The Crime of Father Amaro

Last updated

The Crime of Padre Amaro
ElCrimendelPadre.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Carlos Carrera
Produced byDaniel Birman Ripstein
Alfredo Ripstein
Written by Vicente Leñero
Based on O Crime do Padre Amaro
by Eça de Queiroz
Starring Gael García Bernal
Ana Claudia Talancón
Music byRosino Serrano
CinematographyGuillermo Granillo
Edited by Óscar Figueroa
Production
company
Almeda Films
Blu Films
Wanda Films
Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films (USA) (theatrical)
Release date
  • 16 August 2002 (2002-08-16)(Mexico)
  • 8 November 2002 (2002-11-08)(Spain)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryMexico
Spain
LanguageSpanish
Budget$1.8 million
Box office$27 million

The Crime of Padre Amaro, (Spanish : El crimen del padre Amaro, known by its literal translation The Crime of Father Amaro in Australia) is a 2002 Mexican-Spanish film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is very loosely based on the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro (1875) by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. The film starred Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón and Sancho Gracia. It premiered on 16 August 2002 in Mexico City.

Contents

When it was released, The Crime of Padre Amaro caused a controversy on the part of Roman Catholic groups in Mexico who tried to stop the film from being screened. They failed, and the film became the biggest box office draw ever in the country, beating previous record holder, Sexo, pudor y lágrimas (1999).

In the United States of America, this film also enjoyed commercial success; Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment paid less than $1 million to acquire the film's North American distribution rights and released the film theatrically through Samuel Goldwyn Films; [1] [2] [3] ; the film went on to gross $5.7 million in limited theatrical release in the United States. [4]

At the 75th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Plot

Newly ordained Padre Amaro arrives in Los Reyes, a small town in the fictional state of Aldama, to start his life serving the church. He is a protégé of a ruthless political bishop, while the local priest, Father Benito, is having a long ongoing affair with a local restaurant owner. Benito is building a large hospital and recuperation center, which is partially funded by a cartel's drug lord. Meanwhile, another priest in the area, Father Natalio, is under investigation for supporting left-wing insurgents in his secluded rural church area.

Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón), a local 16-year-old girl, teaches catechism to the young children in the town, and is the daughter of Benito's mistress. At the start of the story, she is contemplating marriage to Rubén (Andrés Montiel), a young journalist beginning his career, but tension is depicted as Rubén is a non-believer and Amelia strongly Catholic. Rubén's father is an avowed anti-clerical atheist who is unpopular within the town for his strong opinions.

Amaro soon becomes infatuated with Amelia, who is strongly attracted to him and asks awkward questions about love and sin in the confessional, admitting that she masturbates to Jesus. She later touches his hand while serving him at the restaurant. The newspaper is tipped off about Benito baptising the drug lord's newborn child, and Rubén is asked to write about the scandals in his hometown. With the aid of mountains of evidence compiled by his father, he publishes a story about Benito's hospital being a front for money laundering. The church has Amaro write a denial and Rubén is then sacked by the newspaper under pressure from the Catholic lobby. Amelia then phones Rubén and dumps him, berating him with a string of obscenities. Rubén's family home is vandalized by devout Catholics and when he returns home, he assaults Amaro when he sees him in the street. Amaro decides not to press charges, so Rubén avoids jail time.

The film delves into the struggle priests have between desire and obedience. Amaro is plagued with guilt about his feelings for Amelia. When the local press begins to reveal the secrets of the parish, Amaro turns to his superior, Padre Benito (Sancho Gracia).

Amaro and Amelia start an affair, and Amaro cites verses from the Song of Songs as he seduces her. Later he drapes a robe meant for the statue of Virgin Mary over Amelia during a secret meeting. After Amelia becomes pregnant with Amaro's child, he tries to convince her to leave town to protect him. Later, she decides to try to trick the town by trying to pass off Rubén as the father. She tries to reunite with him and organize a wedding at short notice so that the baby can be attributed to him, but he tells her he is no longer interested. When Benito threatens to report Amaro, Amaro threatens to retaliate over Benito's affair. Eventually, Amaro arranges for a backstreet abortion in the middle of the night. It goes wrong and Amelia begins bleeding uncontrollably. Amaro drives her to the hospital in a large city, but she is already dead before he gets there. The lurid details of the case are suppressed; Benito and a cynical old woman know what has happened. A false story is passed around the town, blaming Rubén for impregnating Amelia before marriage, and praising Amaro for breaking into the abortion clinic and liberating Amelia in a failed attempt to save her and her child. Amaro presides over Amelia's funeral; the church is packed with mourners. Benito, now using a wheelchair, leaves in disgust.

Cast

Reception

The Crime of Padre Amaro sparked a controversy in Mexico at the time of its release, with Catholic bishops and organizations asking people not to see it and demanding that the government ban it. [5] [6]

The film was nominated for over 30 awards, including an Academy Awards nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003, winning 19.[ citation needed ]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes counted 82 reviews with a 62% approval rating. The average rating is 6.2/10. The critics consensus on the website states that "Though melodramatic, El Crimen del Padre Amaro's critique of the Catholic church is a timely one." [7] On Metacritic, it has a score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews" based on 29 critic reviews. [8]

Related Research Articles

José Maria de Eça de Queirós Portuguese writer

José Maria de Eça de Queirós is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London Observer, Jonathan Keates ranked him alongside Dickens, Balzac and Tolstoy. During his lifetime the spelling was Eça de Queiroz, and this is the form that appears on many editions of his works; the modern standard Portuguese spelling is "Eça de Queirós".

<i>The Power and the Glory</i> novel by Graham Greene

The Power and the Glory (1940) is a novel by British author Graham Greene. The title is an allusion to the doxology often recited at the end of the Lord's Prayer: "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen." It was initially published in the United States under the title The Labyrinthine Ways.

