NGA - Film Series: Mexican Cinema: "Herod's Law (La ley de Herodes)
June 13 at 4:00 p.m.
A deceitful political boss (Pedro Armendariz Jr., son of the classic Mexican actor) appoints Juan Vargas, a laborer, to be the mayor of a backwater town whose previous mayor had been killed by an angry mob. When Juan and his wife arrive in this dusty village, they discover not only that most of the local Indian population lacks any knowledge of Spanish, but also that the only successful business in town is a brothel. Juan's odyssey into deeper corruption was widely viewed as an attack on Mexico's ruling party at the time, and a major triumph despite government attempts to disrupt its release (Luis Estrada, 1999, 120 minutes).