Without ever becoming didactic, director Carlos Carrera expertly weaves this novelistic story of entangled interrelationships and complex morality.
The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:82
Fresh:51
Rotten:31
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: Though melodramatic, El Crimen del Padre Amaro's critique of the Catholic church is a timely one.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $5,433,078
Synopsis: Gael Garcia Bernal (Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, AMORES PERROS) stars in EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO, a controversial drama that was a box office smash in its native Mexico. Directed by Carlos Carrera, the... Gael Garcia Bernal (Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, AMORES PERROS) stars in EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO, a controversial drama that was a box office smash in its native Mexico. Directed by Carlos Carrera, the film tells the story of a young priest who succumbs to temptation and corruption. Father Amaro (Bernal) is a handsome 24-year-old who has recently been assigned to a new church in Los Reyes. Upon arrival, he discovers that his mentor, Father Benito (Sancho Garcia), is having an affair with a local restaurant owner, Sanjuanera (Angelica Aragon). At first shocked, Father Amaro soon finds himself in a moral predicament of his own. Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancon), Sanjuanera's 16-year-old daughter, is a gorgeous teenager who falls deeply in love with the tempted priest. Before long, Father Amaro and Amelia are entangled in a steamy relationship, further testing the young priest's moral fiber. Based on the classic Portuguese novel by Eca de Quieroz, Carrera's film is a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy and corruption that has plagued the Catholic church from its inception. As the confused and conflicted priest, Bernal delivers another magnetic performance, cementing his status as one of Mexico's hottest superstars. [More]
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancon, Sancho Gracia, Angelica Aragon
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancon, Sancho Gracia, Angelica Aragon, Pedro Armendariz
Director: Carlos Carrera
Director: Carlos Carrera
Screenwriter: Vicente Lenero
Producer: Alfredo Ripstein, Daniel Birman Ripstein
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Reviews for The Crime of Padre Amaro
The real crime is the way that the movie turns Gael García Bernal ... into a backwater Freddie Prinze Jr.
Carrera's filmmaking is more workmanlike than stylish, but Padre Amaro is richly character driven and, for all its insolent, grotesque humor, straightforwardly humanist in its psychology.
The source of fascination is observing how the characters develop and understanding the underlying influences that affect every action and decision.
Watching it is rather like viewing a long soap opera in which only the first episode was any good.
A box-office sensation in its native homeland, El Crimen del Padre Amaro unravels like a quintessential Mexican telenovela.
[It] never builds its laundry list of wild incidents into something that's either emotionally engaging or a potent political attack.
Based on an 1875 Portuguese novel, yet the subject matter -- questioning heterosexual celibacy for priests -- still resonates.
Para analizar esta película, es preciso separar dos criterios, el religioso y el cinematográfico
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