Customer Reviews

The Crime of Padre Amaro [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I loved Amores Perros (once I got over the dog fighting) and Y Tu Mama Tambien - to be honest, I did not expect El Crimen del Padre Amaro to come anywhere close to these two gems. I was happily mistaken. The acting was magnificent, the directing apt, and the setting eminently appropriate to the subject matter. The film, based on a Portuguese novel written in 1875, is very apt not only in the context of the Mexican Catholic Church but also in light of recent events in the North American Catholic Church. The film addresses many issues facing the church - celibacy being the most advertised, but also liberation theology, women's rights, corruption, and the church hierarchy in itself. Though it deals specifically with the Catholic Church, this film reaches viewers of all faiths, and its relevance to today's society cannot be stressed enough.

Now on to the more specific comments on the DVD version. I found the *extras* to be interesting, especially the movie trailers, but I found the Making-of to be a disappointment in that it did not offer much insight into the process of making the film. The commentary, on the other hand, I did find to be interesting and useful. Overall, the film itself overcomes any flaws in the DVD presentation.

If you have not seen this film yet, you need to. It will not be 2 hours wasted.

EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO packs a wallop on many levels. Based on an 1875 novel, this story of the gradual downfall of an idealistic young priest sent out into the reality of the clerical world in the small villages in Mexico updated to contemporary times is unrelentingly fascinating, visually stunning, uncompromisingly frank in its stance on Catholic decadence, and directed and acted with finesse. Gael Garcia Bernal continues to mature as an actor and as a screen presence, making his Padre Amaro metamorphose from committed innocent to fallen sparrow in a wholly credible fashion. Despite our sadness with his bad decisions and choices, Bernal is able to keep us with this complex young priest and in doing so we are able to clearly examine the fragmented state of affairs in the hands of various priests tainted with lust, pride, sloth and a bit of each of the seven deadly sins. Director Daniel Carrera knows how to create both spectacular and intimate scenes and he masterfully leads his gifted cast through a more than difficult story.

If there is a tendency to berate this film for its anticlerical stance, then the point of the story is missed. Each of the myriad characters, sacred and profane alike, has a soul of good and one of vulnerability, and given the current tenuous state of the Catholic Church under seige, I think this film helps explain how even men of the cloth can be human. Kudos for Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancion, Damian Alcazar and all of the fine cast and crew that created this very impressive and disturbing piece of art.

Let me start off by saying I am a huge Gael García Bernal fan. This was the movie to take the cake for me with his acting. His portrayal as a lust-striken youthful priest was so convincing it took my breath away. I was thoroughly impressed with being able to see in his eyes the desire and gradual compromises he disolved to. The movie did dish out some pretty hard-hitting statements about corruption within the Catholic church, but what of it? There lacked a certain something in the film's commentary, somewhat one-sided, I'll admit, but I felt this was justified given the story focuses over one man's plight, between his (apparently shakey) convictions and his new-found desires. The title says it all--it's about the sins of one man, Padre Amaro. It is not a thorough exposé of all the Catholic church, in which case there would be truths regarding the bad and the good. Now the reason I gave the movie 4 instead of 5 stars, was simple. The ending was anticlimatic in that it seemed to take the easy way out of a big problem created by our protagonist. The film did too good a job building up the problem making you eagerly anticipate the resolution. The way Padre Amaro takes his final step into "the other side" as a priest, was too easy and quick. I wondered how a character who started off so devout to God's service could not see through his own transparent attempt to explain away his final actions. When people sell out, it tends to be more gradual. Well then again I suppose that's the limitation of films over books. I would recommend this to those who are not overly-defensive of the Catholic church, who can simply enjoy it as a tale of one man's flaws. After all, no one's perfect and that's called humanity.

Overall the experience of watching this movie was quite good. The acting is superb- with all the characters quite believable, cinematography excellent; all in all a beautiful work. The story itself is also compelling.

The problem that I have with the film is less a cinematic problem than a literary problem. A "pet peeve" of mine is when a producer or director feels that he/she can "improve" upon a story that is already an acknowledged masterwork, and makes major changes that are needless. On occasion this is necessary due to the directors desire to focus on a certain aspect of a work, or present a work cinematically that would not normally be "doable" if one stuck closely to the original text (the recent release of "Troy is a good example). I understand that this is often necessary, but at least the director ought to have the good graces to present the work under a different name; thus peterson calls his movie "Troy" and not "the Iliad."

