Reviews & Ratings for
The Priest More at IMDbPro »El sacerdote (original title)

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Spiritual Ambition vs Human Nature, 10 March 2005

Author: thinker1691 from USA

In the film, El Sacerdote, played well by Simón Andreu, viewers witness the long, silent, emotional and psychological turmoil of a celibate catholic priest. Despite his strong moral fiber he realizes, human bodies are constantly plagued with sinful images which his faith and profession forbids. After failing to deal with the tormenting demons, he seeks the help of his superiors who offer few options, insisting that spiritual platitudes are sufficient to deal with the "Devil's temptations". Despite his best efforts, the haunting memories of his past remain vivid and troubling. Daily, he is reminded of his lustful needs, which range from a young boy to a married village beauty. The film mirrors modern concepts and conflicts which challenge the church today. Over all, this is a remarkable and touching film, with brief nude scenes and violent depictions of the torturous lengths a man will go to find at peace with himself and his God.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Archetypal view of the necessary conflict between priestly celibacy and human nature., 2 May 2003
Author: William (vegete@comcast.net) from Watertown, Mass.

This film is very enlightening about the sexual conflicts which will of course arise in an environment of imposed celibacy. We know from the facts of the modern church that many priests do not achieve celibacy, and that their sexuality is a force which if ignored or abused will go awry and cause grave trouble for the community. Without getting to those dire consequences, the priest in El Sacerdote recognizes his own apparent obsession with sex (really a normal degree of physical desire coming head to head with religious restriction), and turns to his superiors for help. The efforts to change him, to affirm the counter-instinctual ban on sex, lead through a tour of his childhood and the foundation of a man's life. Sex never wants to go away, and so it becomes a contest of mind over matter, as it were. It is a failure of man if he does not accept his own physical reality, care for it and respect it's mysteries. The macrocosm is our world and universe--the heavens--and how we care for our role in that. The microcosm is our own mind-body existence, the locus of each man's world. The priest finds out that one cannot deny the body, home of desire, just as we do not deny mind, home of the spirit. His tragedy is a giant finger pointing at the church, accusing it quite rightly of being forever stuck in the kindergarten of spirituality, ostensibly deprived of the infinite wisdom that would come from a sexually mature world view.

Add another review

Related Links