeks him out in his mountain-side home and falls in love, even though she is already engaged to someone else.

When Maria gives Tizoc her handkerchief, his feelings deepen and he begins to realize that his heart has shifted away from Machinza. Machinza complains to her brother Nicuil, who interprets Maria’s actions as a betrayal to the family and kills her. He then pursues Tizoc, whom he confronts and is himself killed by Tizoc in a clash born of jealousy and rage. With Maria witnessing the consequences of the choices around her, she confronts her own path and decides to go with Tizoc to his hideout near the cave.

Yet fate intervenes just as they near safety. Cosijope, Machinza’s father, shoots an arrow intended for Tizoc, but the shaft strikes Maria instead, ending her life. Devastated, Tizoc seizes the arrow and ends his own life by driving it through his heart. The film closes with Tizoc’s voice recalling an earlier belief that the souls of lovers become nightingales after death, a haunting refrain that lingers beyond the tragedy.