El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002)

Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.

Director:

Carlos Carrera

Writers:

Vicente Leñero, Eça de Queirós (novel)

Stars:

Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón, Sancho Gracia

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gael García Bernal	...	Padre Amaro
Ana Claudia Talancón	...	Amelia
Sancho Gracia	...	Padre Benito Díaz
Angélica Aragón	...	Augustina Sanjuanera
Luisa Huertas	...	Dionisia
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Obispo
Gastón Melo	...	Martín
Andrés Montiel	...	Rubén de la Rosa
Damián Alcázar	...	Padre Natalio Pérez
Gerardo Moscoso	...	Doc
Alfredo Gonzáles	...	Viejo / Old Man
Verónica Langer	...	Amparito
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Presidente Municipal Gordo (as Pedro Armendáriz)
Lorenzo de Rodas	...	Don Paco de la Rosa
Roger Nevares	...	Padre Galván

Storyline

Recently ordained a priest, 24-year-old Father Amaro is sent to a small parish church in Los Reyes, Mexico to assist the aging Father Benito in his daily work. Benito--for years a fixture in the church as well as the community--welcomes Father Amaro into a new life of unseen challenges. Upon arriving in Los Reyes, the ambitious Father Amaro meets Amelia, a beautiful 16-year-old girl whose religious devotion soon becomes helplessly entangles in a growing attraction to the new priest. Amelia is quickly following into the footsteps of her mother, Sanjuanera, who has been engaged in a long-time affair with Father Benito. Amaro soon discovers that corruption and the Church are old acquaintances in Los Reyes. Father Benito has been receiving financial help from the region's drug lord for the construction of a new health clinic. As well, another priest in the diocese, Father Natalio, is suspected of assisting guerilla troops in the highlands. Maenwhile, Amelia and Father Amaro have fallen in...

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Plot Keywords:

priest | church | corruption | sex scene | female frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Lead us not into temptation

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, language and some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia Tristar [France] Official site

Country:

Mexico Spain Argentina France

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

13 December 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Crime of Padre Amaro

Filming Locations:

Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€429,915 (Spain), 10 November 2002, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$496,290, 17 November 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,709,616, 6 April 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alameda Films, Artcam International, Blu Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2002, this film became the highest-grossing Mexican film of all time (at Mexico's domestic box office), when it surpassed previous record holder, Sexo, pudor y lágrimas (1999), with a total gross of US$ 16.3 million.

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Goofs

Amaro gets beaten up by Ruben and receives some bruises in his face. A little later, when he meets Amelia in the church, the bruises are gone.

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Quotes

Padre Benito: That I told you? Really?
Augustina Sanjuanera: That you told me.
Padre Benito: I hope God agrees with it.

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Crazy Credits

"In memoriam Paco Rabal"

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Connections

Referenced in Vecinos: Cursos de verano (2007)

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Soundtracks

Vivo Perdido
Written and Performed by Luis Carlos Monroy

User Reviews

Catholic Church Corruption in Mexico

Crimen del Padre Amaro

The film Crimen del Padre Amaro is set in Los Reyes, Mexico in 2002. In Mexico by 2002, a continuing economic, political, and social crisis was spiraling deeper and deeper. The chaos was caused by a debt problem and the system of dependent capitalism the debt produced. "Between 1994 and 2000 average wages declined 21 percent" (Keen 317). By 2002, Mexico had become more and more dependent primarily upon the United States, its foreign export, and its investment-capital markets. Despite these setbacks, Mexicans always had something to fall back upon and to look to for support: the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is the main focus in the movie Crimen del Padre Amaro. There are no specific events that occurred within the movie that occurred in real Mexican history; however the events that do occur are believable and likely happened. Within the film, Padre Benito is taking money donations from a local drug lord to help fund a new hospital. Since there are many drug lords in Mexico it is not unbelievable that two of the most powerful groups in Mexico are the drug lords and the Church officials. It makes sense that they would overlap at some point, however I am sure that this scenario does not occur in all areas of Mexico. The director could have made it a little clearer that the drug lord was an actual drug lord; it was a little confusing with the mayor and the drug lord to keep each person separate. Another point of corruption within the Church is the fact that both Padre Benito and Padre Amaro have sexual relations with females despite their celibacy vows. This is not surprising at all, since it has become public knowledge that many Catholic priests have had sexual relations with people in recent years. The director could have shown more of the economic crisis and guerrilla warfare situations more, because they were a little confusing if one did not know or look into what was going on in Mexico in 2002.

The film is well made and attention-grabbing. The plot is a little confusing at first, as most movies are, however it all becomes much clearer and focused as the movie continues. In the beginning of the movie, Padre Amaro is seen as the good guy, who everyone wanted to succeed; however, by the end of the film, I looked upon Padre Amaro with complete disgust. Ironically, Padre Benito, I felt, was a horrible, corrupt priest in the beginning, and by the end I liked him much more than ever before. Padre Amaro was so young and yet he ended up being the most selfish and corrupt of all the priests in the community. Crimen del Padre Amaro is a very interesting film that is entertaining and worth watching to see what modern-day rural Mexico is like.

The film Crimen del Padre Amaro shows an interesting outlook of the Catholic Church and the corruption that exists within the Church in Mexico. It is very gripping and definitely worth watching. Although there are parts that can be confusing, it is fascinating to see how rural and "backward" parts of Mexican life can be. I would recommend viewing this movie and on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7.

Works Cited: Keen, Benjamin and Keith Haynes: A History of Latin America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.