El Crimen del Padre Amaro Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)March 1st, 2003
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Now that we're through with the bogus Agent Orange Alert, we can get back to the business at hand: Dragging the Catholic Church through the mud. Go on, admit it. When you see the title The Crime of Father Amaro, you automatically assume it's a film about a priest buggering young boys, don't you? Not grand theft auto, arson, or even trafficking. That Crime's misdeeds are much more innocent than those listed above didn't stop the Catholic League from denouncing the film - sight unseen, of course. How much cinematic clout do they have lately, anyway? Even before they were on the run from the law, they were busy damning films like Kevin Smith's Dogma, which happened to be the most devoutly religious film released in the last couple of decades.
We first see the eponymous, recently ordained Father Amaro (Gael García Bernal) as he rides a filthy bus to his first priestly assignment in the tiny Mexican town of Los Reyes. It is immediately established that the 24-year-old is a good guy when, after the bus is hijacked and robbed, Amaro gives all of his remaining pesos to a seatmate, who had previously been talking about a lifelong dream of starting his own business. But even the most jaded man of the cloth would be shocked upon arrival in Los Reyes - it's like a south-of-the-border Melrose Place.
Amaro's retiring boss, Father Benito (Sancho Gracia), is not only helping drug dealers launder money in exchange for healthy collection plate kickbacks, he's also nailing a local restaurateur named Augustina (Angélica Aragón) and trying to blackmail another area padre (Damián Alcázar) for aiding guerilla fighters in their war against the powerful drug lords (all with the Bishop's blessing, mind you). Not to be outdone, Amaro quickly develops feelings for Augustina's 16-year-old daughter Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón), a hot little tamale who teaches catechism and fantasizes about Jesus when she fingers herself in her bedroom. Oh, and Amelia might be Benito's daughter, too.
I think it's hysterical that the League is a hundred times more upset about the love angle than the thread depicting the Los Reyes religious community as corrupt conspirators in the drug trade. Surely getting some trim is a lesser sin than turning a blind eye to marauding drug dealers. And that might not even be the crime the title suggests Amaro committed (notice it's not plural). Besides, if she thinks he's Jesus, and he's pretending she's Mary, is that really wrong? Well, maybe it is. Especially when Jesus forks over his own money to pay for the BVM's abortion. Not so coincidentally, "amaro" means "bitter."
While it's debatable whether or not the Church is portrayed in a negative light, Crime in no way suggests that any or all of its priests are inherently evil - only human. I have a feeling people may be getting worked up over seeing some of the other potentially blasphemous images in Crime, like the crazy old lady feeding her cat the body of Christ, or the mentally retarded girl who carefully listens to the grunts and groans of Amaro and Amelia defrocking each other's lights out in the next room.
Crime, which is adapted from 19th century Portuguese novelist Eça de Queirós first book, is the kind of film you probably never would have heard of if it weren't for the supposed controversy. It's not that exciting a ride, but it is another chance to catch Bernal, whose first couple of films (Amores Perros and Y Tu Mamá También) turned out to be two of Mexico's biggest domestic hits ever, while his third (Crime) finds him in his second Oscar-nominated vehicle. We'll see the talented Bernal, who looks like a cross between Joaquin Phoenix and a young Robby Benson, next in a pair of American indie flicks (I'm With Lucy and Dot the I), where he'll star opposite the equally handsome Julianne Nicholson and Natalia Verbeke (respectively), but his next likely Oscar contender is Walter Salles' upcoming The Motorcycle Diaries, where Bernal plays a young Che Guevara.
1:58 - R for sexuality, language and some disturbing images
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