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Smarksterpiece Theatre: El Crimen del Padre Amaro
Posted by Edward Robins on Dec 22, 2002, 02:55
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Films involving anything remotely resembling critcism of organized religion, particularly one with as large and dedicated a following as Catholicism, be they comedies, horror films, or dramas, have always held an "automatic" but undeserved degree of controversy amongst many viewers and much of the mainstream media. Thus, it comes as little surprise that the Mexican film El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) bills itself as "the most controversial movie ever made". While it's far from that, it's still an intriguing film until it loses its credibility and falls into "church-ploitation" and drab scare film territory.
El Crimen del Padre Amaro is symbolically split into two halves and two plots; both involve revered priests in a small Mexican town doing very sinful things. The focus of the first half of the film is the conflict between two priests, Padre Natalio and Padre Benito, over a new hospital being built in the community. Though his faithful worshippers believe that the majority of the funding for the building comes from their donations, it in fact comes from local drug lord Don Paco de la Rosa, to whom Padre Benito has long served in secret as a friend, spiritual advisor, and "personal priest". Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this corruption is that it's well known amongst the other local priests and Cardinal, and only one has a problem with it - Padre Natalio, whose efforts to support his own people, a community of guerrillas and villagers who have been forced off their land by Rosa's men, are frowned upon by Natalio and the Cardinal, who are more concerned with the interests of their hospital and its "primary investor". Caught between the two is young priest Padre Amaro, new to the community and unsure of which side to trust, as he finds neither man is as they seem. Natalio becomes so frustrated he leaves to stay with his own people as their priest, which the Cardinal takes as a challenge to the power structure and orders Natalio return or be excommunicated. This peaks when the issue and questionable ties of both men are exposed (along with photographs of Padre Benito and Rosa) by local journalist/student Ruben, when Amaro is chosen by the Cardinal to be the one to write a rebuttal article debasing the "false allegations". It is here where the film's message of the dangers of men who abuse the Church's power and influence for their own means is most prominent and successful. Amaro's rebuttal and the influence of the Cardinal (or rather, the influence of the Cardinal on the newspaper's sponsors) lead to Ruben's firing by the newspaper. Worse, unable to accept that the men of the church are still men, able to deceive and be deceived, a mob of villagers (all regular church-goers) attack Ruben's father's house and force the two into exile.
Had the film ended here, it would have been most effective as a dramatic film and commentary on the modern relationship between the Church, community, and man. While I profess to be neither Catholic or Mexican, and thus have no definitive knowledge on the topic myself, other commentaries I have read suggest that corruption of the Church, though perhaps not to this grand a scale, is not uncommon in many parts of Mexico, and the reason this film is so controversial to some is that, like the villagers, those offended by this film are unable to accept that the men they put their faith in are fallible, choosing instead to believe that because they are men of the cloth they can do no wrong. Coming in a year when there were many publicized revelations of Catholic priest's illicit sexual relations with young boys, it's easy for the offended to block this film out as bandwagon anti-Catholicism, when in fact the opposite is true. Despite what it shows the priests doing, the film doesn't say that Catholicism is wrong or untrustworthy; rather, it presents a warning to those that are Catholics to always beware of the men behind Catholicism, and not to mistakenly grant the absolute trust in God and the religion to all the mortal aspects associated with it. Just because a priest is a religious leader and figurehead doesn't mean he's automatically dedicated and virtuous. Just because a man speaks and preaches against sin doesn't mean behind closed doors he won't indulge in it himself. Beware the demon in priest's clothing; fear not the word of God, but the hypocrisy of those who spread it without following it. A powerful message, an important message for anyone of any faith, unfortunately heavily diluted by the film's second major plotline that chooses the route of exploitation over continuing these hard-hitting moral prompts for cheap thrills and controversy.