I think Bernal made an error by moving the story from rural 19th century Portugal to modern Mexico. The thing that makes this story (and indeed the adapted movie) so compelling is that it contains an element of universality that removes any need to update it. The original book by Eça de Queiróz is as timely now as when he first wrote it. Queiróz also writes novels that are intensely "visual" (if such a word can be applied to writing) and uniquely capable of being adapted to film. It's a minor gripe, and should not dissuade anyone from watching an excellent film, but it remains none the less.

Any movie that discusses the problems going on with the Catholic church is and always will be a subject of controversy. "The Crime of Padre Amaro" is not the exception to the rule. However, I looked at it from an actor's point of view rather than from a religious point. This is (I feel) a very well made movie, the acting is excellent from the entire cast as well as the writing of the script and director Carlos Carrera who I believe did an outstanding job directing this rather controversial film.

I saw the movie because like a lot of people I'm a big Gael Garcia Bernal fan. I have (so far) liked every movie that he has be in. He is truly a fine and gifted actor one of the best from today's generation of young actors. I really enjoyed this movie and even a man of the cloth is allowed to make mistakes (even though they take their vows that they will never break any of the Catholic Church cardinal rules especially never to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman. But after all a priest is no different than any other man simply because he swore off temptation. That is why many of them after years of sacrifice cannot go on hiding their feelings and emotions and leave the priesthood for a chance at a normal life with a woman and a family. Overall this movie is excellent and Gael Garcia Bernal proved one more time what a great actor he is. I encourage everyone to see this film it is really fantastic. Even if you don't speak Spanish (it does come with subtitles) the story is very easy to follow and the language becomes second nature once the film gets going. THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO, was nominated for an Academy award as Best Foreign film and is a shame that it did not win because I feel that it really deserved it.

I love Spanish-language movies and so when I saw this one in the 'Best Foreign Language Film category', I had to see it. It's the story of a handsome young priest who comes to a rural town in Mexico to begin his work. There he meets the beautiful Amelia and is soon drawn into a sexual relationship with her. Their actions eventually lead to tragedy.

I thought that Y Tu Mama Tambien was the best Spanish film ever until I saw Amores Perros. Now that I have seen 'El Crimen del Padre Amaro', I will have to change that assertion as well. This movie has a more organised plot than the two aforementioned films and is just better all the way around. Gael Garcia Bernal is at his peak as Padre Amaro. He pulls off a rather difficult role with ease and passion.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone.(unless you're a staunch Catholic.)

Si me gusto, sin embargo, no era tan buena como todos me decian. Reconozco que es una pelicula que tenian que hacer, para animar a los Mexicanos a pensar e investigar mas acerca de los curas corruptos y la posicion de la iglesia en su pais.
Gael Garcia Bernal es un muy buen actor, y la pelicula fue bien escrita, pero la drama me parecia aveces como una novela, en vez de una profunda investigacion del corazon del hombre. El final era muy predecible para mi, pero si esta fuerte de todas maneras. Recomiendo que vean esta pelicula, pero no deben de esperar una grandeza, mas bien una pelicula solida que al fin nos da algo para pensar.

Father Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal) is a young priest sent to work in the small, rural town of Los Reyes, Mexico. Father Amaro is idealistic at first. But soon discovers that his senior priest, Father Benito, has an ongoing affair with a local woman named Sanjuanera and that he is also laundering drug money for some murderous narco-traffickers in order to raise funds to build a "First World quality" hospital.

Soon Father Amaro finds himself involved in his own forbidden love affair with a romantically obsessed young girl named Amelia (Ana Claudia Talacon). When Amelia becomes pregnant the selfish Father Amaro seeks to protect his own career by pressuring Amelia into having an abortion. But the illegal abortion is botched and Amelia ends up bleeding to death. Yet, despite all his horrific misdeeds, Father Amaro is wrongly credited as being a hero for trying to save Amelia while the blame for her pregnancy and abortion is falsely placed on her "heretic" ex-boyfriend.

This movie depicts a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, with the worst characters, most notably Father Amaro himself, making out fine. While those with good intentions tend to suffer. For instance, the idealistic Father Natalio is ex-communicated by the Church for his devotion to a village of poor peasants. So, yes, this movie does offer a critique on the corruption within the Catholic Church. But, more importantly, it is about the corruption of the soul, which each of us, as human beings, are susceptible to.

"The Crimes Of Father Amaro" was one of the first in what has turned out to be a long line of intelligent, artistic Mexican films made over the last 5 years. I also highly recommend "Amores Perros" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien". This is a great movie. Go watch it!

