Hey folks, Harry here... Once again we are faced with yet another powerful, criminally good film coming from Mexico. Mexico has been in a great run of powerfully emotionally charged films that have simply been breathtaking, poignant and are taking hard as nails looks at their societies, sexual behaviors, crime, government and religion. In otherwords, they've been dealing with the important stuff and making great cinema while doing it. Very much what so many of us loved about Seventies film in the United States. Well, I just have to say I'm glad it is happening somewhere, we're lucky enough in this world of constant communication to be able to hear about, then trackdown the great ones, no matter where they hide! Also, given the hell that the Catholic Church has been going through this year, this film seems to be exploring EXACTLY what a religious film should be exploring and asking the hard questions! Here ya go...
EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO (Father Amaro's Crime)
Country : MÈxico
(****)
Review by Alexander DeLarge
WARNING : English is my second language, so please forgive my mistakes.
From the very beginning of Carlos Carrera's new film, "El Crimen Del Padre Amaro" (Father Amaro's Crime), the preconceptions the audience carries into the opening frames are shattered. Father Amaro, played by Gael GarcÌa Bernal (Y Tu Mama TambiÈn, Amores Perros), a recently ordained Catholic priest, sinks into the carcass of a corrupt church community full of hypocrisy that blindfolds and gags any possible knowledge which might disturb the peace of a small rural town. In spite of his good intentions, Father Amaro gradually succumbs to temptation and not only helps silence a newspaper that exposes a money laundry scam involving the local church, but also encourages and participates in a love affair with a good natured Christian girl who soon trades her devotion to the church for a devotion to the boyish good-looks of Father Amaro.
Amaro's initial carnal desire spirals out of control and sends him hurling, making him question the only apparent constant in his life: his faith. During all this, Amaro tries to justify his actions to the eyes of others and to his own. He thinks of his love affair as merely a necessary release so he can better serve his community, for he is "also a man", as he puts it. However, he is also in contact with a priest from a nearby indigenous community, Father Natalio, who protects his herd from constant abuses by the authorities and the local drug dealing circle. He sees in Natalio, the real commitment he will never achieve, and this brings up the truly interesting questions. Is optional celibacy a necessary "evil", or is it just an easy way out for some priests to serve God in a half-assed way, a loophole for sacrifice?
By the third act we see Amaro break. His good deeds count for nothing, and his bad deeds multiply faster that he can control. Even though it is not an all-out Catholicism bashing fest, the movie doesn't shy away from showing the faith taking a few heavy, and in one case, unnecessary blows (an over the top sequence where Father Amaro wraps his lover in a cape meant for the Virgin Mary figure at the church only pummels into the viewer what is already obvious). It also offers a moment of brief but poignant outbreak of religious fanaticism, which makes the believers look frankly ridiculous. There is also a subtly powerful sequence that shows drug-dealers helping the ailing priest they do business with to get to a hospital, ironically superposed to Gregorian chants in the background.
Director Carlos Carrera's work is rarely this inspired, and this is Gael Garcia Bernal's best acting yet, truly devouring his every scene with a maturity and depth not seen before. The supporting cast is very strong, with an obligatory honorable mention to Dami·n Alc·zar, the terribly underrated actor who portrays Father Natalio. Supported by a stronger screenplay than most would expect from the plot, the film is alive with raw emotion, seared in the style of a rebellious film of the 70s, and the result is a movie whose sheer power comes not from controversy, but from intelligent commentary which dares to contemplate the different sides of every issue it brings up.
This odd, beautiful, heart wrenching, and strangely humorous offering from Carlos Carrera is the best and most important Mexican movie of the year.
Alexander