The second half of the film is frustrating because it relies totally on the "oldest trick in the book" - that sex sells. Whereas he had been little more than a supporting character in the first half of the film, the story shifts to focus on Padre Amaro as his titular crime takes form. After writing his expose on Padres Natalio and Benito, Ruben faced immediate heavy criticism from his girlfriend Amelia. She questioned his beliefs in God to be able to publish such heresy, and because of her incredible dedication to the Church and its priests, broke up with him. Her mother, widower and restaurant owner Augustina Sanjuanera, was unable to understand why Amelia would break up with a man as intelligent and charming as Ruben, and asked Padre Amaro to talk to her and try and get the two back together. To say her plan backfires is an incredible understatement - Amelia becomes enamored with the attractive young priest, and her figurative love for her religion is mistranslated into a physical love for the priest, and though hesitant at first, Amaro quickly becomes consummate and lustful as their relationship escalates into a sexual one. Here's where the film stops its presses and spends the rest of its time screaming a hackneyed attention-getting headline at the top of its lungs: "CATHOLIC PRIEST HAS SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH TEENAGE GIRL!" If it had been presented as clean-cut, tightly edited, and well-acted as the first half of the film, I'd have had no problem with the film taking this path, but the film takes a turn downhill and no longer resembles serious commentary and questioning as much as cheap exploitation. A typical shot will move through the church, showing icons of all the saints and the Virgin Mary, only to stop and focus on Amelia and Amaro speaking about their relationship and making out in the church or confessions booth. Other sequences have Amelia attempting to teach a paralyzed retarded girl about the Scriptures, then leave her with a biblical picture book to take a "study break" in the next room with Amaro (it should be noted here that since these sex scenes are what would be considered the most controversial, that they're very tame and tastefully done; they're nowhere neither as erotic as the sex scenes from last years Y Tu Mama Tambien nor as disturbing as the infamous combination of religion/sex from The Exorcist). Forgive me for not having the intended reaction beat into my head of "OH MY GOD A PRIEST IS HAVING SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH A TEENAGE GIRL!", but after the carefully crafted complexities of the Benito/Rosa saga, an everyday sin such as lust and premarital sex, even involving a priest, just isn't interesting, and its becoming the focal point of the film, as if to suggest in the long run its more important and much "worse" than the saga presented earlier, which effected the entire community and territory, is ludicrous. I understand that it builds off the earlier theme of priests' susceptibility to human sins and combines that with the fact that a major part of becoming a priest is a vow of celibacy, but its presentation and the events that follow are little more than an amateurish daytime soap opera. The film very matter-of-factly showed earlier in the film Padre Benito having sexual relations with Sanjuanera without looking back (even showing some sympathy towards her as she supports her forbidden lover yet must always remain in secret), but because that doesn't have the additional shock value of the removal of the innocence of youth, it isn't dwelled upon. Amaro's relationship with Amelia is made important for no other purpose than to try and shock its audience, the rest of the film's credibility be damned. It also doesn't help that it becomes a predictable morality "scare tale" - Amelia and Padre Amaro, two young people, are having premarital sex, so what happens? Amelia gets pregnant, of course! See why you don't have premarital sex? Upon learning Amelia is pregnant, what does Padre Amaro do? Instead of supporting her, he becomes arrogant, self-centered, and only concerned with how badly it will look upon him, breaking her heart, of course! See why you don't have premarital sex? It all becomes so trite, and since it's the conclusion it takes away from what the first half of the film built and did so well.
Though it could've done away with the last half entirely, El Crimen del Padre Amaro is far from a poor film. It has some beautiful church settings (and, in stark contrast, an unsettling old woman's "home-made altar" with dismembered doll parts and her cats representing the various saints) that do an excellent job in capturing the spirit of a town that wants to change but is stuck on its old customs and beliefs. The performances, particularly from Damian Alcazar (Padre Natalio) and Sancho Gracia (Padre Benito), are excellent, and although its content and the perceived controversy surrounding it will lead to it being overrated, I still recommend the first half of the film to anyone. Unless you're a fan of Mexican soap operas or nude scenes with the beautiful Ana Claudia Talancon, you can skip the second half of the film. At least you'll beat any mobs of protestors by leaving early!
- Edward Robins
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