Murder in the Senate

Based on a true incident that happened in 1935 in the Argentine Senate, this fictionalized account of the murder of a senator avoids the main issue of the killing: those accused of complicity in the murder were acquitted by the senators of the ruling Conservative Party. This film focuses on the character and life of the murderer instead of addressing the serious political corruption of the time. The intended victim, the democratic leader Lisandro De La Torre (Pepe Soriano) attacked the government for selling out the nation's lucrative meat-packing trade to a foreign company, and when ex-police chief Valdez-Cora (Miguel Angel Solá) tried to gun De La Torre down in the parliament building, he killed another senator, Enzo Bordabehere (Arturo Bonín) by accident. The corruption and abuses of Valdez-Cora cause his own Conservative Party to throw him off the police force, at which point he becomes the bodyguard of a senator and cattle rancher (in reality, he was hired by the Minister of Agriculture as a bodyguard). The exploits of Valdez-Cora get him involved in the world of prostitution and eventually force his wife and daughter to leave him for good. His life gives ample play to scenes of sex and violence, although the lead actors rise above these lower levels of the script. (Eleanor Mannikka: All Movie Guide)