EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO
Crimes of passion in Mexico.
In Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 120 minutes. Rated R (sexuality, language and some disturbing images). At the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Broadway and 63rd Street.
AT first, it’s difficult to pinpoint just which transgression this incendiary film’s title – which translates as “The Crime of Father Amaro” – refers to, as its ambitious young priest breaks nearly every commandment in the Book.
Shortly after arriving in a small parish church in Los Reyes, Mexico, the newly ordained 24-year-old Father Amaro (played by Gael Garcia Bernal, the hot young star of “Y Tu Mama Tambien” and “Amores Perros”) says “adios” to his vow of chastity, taking up with the dewy, pious Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancon), who’s just 16.
He seduces the underage virgin with verse from the Bible’s Song of Songs, swaddles her in the Virgin’s robes stolen from the church before making love to her, and uses a mentally ill young woman as a cover for their illicit rendezvous.
Lies, theft, blackmail, blasphemy, blind ambition – Father Amaro sins with abandon in Carlos Carrera’s modern-day update of an 1875 Portugese novel.
Consequently, the film has sparked outrage and protest in Mexico, where Catholic authorities and government officials lobbied to ban it.
Just as predictably, “El Crimen del Padre Amaro” has become Mexico’s top-grossing film of all time – and has been selected as the country’s submission for the Oscars.
While the subject matter is certainly provocative, positing Amaro’s personal war with his desires as a microcosm of the celibacy problems plaguing the wider Catholic church, the soap opera narrative means the whole is less than the sum of its oft-shocking parts.
Father Amaro is not alone in his fallibility; the Church according to “Crimen” is riddled with corruption.
The head of the Los Reyes parish, Father Benito (Sancho Gracia), also has an adulterated soul: He accepts cash from a local drug lord to use for works of charity and is carrying on a long-term sexual relationship with Amelia’s mother (Angelica Aragon).
Hypocrisy is rife: While Benito is venerated, another of the priests in the diocese, Father Natalio (Damian Alcazar), is condemned for abetting highland guerrillas.
There is so much wickedness in this small parish – a local crone steals from the collection plate, priests get drunk on tequila – that it’s left to the local newspaper, and a keen young reporter who used to date Amelia, to uphold the town’s morals.
Commendably, Carrera steers clear of preachiness in his exploration of a timely and relevant issue, and Bernal’s transformation from naive priest to tortured adulterer to hard-nosed careerist is riveting.