Sancho Gracia Spanish motion picture and television actor

Félix Ángel Sancho Gracia was a Spanish motion picture and television actor.

Vicente Leñero Otero was a Mexican novelist, journalist, and playwright. He wrote numerous books, stories, and plays, including a theatrical adaptation of Oscar Lewis's The Children of Sanchez. He was awarded the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia in 2001, and the following year he received the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes de México for literature and linguistics.

<i>O Crime do Padre Amaro</i> book by Eça de Queirós

O Crime do Padre Amaro, subtitled 'Scenes of Religious Life', is a novel by the 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. It was first published in 1875 to great controversy.

Ernesto Gómez Cruz is a prolific Mexican actor with more than 154 films.

Rubén (Mora) Amaro Sr. was a Mexican professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop and first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1958 through 1969. He was the son of a Cuban, Santos Amaro, "El Canguro" and a Mexican, Josefina Mora.

Ana Claudia Talancón Mexican actress

Ana Claudia Talancón, is a Mexican actress, model, hostess and singer. She first started acting in her home town, Cancún, Quintana Roo.

Andrés Montiel, is a Mexican actor born in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Nuevo Cine Mexicano

Nuevo Cine Mexicano, also referred to as New Mexican Cinema is a Mexican film movement started in the early 1990s. Filmmakers, critics, and scholars consider Nuevo Cine Mexicano a "rebirth" of Mexican cinema because of the production of higher-quality films. This rebirth led to high international praise as well as box-office success, unseen since the golden age of Mexican cinema of the 1930s to 1960s. The quality of Mexican films suffered in the decades following the golden age due in part to Mexican audiences watching more overseas films, especially Hollywood productions. This resulted in the rise of infamous Mexican genres such as Luchador films, sexicomedias and ultimately the low-budget direct-to-video Mexploitation film.

The MTV Movie Awards Mexico was an awards show which were established in 2003. The show is based on the US MTV Movie Awards format celebrating local film and actors.

Hand of God is a 2006 independent documentary that was acquired for national airing in the United States by Frontline. The film was directed and edited by Joe Cultrera and tells the story of how his brother Paul was molested in the 1960s by their parish priest, Father Joseph Birmingham, who allegedly abused nearly 100 other children. Cultrera tells the story of faith betrayed and how his brother Paul and the rest of the Cultrera family fought back against a scandal that continues to afflict churches across the country.

Octavio Augusto Perez Ocaña, known as Octavio Ocaña, is a Mexican actor known for his role of Benito in the TV series Vecinos.

The MTV Movie Awards Mexico 2003 was hosted by José María Yazpik and Patricia Llaca.

<i>The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz</i> 1955 film by Luis Buñuel

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz is a 1955 Mexican film by Spanish-born writer-director Luis Buñuel. It focuses on a would-be serial killer whose plans, although elaborate, never result in an actual murder.

<i>For Greater Glory</i> 2012 film by Dean Wright

For Greater Glory, also known as Cristiada, is a 2012 epic historical war drama film directed by Dean Wright and written by Michael Love, based on the events of the Cristero War. It stars Andy García, Eva Longoria, Oscar Isaac, Rubén Blades, Peter O'Toole, and Bruce Greenwood. The film is the directorial debut for Wright, veteran visual effects supervisor on films including The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003), and was released on June 1, 2012.

Soy tu fan is a Mexican romantic comedy television series produced by Canana Films, Fox Television Studios and Once TV México, and is an adaptation of the Argentina series of the same name created by Dolores Fonzi and Constanza Novick. It is directed by Álvaro Hernández, Mariana Chenillo & Gerardo Naranjo, produced by Pablo Cruz, Constanza Novick, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Geminiano Pineda, Jorge Mondragón, Diego Martínez Ulanosky and Ana Claudia Talancón and written by Constanza Novick. It premiered Wednesday, April 28, 2010 in Mexico on Once TV Mexico, and in the United States on mun2, October 17, 2010. Season 2 began airing on October 19, 2011 on Once TV in Mexico.

<i>Instructions Not Included</i> 2013 Mexican film directed by Jonnathan Alvarez

Instructions Not Included is a 2013 Mexican comedy-drama film co-written, directed by, and starring Eugenio Derbez. The plot follows a Mexican playboy who is suddenly saddled with a love child at his doorstep, and sets off to Los Angeles to find the mother. Released in the United States on August 30, 2013, the film received mixed reviews and grossed $100 million worldwide.

O Crime do Padre Amaro is a 2005 Portuguese drama film directed by Carlos Coelho da Silva and based on the 19th century novel of the same name by Eça de Queirós. It stars Soraia Chaves, Jorge Corrula and Nicolau Breyner.

Gabriel Ripstein is a Mexican film producer, director, editor and screenwriter. A producer since 1999, Ripstein has been involved in nine feature films. Two of his productions competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival: El Coronel No Tiene Quien le Escriba and Chronic. Ripstein also wrote screenplays for Amor a Primera Visa, Compadres, and Busco novio para mi mujer.

References

  1. "Spanish-language films take aim at U.S. market - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  2. "Bottom Line: Animation for Older Audiences | Animation World Network". Awn.com. 23 February 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  3. From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search - Document Number: V3484D231]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  4. https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=elcrimendelpadreamaro.htm
  5. "La Jornada Virtu@l". Jornada.unam.mx. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  6. "BBC Mundo | MISCELÁNEA | México: la polémica del padre Amaro". BBC News. 16 August 2002. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  7. "The Crime of Padre Amaro". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  8. "The Crime of Father Amaro Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 29 May 2016.