For many priests, celibacy is a true vocation which liberates them... For others, it is a lifelong struggle... If celibacy was made voluntary, not only would many priests be happier, but the Church would be richer... Above all, it might decide the only way to restore the numbers of the priesthood, and that seems to me not a bad idea...

As I understand, a Catholic priest must clearly know that he belongs body and soul, with all that he is, to the church, to her task, to her mission, her work, and her destiny... He must be a public icon of strength, virility, honesty, and dedicated service...

But in 'The Crime of Father Amaro,' the top film in Mexican box-office history, Carlos Carrera shows that even a man with morals and scruples betrays the nature of his profession, mostly when he brazenly criticizes the priesthood, and questions the Catholic Church's representatives on a variety of charges like illicit love affair, corruption, drug dealing, and hypocrisy...

The story takes a liberal priest Father Amaro(Gael Garcia Bernal), protégé of a repulsive obese bishop (Ernesto Gomez Cruz), to the remote dusty village of Los Reyes to assist the older priest of the parish Father Benito (Sancho Gracia) in his daily work...

Amaro quickly realizes that virtually every fellow priest is involved in something immoral, and that his aging superior is receiving financial help from the region's drug lord for the construction of a new church-run hospital, and is secretly spending his cold nights with the proprietress of a local restaurant Augustina (Anjelica Aragón). He also discovers that Father Natalio (Damian Alcazar) is suspected of aiding the revolutionary factions in opposing the drug lords and mobsters...

Amaro's own weaknesses is put to the test when he finds himself led into temptation by Augustina 's extremely sensual teenager Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón) a relationship that eventually goes way outside the bounds of his priestly oath... and, without any sign of inner turmoil, he embarks on a passionate affair with the devout catechism teacher...

Amalia - for whom loving a young priest serves as an extension of her deep piety - decides that the good-looking priest is the one for her and rejects her disappointed boyfriend, the aggressive reporter Ruben (Andres Montiel) who wrote an article alleging that the hospital is a front for laundering drug money...

The most over-the-top performance is provided by Luisa Huertas as the town frightening parishioner Dionisia who takes great delight in exposing heretics... This malicious lady (who, apparently, knows absolutely everything there is to know about anyone...) pretends to put coins in the collection plate but cleverly palms paper money back...

Gastón Melo plays the tender lay-assistant to the elder priest, who cares for his invalid-epileptic daughter, and carries many secrets but tells none..

"The Crime of Father Amaro" is polemical today as Martin Scorcese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ.'

The film focuses on blasphemous scenes as on a vicious priest who stops at nothing, even by continuing the lies and hypocrisy to protect his career... His value system is completely corrupted... Father Amaro's ability to stand behind his beliefs extents to nothing... His generosity and wealth of spirit becomes selfishness and bitterness... His ambitions to rise in the church hierarchy clouds his judgment...

Mexico is in the middle of a film renaissance which is wonderful if they come up with a new wave of irreverent movies thundering forward juicier targets than the church's vices... sex, abortion, abuse, witchcraft, betrayal, and political corruption...

The release of the film THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO caused about as much of an uproar in Mexico in 2002 as the publication of the novel, written by Jose Maria Eca de Queiroz, caused in 1875. With its dangerously intertwining themes of spiritual ecstasy and sexual passion, it's not hard to see why. At the heart of the story is a young priest who wrestles in a major way with the tempting hungers of his body and the grace-filled yearnings of his spirit. It does not help that, to pursue his vocation, he is sent to a town sustained by a culture of corruption.

One thing the actor Gael Garcia Bernal does not know how to do is give a bad performance, and in the movie's title role he captures brilliantly all the agonizing ambiguity that comes with being a young adult male intent on asserting his masculinity while also serving the spiritual needs of his community. Unfortunately, his happily deluded demeanor meets with an equally intense personality in the form of Amelia, a devout young devotee acted with mesmerizing perfection by the gorgeous Ana Claudia Talancon. Amelia idolizes the young priest as a true and noble holy man whose sexuality is made sacred by his presumably pure soul. He in turn dares to drape her in a cape reserved for representations of the Madonna and recites to her from Solomon's "Song of Songs" as they seduce each other. Controversial? Better believe it.

As in the film THE HEALER (please see companion review) "The Crime of Padre Amaro" depicts sexuality and spirituality as equally powerful forces of attraction capable of producing very different results. The outcome in "The Crime of Padre Amaro" is shocking in more ways than one and well worth contemplating for a long time.

By Aberjhani
Author of I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)