El crimen del Padre Amaro

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El crimen del Padre Amaro
Directed by Carlos Carrera
Produced by Daniel Birman Ripstein
Laura Imperiale
Alfredo Ripstein
Written by Eça de Queirós (novel)
Vicente Leñero (screenplay)
Starring Gael García Bernal
Ana Claudia Talancón
Music by Rosino Serrano
Cinematography Guillermo Granillo
Editing by Óscar Figueroa
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) August 16, 2002
Running time 118 min
Language Spanish
Budget $1,800,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

El crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) is a 2002 Mexican film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is loosely based in the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro (1875) by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria Eça de Queiroz.

When it was first released, El Crimen del Padre Amaro was very controversial; Roman Catholic groups in Mexico 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).

The film starred Sancho Gracia, Ana Claudia Talancón and Gael García Bernal and premiered on 16 August 2002 in Mexico City.


Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Gael García Bernal stars as the newly ordained Padre Amaro who arrives in Los Reyes, a small town in the fictional state of Aldama, to start his life serving the church. Young Amaro is soon led into temptation by the beautiful Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón) a local sixteen-year-old girl whose infatuation with the handsome young priest leads to tragedy.

The film delves into the struggle priests have between desire and obedience. Amaro is plagued with guilt about his feelings for Amelia and as the local press begin to reveal the secrets of the parish, Amaro turns to his superior, Padre Benito (Sancho Gracia), who himself is having a relationship with Amelia's mother. When Amelia becomes pregnant and dies during a backstreet abortion, the ranks of the Catholic Church come together to suppress the lurid details of the case.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Controversy

The Bishop (Ernesto Gómez Cruz) and Padre Amaro (García Bernal).
The Bishop (Ernesto Gómez Cruz) and Padre Amaro (García Bernal).

The film depicts a corrupt Catholic Church; Benito is shown to have been receiving funds from a drug lord, and there are connections made between the church and the Mexican militia. The scandals portrayed in this powerful film represent many issues pressing the Catholic church and the way it operates in many areas of Latin America.

As a free adaptation of José Maria Eça de Queiroz's novel, the film itself is also controversial for not being faithful enough to the original novel.

[edit] Awards

The film was nominated for a total of 32 awards with 19 wins and 13 nominations and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language film in 2003.

[edit] External link

Cinema of Mexico

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