The Crime of Father Amaro
The Crime of Father Amaro ★★★ El Crimen del Padre Amaro 2002 (R)
Eca de Queiroz's 1875 Portuguese novel is transplanted to modernday Mexico, confronting a number of controversies surrounding the Catholic Church, including abortion, celibacy, and corruption. Young cleric Padre Amaro (Bernal) is the protege of Bishop Ernesto (Gomez Cruz) who sends him to the provinces to learn church politics from the seasoned Padre Benito (Gracia). Benito has had a longtime affair with Sanjuanera (Aragon) whose beautiful young daughter Amelia (Talancon) becomes infatuated with the handsome young priest. Amaro is soon learning to justify his less kthan priestly behavior with Amelia, which leads him down increasingly precarious moral paths. Spanish with subtitles. 120m/C VHS, DVD . MX Gael Garcia Bernal, Sancho Gracia, Ana Claudia Talancon, Damian Alcazar, Angelica Aragon, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Luisa Huertas, Ernesto Gomez Cruz; D: Carlos Carrera; W: Vicente Lenero; C: Guillermo Granillo; M: Rosino Serrano.