The Crime of Father Amaro

Colour, 35 mm
Mexico, 2002, 120 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

A recently ordained priest named Amaro arrives in the town of Los Reyes to help the local spiritual shepherd – aging Father Benito. He is idealistic and determined to serve God and his new parishioners, but he soon discovers that real life is different from how he had conceived it. He finds out that Benito has a lover, the pub owner Sanjuanera, and that he’s accepting contributions to build a hospital from a local drug boss who is thereby laundering money. Amaro too betrays his mission by falling in love with Sanjuanera’s young and devout daughter Amelia. The girl’s jealous fiancé Rubén decides to expose the corrupt priests publicly, but the bishop hushes up the threatened scandal with Amaro’s help: the latter is now more than happy to ignore the truth if it will help his ambitions. Even his passionate relationship with the now pregnant and unhappy Amelia won’t stand in the way of his career.... This modern adaptation of the classic novel by Eca de Queirós was Mexico’s most popular film of 2002 and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

About the director

Carlos Carrera (b. 1962, Mexico City) began shooting amateur films at age thirteen. He graduated from Iberian American University, then from the production department at the Cinematographic Licensing Center. He began as an assistant director in the theatre and as an illustrator. He gained recognition with his documentaries and shorts, but above all for his animated works (Malayerba nunca muerde – 1988, El Héroe – Palme d’Or at Cannes 1994). He debuted in features in 1990 with Benjamin’s Woman (La mujer de Benjamín), winning a number of awards (e.g. at IFFs in Amiens, Montreal and Valencia). Subsequent films were also successful: La Vida (1992), No Return Address (Sin Remitente, 1994) and Under a Spell (Un Embrujo, 1998), but he received the greatest international acclaim for the stylish story of a young and idealistic priest’s moral fall, The Crime of Father Amaro (2002).