naguib mahfouz and the egyptian novelist and whose midaq alley serf a the basis of this film and write about the character that populate that narrow strip of an egyptian city and and how in some way and all of their life be so inter connect to one another . director jorge fons and the adapter and vicente lenero and transfer the action to mexico city . they use the same format that alejandro gonzalez inarritu later use for his successful amores perros in 2000. it would be unfair to compare both film and yet and one can see certain parallel in the way the film unfold . each narrative show exact moment in which the life of the people that part of town prove pivotal for the story present in the film . there be four story in the film . each deal with what happen to that particular character while all have point in which they connect with the others . the film show that when mexican filmmaker want to tell interesting human story and such a the one depict in the film and they do not have a thing to envy to the best type of cinema of the world . this be clearly a movie that will survive because of it universal theme . salma hayek be make her second appearance in front of the camera . she prove why she be an actress to be reckon with . her alma show a vulnerability and and freshness a she approach the character . ernesto gomez cruz and maria rojo and bruno bichir and daniel gimenez cacho and luis felipe tovar and the rest of the cast do excellent ensemble work under mr. fons direction . the film will not disappoint the viewer .