la legge di Erode

Satire is very difficult to pull off, but this one is a classic. It works beautifully, it's cleverly crafted, it's devilishly funny. The acting is superb. It was a joy to see Isela Vega again! I can't remember any other Mexican movie being as devastatingly critical of our "perfect dictatorship" as this one. It's really a pretty accurate depiction of the morass that corruption has created in Mexico and of the attitude of the ruling party towards the nation. The impunity, the cynicism, the paternalism, the graft, the slime, the crime, it's no exaggeration. The government is so out of touch and so stupid that they even tried to censor it. Needless to say, the movie has been playing to packed houses in Mexico. I hope it breaks all box office records. Even better, it should be Mexico's entry to the Academy Awards.

A perfect and abundantly Mexican version of Lord Acton's dictum, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." In 1949 a local official of the ruling PRI (Pedro Armendariz as López) chooses a humble janitor (Damián Alcázar, as Juan Vargas) to be presidente municipal ("mayor") of a dusty, dirty little village in northern México. Vargas' is supposed to bring "modernity and social justice" but as he gradually assumes power, he grows progressively more corrupt. He even acquires the 1930's symbol of rural elegance in México: a Packard. Vargas eventually challenges his mentor, with surprising but perhaps predictable results.

The film was initially denied release because it paints a hilarious but extremely negative picture of women, of local priests, and of local government. It also includes a great deal of amazingly foul, but ultimately very funny, Mexican slang. Even the title, La Ley de Herodes, is part of a very crude saying that might (with considerable liberty) be translated as "Law Blue: Do it to them or they'll do it to you."

Juan Vargas, the hero of "La Ley de Herodes" learns quickly his role as mayor of the forgotten town where the ruling PRI party has chosen him to preside. The town and its people stand as a Mexican metaphor for what's wrong in the country, as a whole.

At the beginning we watch as Juan is reluctant to follow the steps his predecessors took in governing the town, which stands as a microcosm of the way things have been done in Mexico. It speaks volumes that Mexico is one of the oldest 'democracies' in Latin America, where corruption is rampant. On wonders if Mexico is the role model, what can be found in other Latin countries. Mind you, not everything is perfect in the good old USA!

It is to Luis Estrada's credit that he has been able to do this satire that pokes fun at politics, but at the same time, it makes one thing clear: watch what politicians will do once they take public office.

Damian Alcazar is perfect as the goofy mayor Juan Vargas, who the bosses in the capital think he will be perfect for the job. Pedro Armendariz Jr. does wonders with his interpretation of a corrupt party higher-up. Delia Casanova as Rosa and Isela Vega as Dona Lupe, are excellent.

This is a lesson in Mexican politics!

To understand "La Ley de Herodes" and its historical significance, it is necessary to consider a study of the backdrop behind its production and release. LDH is a product of the decadence of the crumbling, rotting 70-year old regime of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The 90s were frantic years in Mexico. The Zapatista uprising, the murder of the PRI's presidential candidate/next president (apparently by his own party), the "Tequila Effect" recession, several political murders and former president Salinas' exile (as well as his brother's arrest for money laundering)... all these events created a dissatisfaction so huge that forced the government to loosen its freedom of expression. It would have been impossible to release this movie, or to listen to Molotov's angry music without the bitter complacency of the government. And in a way, LDH signals the end of the PRI regime and its ousting from the executive in the year 2000. Mexico is undergoing change. It's slow, and it's painful, but it's happening. The PRI has not fully disappear, though. You can now see the Juan Vargas figure clinging in congress,trying to obstruct change, holding to its last source of power. A wonderful mambo score, by the way.

I first heard about this film on NPR in an interesting program about the ruckus this film may have caused with with it's own government. This lively film pulls a number of punches at politics of this era. A sharp and amusing black political comedy that keeps you engaged from the very beginning. A lowly civil servant gets a "promotion" to become the law in a desolate backwater Mexican village. It is a universal tale of greed, corruption and fate which had me chuckling for hours. If you can imagine a tasty, spicy satire pie baked up with treachery, a wry wit and superb performances, then by all means take of big bite of this delicious treat.