The release of the film THE CRIME OF PADRE AMARO caused about as much of an uproar in Mexico in 2002 as the publication of the novel, written by Jose Maria Eca de Queiroz, caused in 1875. With its dangerously intertwining themes of spiritual ecstasy and sexual passion, it's not hard to see why. At the heart of the story is a young priest who wrestles in a major way with the tempting hungers of his body and the grace-filled yearnings of his spirit. It does not help that, to pursue his vocation, he is sent to a town sustained by a culture of corruption.One thing actor Gael Garcia Bernal does not know how to do is give a bad performance, and in the movie's title role he captures brilliantly all the agonizing ambiguity that comes with being a young adult male intent on asserting his masculinity while also serving the spiritual needs of his community. Unfortunately, his happily deluded demeanor meets with an equally intense personality in the form of Amelia, a devout young devotee acted with mesmerizing perfection by the gorgeous Ana Claudia Talancon. Amelia idolizes the young priest as a true and noble holy man whose sexuality is made sacred by his presumably pure soul. He in turn dares to drape her in a cape reserved for representations of the Madonna and recites to her from Solomon's "Song of Songs" as they seduce each other. Controversial? Better believe it.As in the film THE HEALER (please see companion review) "The Crime of Padre Amaro" depicts sexuality and spirituality as equally powerful forces of attraction capable of producing very different results, which will not be revealed here. The outcome in "The Crime of Padre Amaro" is shocking in more ways than one and well worth contemplating for a long time.by Author-Poet Aberjhani, author of "Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World"

For many priests, celibacy is a true vocation which liberates them... For others, it is a lifelong struggle... If celibacy was made voluntary, not only would many priests be happier, but the Church would be richer... Above all, it might decide the only way to restore the numbers of the priesthood, and that seems to me not a bad idea...In "The Crime of Father Amaro," the top film in Mexican box-office history, Carlos Carrera shows that even a man with morals and scruples betrays the nature of his profession, mostly when he brazenly criticizes the priesthood, and questions the Catholic Church's representatives on a variety of charges like illicit love affair, corruption, drug dealing, and hypocrisy...The story takes a liberal priest, Father Amaro(Gael Garcia Bernal), protégé of a repulsive obese bishop (Ernesto Gomez Cruz), to the remote dusty village of Los Reyes to assist the older priest of the parish Father Benito (Sancho Gracia) in his daily work...Amaro quickly realizes that virtually every fellow priest is involved in something immoral, and that his aging superior is receiving financial help from the region's drug lord for the construction of a new church-run hospital, and is secretly spending his cold nights with the proprietress of a local restaurant Augustina (Anjelica Aragón). He also discovers that Father Natalio (Damian Alcazar) is suspected of aiding the revolutionary factions in opposing the drug lords and mobsters...Amaro's own weaknesses is put to the test when he finds himself led into temptation by Augustina 's extremely sensual teenager Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón) a relationship that eventually goes way outside the bounds of his priestly oath... and, without any sign of inner turmoil, he embarks on a passionate affair with the devout catechism teacher...Amalia—for whom loving a young priest serves as an extension of her deep piety—decides that the good-looking priest is the one for her and rejects her disappointed boyfriend, the aggressive reporter Ruben (Andres Montiel) who wrote an article alleging that the hospital is a front for laundering drug money...The polemical film focuses on blasphemous scenes as on a vicious priest who stops at nothing, even by continuing the lies and hypocrisy to protect his career...

So El Crimen del padre Amaro was quite a downer. Did anything good ever happen in this movie? Lets retrace our steps. On the bus, they all get held at gun point and robbed. Padre Amaro meets Padre Benito Diaz and quickly finds out he's having an affair with the maid. Then we find out he's making deals with a drug dealer to build his church. Padre Natalio, who we think is one of the better guys in the film for opposing Benito and trying to lift up his people against the drug trafficking, then has one of his men stab to death the lowly photographer and then Natalino lies about sending the photos to the newspaper, which is threatened over advertising by Amaro if the rebuttal is not run on the first page. Amaro has an affair with the maid's daughter in front of crippled woman suffering from cerebral palsy, who is later forced out of her home with her father because he, a masterful sexton who beats women, is fired by the oh so innocent Amaro. The maid's daughter ex boyfriend Ruben (probably the best guy in the film) loses it and attacks Amaro calling him derogatory homosexual terms. Amaro declines to press charges (maybe the happiest moment in the film). The bishop, maybe the only good guy (besides the journalist of course) strips down nude and we have to watch him jump in the bath. Was it necessary? No. The humanity! When Amelia dies, Amaro blames it on Ruben, spreading rumors that it was his child. Abortion hemorrhages, scandalous priests, the corrupt lady singing and shoving communion down the woman's throat, this movie had it all. If there was maybe one decent moment it's when the old man cowboy hat and all, offers Amaro a smoke. Just to show people never forget the good in people. But really thematically, this has absolutely nothing to do with this film, try as you might. So while I found the film captivating, I'd have to give it a thumbs down because I really never gained anything from it. It took one direction and never stopped spiraling down.

Slightly overrated dramatic feature based on a controversial novel that deals with the corruption of the Catholic church in Mèxico.Mèxico, being a 100% Catholic country has been blinded for centuries probably by the atrocious acts committed by the representatives of the church."El Crimen del Padre Amaro" displays the corruption, lustful, and murder of a young catholic priest who didn't exactly had his faith in God. The story takes place in a Mexican pueblito but the message is pretty clear... Religious crimes happen on all kind of levels. Territorial division, judicial division, high society class, etc.I won't get into details of the dramatic features or events because I think it's more important to focus on the social and criticism message that "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" sends against church. It is pretty clear that in the past religious crimes or any kind of controversy against church was banned or ignored. In these days, everything seems to be finally getting green light to be known.Still, this movie is overrated because it had a shocking premise campaign before it's release. It's NOTHING you haven't seen on any other movies and the fact that it deals with difficult topics for Mexican society, it's nowhere as crude or raw as the evening news.Watch this movie in order to witness through a dramatic motion picture (I mean, dramatic events with the occasional exaggeration) how Catholicism in Mèxico is losing more and more followers. Pederastry, corruption, among other crimes are now a common practice.Special mention for Gael Garcìa Bernal who delivers a solid performance. He is truly a talented actor. Ana Claudia Talancòn is also good in her role and she's extremely beautiful.