The black wind is a desert dust storm regarded as the worst enemy of the men building a railroad across the Great Altar Desert in Mexico. The film explores the dangerous adventures of its hero, a rough figure-of-circumstance trapped by conflicting devotion to his son and his own ambitions, and the hazards of the construction work. A cataclysmic sandstorm splendidly filmed and a spectacular rail crash provide memorable set-pieces in a gradual build-up of tension.

This is an exceptional film by the director of Yanco, enhanced by its realistic background. The characters struggle towards an ideal from which happiness seems attainable, but it remains hopelessly remote. Such a tale depends on its central figure and the distinguished actor, David Reynoso, succeeds in giving the foreman, Miguel, something of the epic qualities of a modern Job.