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Young and handsome priest Padre Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal) is sent by the bishop to the
small-town parish of Los Reyes to learn the ropes from its aging parish priest Padre Benito (Sancho Gracia). Soon Padre Amaro discovers that not only is Padre Benito having a
long-standing affair with parishioner and restaurant owner Agostina Sanjuanera (Angelica Aragon)—he is also money-laundering for the drug lord Chato Aguilar who is building a
big hospital for the town. Young and pretty catechist Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancon) is attracted to Padre Amaro and soon dumps her newspaperman-boyfriend to make a play for
the young priest. The vulnerable Padre Amaro succumbs to Amelia's charms and soon they violate his vow of chastity while he continues with his priestly duties. Not long after,
Amelia gets pregnant and expects Padre Amaro to marry her, but he chooses to remain a priest.
Labeled as "one of the most successful Mexican films in history," The Crime of Fr. Amaro
(original title: El Crimen del Padre Amaro), nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film for Academy Awards 2002, is one movie that could readily be mistaken for being
an irresponsible attack on the Catholic Church. Due to its sensitive topic, it could very easily fall into the danger of zooming in on the Church people's weaknesses and
blowing them up into exaggerated proportions. With indelicate handling and inadequate character development, a film like The Crime of Fr. Amaro
could bruise the sensitivity of some people, and worse, could endanger the morals of those whose faith is still weak. William Donohue of the American Catholic League reportedly denounced the movie for its "vicious" portrayal of priests, while the Council of Mexican Bishops spokesman Fr. Rafael Gonzales said that as an "honest movie", it should be taken as "a wake-up call for the Church to review its procedure for selecting and training priests and being closer to people." It must be remembered that although it wears a contemporary costume, the movie is based on a Portuguese novel written by Eca de Queiroz in 1875. This should remind viewers that problems concerning church-state relationships; susceptibility to corruption; and clerical chastity, poverty and obedience have been present in the Church for ages. Also, its setting is Mexico—considering the difficulties that country went through in its revolutions for independent nationhood in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the Spanish Civil War in the 30s, it is not surprising that it should be the birthplace of a film that is critical of the local church. In fairness to director Carlos Carrera who treats the movie like a soap opera, The Crime of Fr. Amaro should not be condemned outright but should be viewed as the product of a people with a particular history and culture, fashioned with all the emotions and the pain they have gone through. Despite a few apparently sacrilegious elements or implications in it, the film is not to be taken as a statement about the Church—it is simply a melodrama that shows that in the Church are priests, and that priests are human, and that not all humans are good. Now, what is
the crime of Padre Amaro? A superficial viewing of the film may tell one that his crime is sexual in nature—but there is more to it than that. For the film to be worth
your time, it is important to uncover the root of Padre Amaro's crime—to find out how the talons of corruption turn a consecrated person into a criminal. That is a challenge
to the maturity of the Filipino audience.
(Date reviewed: February 28, 2003)
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