IMDb RATING
6.7/10
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Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 21 wins & 15 nominations total
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
- Presidente Municipal Gordo
- (as Pedro Armendáriz)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie began creating controversy even before it was released. Several groups, most of them related to the church, tried to ban it. They did not succeed; instead, tickets were sold out on opening weekend.
- GoofsAmaro gets beaten up by Ruben and receives some bruises in his face. A little later, when he meets Amelia in the church, the bruises are gone.
- Quotes
Father Amaro: Tell me your sins, child.
Amelia: You already know them. And your sins?
- Crazy credits"In memoriam Paco Rabal"
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)
Featured review
Crimen del Padre Amaro
The film Crimen del Padre Amaro is set in Los Reyes, Mexico in 2002. In Mexico by 2002, a continuing economic, political, and social crisis was spiraling deeper and deeper. The chaos was caused by a debt problem and the system of dependent capitalism the debt produced. "Between 1994 and 2000 average wages declined 21 percent" (Keen 317). By 2002, Mexico had become more and more dependent primarily upon the United States, its foreign export, and its investment-capital markets. Despite these setbacks, Mexicans always had something to fall back upon and to look to for support: the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church is the main focus in the movie Crimen del Padre Amaro. There are no specific events that occurred within the movie that occurred in real Mexican history; however the events that do occur are believable and likely happened. Within the film, Padre Benito is taking money donations from a local drug lord to help fund a new hospital. Since there are many drug lords in Mexico it is not unbelievable that two of the most powerful groups in Mexico are the drug lords and the Church officials. It makes sense that they would overlap at some point, however I am sure that this scenario does not occur in all areas of Mexico. The director could have made it a little clearer that the drug lord was an actual drug lord; it was a little confusing with the mayor and the drug lord to keep each person separate. Another point of corruption within the Church is the fact that both Padre Benito and Padre Amaro have sexual relations with females despite their celibacy vows. This is not surprising at all, since it has become public knowledge that many Catholic priests have had sexual relations with people in recent years. The director could have shown more of the economic crisis and guerrilla warfare situations more, because they were a little confusing if one did not know or look into what was going on in Mexico in 2002.
The film is well made and attention-grabbing. The plot is a little confusing at first, as most movies are, however it all becomes much clearer and focused as the movie continues. In the beginning of the movie, Padre Amaro is seen as the good guy, who everyone wanted to succeed; however, by the end of the film, I looked upon Padre Amaro with complete disgust. Ironically, Padre Benito, I felt, was a horrible, corrupt priest in the beginning, and by the end I liked him much more than ever before. Padre Amaro was so young and yet he ended up being the most selfish and corrupt of all the priests in the community. Crimen del Padre Amaro is a very interesting film that is entertaining and worth watching to see what modern-day rural Mexico is like.
The film Crimen del Padre Amaro shows an interesting outlook of the Catholic Church and the corruption that exists within the Church in Mexico. It is very gripping and definitely worth watching. Although there are parts that can be confusing, it is fascinating to see how rural and "backward" parts of Mexican life can be. I would recommend viewing this movie and on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7.
Works Cited: Keen, Benjamin and Keith Haynes: A History of Latin America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
The film Crimen del Padre Amaro is set in Los Reyes, Mexico in 2002. In Mexico by 2002, a continuing economic, political, and social crisis was spiraling deeper and deeper. The chaos was caused by a debt problem and the system of dependent capitalism the debt produced. "Between 1994 and 2000 average wages declined 21 percent" (Keen 317). By 2002, Mexico had become more and more dependent primarily upon the United States, its foreign export, and its investment-capital markets. Despite these setbacks, Mexicans always had something to fall back upon and to look to for support: the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church is the main focus in the movie Crimen del Padre Amaro. There are no specific events that occurred within the movie that occurred in real Mexican history; however the events that do occur are believable and likely happened. Within the film, Padre Benito is taking money donations from a local drug lord to help fund a new hospital. Since there are many drug lords in Mexico it is not unbelievable that two of the most powerful groups in Mexico are the drug lords and the Church officials. It makes sense that they would overlap at some point, however I am sure that this scenario does not occur in all areas of Mexico. The director could have made it a little clearer that the drug lord was an actual drug lord; it was a little confusing with the mayor and the drug lord to keep each person separate. Another point of corruption within the Church is the fact that both Padre Benito and Padre Amaro have sexual relations with females despite their celibacy vows. This is not surprising at all, since it has become public knowledge that many Catholic priests have had sexual relations with people in recent years. The director could have shown more of the economic crisis and guerrilla warfare situations more, because they were a little confusing if one did not know or look into what was going on in Mexico in 2002.
The film is well made and attention-grabbing. The plot is a little confusing at first, as most movies are, however it all becomes much clearer and focused as the movie continues. In the beginning of the movie, Padre Amaro is seen as the good guy, who everyone wanted to succeed; however, by the end of the film, I looked upon Padre Amaro with complete disgust. Ironically, Padre Benito, I felt, was a horrible, corrupt priest in the beginning, and by the end I liked him much more than ever before. Padre Amaro was so young and yet he ended up being the most selfish and corrupt of all the priests in the community. Crimen del Padre Amaro is a very interesting film that is entertaining and worth watching to see what modern-day rural Mexico is like.
The film Crimen del Padre Amaro shows an interesting outlook of the Catholic Church and the corruption that exists within the Church in Mexico. It is very gripping and definitely worth watching. Although there are parts that can be confusing, it is fascinating to see how rural and "backward" parts of Mexican life can be. I would recommend viewing this movie and on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7.
Works Cited: Keen, Benjamin and Keith Haynes: A History of Latin America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
- How long is The Crime of Padre Amaro?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- The Crime of Father Amaro
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,800,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,717,044
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $504,681
- Nov 17, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $26,996,738
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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