Herod's Law (1999)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Absolutely Fantastic

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

"La Ley De Herodes" it's a 1999 political dark comedy directed by Luis Estrada known for being a filmmaker who's films are filled with social commentary and satire, this was his very first political satire, the filmmakers had a lot of trouble releasing the film, Mexico's government didn't liked the way the film portrayed politicians, but they eventually decided to release the film to avoid troubles with the Mexican people, who would get really angry if they were to find out that their government it's censoring artists. Leaving any controversy aside, "La Ley De Herodes" it's a magnificent film, that condemns the corruption that abounds in México, and it does it in such a beautiful way.The film stars Damián Alcázar, in the role of governor Vargas, a clean man who is promoted to being the mayor of a small town called "San Pedro de los Sahuaros", but he finds out that he's now the mayor of a very poor town, so he decides that he will do everything in his hands to make his town a better place, but his good intentions are overshadowed by greed and corruption.The film its reminiscent of the kind of film that we would see Cantinflas or Tin Tan star in, a honest man who tries to help poor people in a very graceful and comedic way, but it has a darker turn to it, as the film goes on mayor Vargas becomes a despicable character, all the good in him begins to disappear and his greedy and criminal side begins to flourish, by the end, we have a very detestable character who we learn to hate, it also makes us angry, not because hes an unlikable character, but because he reminds us of many real life politicians, who are corrupted by power.A truly marvelous film with great performances, more notably Damián Alcázar, but everyone in the film delivers a really good performance, from the extras to the secondary actors. Luis Estrada's films are among the few films that manage to capture the feeling you get from México, it feels rather sleazy, dirty, filthy, shady, vulgar and uncomfortable. This is as good as political satire gets, the film makes some great commentary in its dialog and characterizations, but it also uses lots of symbolism, like the pigs who are present through most of the of the film. This film has become one of my favorite films, it's dark and comedic approach has been a really important part for my understanding of México, and it opened the door for satire in the Mexican media, now everyone comments on the government, it's easy to make a movie criticizing the government, but this one did it first and it did an amazing job at it, a real masterpiece, from that point on, Luis Estrada would continue to make great movies for the delight of the Mexican people and to the governments despair.Definitely recommended, a great film without a doubt.

This is truly a great amazing movie, unknown by many because since Hollywood is an industry, check this out, art is now an industry, well, however, this movie is unknown by so many because it isn't in English and is not a Hollywood production, that's why. but can't you peoplesee the U.S. politics? the politic of war? i'm not defending politics in Mexico, which are terribly corrupt, but, you are talking about it as if Mexico was the only corrupt country in the world. Mr Bush is even worse than any politician depicted in this movie, in fact, he is the worst politician in the world. Truly, we have a very big corruption problem in Mexico, and this movie is so right about it. It should be listed in IMDb's top 250. it isn't there simply because it's not a commercial one.

All the elements are here: bureaucracy, corruption, hypocrisy, ignorance, ambivalence, revolt, arrogance, machismo, and many more combine to make this film so realistic and satirical that it is hilarious.It is always amazing how often patronage and the perception of power combine to corrupt. 'Herod's Law' really is Latin America at its core. The setting and the veracity of the portrait couldn't be better. As true today as it was in the 1940's, Latin American politics revolve on a wheel of indifference to the norm, of corruption and an incestuous political bureaucracy bred to deceive and obscure. Then you have the periodic explosive reactions to too much tolerance of so little honesty.Brilliant montage of all the right elements.

Politically inspired `Herod's Law' weaves a familiar story of a mousy junkyard operator making his way up to a powerful position and more importantly, corruption that ultimately follow. Director Luis Estrada commands an ensemble of talented actors and masterfully executes this sharp, tough and funny material. Set in 1949, Damián Alcázar plays Juan Vargas, a newly appointed mayor, promising to bring `modernity and social justice' to San Pedro de los Saguaros, a small but troublesome town. Although Juan Vargas initially has good intentions, he is soon forced to `Herod's Law' – a sort of Darwinian way of looking at your peers. D. Alcázar's physical comedy is perfectly pitched and the scenes with Doña Lupe, the brothel madam, are especially funny.When this film was released in Mexico, it cause so much stirred that the ruling party for 70 years, PRI, was voted out. How many times can we say movies have the power to change a political system? This is 8/10.