The Movie

El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Padre Amaro) broke box-office records in its native Mexico when it was released in 2002. An unlikely event perhaps, because instead of being some big-budget extravaganza or star vehicle for the latest box-office darling du jour, El Crimen del Padre Amaro dominated the Mexican cinema scene as a simple, well-acted drama which indicted the capriciousness of human nature. While this theme is initially presented within the context of a young priest struggling between the carnal and the spiritual, El Crimen del Padre Amaro actually delves into deeper waters, as it shatters notions of centralized authoritative power and further exposes the hypocrisy of Machiavellian politics.

The film is based on the nineteenth-century Portuguese novel of the same name; the story has been contemporized and relocated to modern-day Mexico. Young Father Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal), an "up-and-comer" in the Church, has been assigned to the Mexican city of Los Reyes to serve under Father Benito (Sancho Gracia). Father Benito has been involved in a longstanding affair with the owner of a local restaurant. Her daughter Amelia, a pious churchgoer, has just broken up with her agnostic boyfriend Ruben, a reporter for the local paper.

Father Benito has been accepting funds from a local drug lord in order to build a clinic and hospital for the town. Ruben, upon receiving photographs of Benito standing next to the drug lord, publishes an indicting story in the local paper. The Church in turn instructs Father Amaro to lean on the paper to squash the story and fire Ruben. In the meantime, Father Amaro begins to have an illicit affair with Amelia.

To say anymore would be to give away too much of the plot. But if what you've read so far sounds like your typical Spanish-language television novella, you wouldn't be too far off the mark. The plot is seeded with enough melodrama, sex, pathos and angst to float four years worth of Telemundo's programming schedule (and that's not even including a subplot about a "possessed" girl!) And for all of its lofty aspersions, El Crimen del Padre Amaro stumbles in its ham-handedness, delivering its points in a straightforward and plainly obvious manner to ensure that even the flightiest of viewers will understand the overall message. (To hammer the home the image of fanatical religious evangelism, the filmmakers opted to include a mob scene replete with stones and pitchforks as well as the quintessential evil old woman whose zealous nature is represented by matted gray hair, few teeth, and the uncanny ability to smack children around.)

But El Crimen del Padre Amaro works simply on the basis of its earnestness. The ensemble cast is terrific -- in a few short years, Gael Garcia Bernal has amassed an fantastic body of work (Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien), and he continues to impress in this role. As Amelia, Ana Claudia Talancon is absolutely luminescent, radiating beauty, conflict, and conviction without ever sacrificing believability. Throw in the acting talents of Sancho Gracia, Damian Alcazar, and Angelica Aragon, and you won't find a single performance in the bunch that is less than fantastic. While the direction and script could have used a more deft touch, El Crimen del Padre Amaro succeeds in its examination of the links between truth, power, and personal responsibility in the face of governmental, religious, and journalistic authority.

The DVD

Video:
The movie is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced for your widescreen viewing pleasure. Off the bat, I noticed that the quality of the video was very good. Shaprness appears to be quite fine, with images that exhibit fine detail. Colors are robust and vivid, with warm accurate skin tones and excellent separation. Black levels are deep and rich, while shadow detail is quite remarkable. Compression noise and pixellation artifacts are thankfully absent from the transfer. Contrasts are sharp and well-defined without any edge-enhancement marring the presentation. Grain structure is present throughout the film, maintaining the original film-like appearance of the negative. My only complaints are some recurring debris and scratches on the negative, but overall this is a great transfer.

Audio:
The audio features Dolby Digital 5.1 in the film's original Spanish language soundtrack as well as a 5.1 English-language dub. Pull up a comfy chair, boys and girls. It's time for "Why Dubbing Is A Smarmy Trade: Lesson One." And what is our lesson for today, you ask? Well kids, when creating an English-language dub from a Spanish OSL, never, ever translate the phrase "two-legged insect" into "traitorous homo." Eesh.

Anyway, the soundtrack is fine and spacious, with an expansive and enveloping soundstage that never seems overly aggressive or inappropriate. Front separations are strong and display impressive directionality. Dialog is reproduced accurately, with a clear center channel presentation without distortion or hiss. LFE is using sparingly, as this is a quiet film without excessive bombast. Surrounds are enveloping and immersive without aggression, wonderfully reproducing background and ambient noise and providing a solid expansion for the soundstage.

Extras:
There is a feature-length  Director and Actor Commentary track, featuring director Carlos Carrera and star Gael Garcia Bernal. The commentary was recorded in Spanish, with an English subtitle track acting as a translation. The track is very lively and informative, as they address both the making of the film and its controversial reception. A five-minute Making-Of featurette is available both in English and Spanish, and strictly fluffy EPK material. While it does a nice job detailing the film's background and stars, it doesn't provide any deep insights into the film's creation.

Poster Explorations is a presentation of the six different types of poster art used to market the film. Filmographies provides biographical and filmographical data for the main cast and crew. In the entries for director Carlos Carrera and stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Ana Claudia Talancon, exclusive video interviews have also been included.

Finally, the Trailers section contains two trailers for El Crimen del Padre Amaro (both domestic and international), as well as one for Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her.

Final Thoughts

Columbia/TriStar has prepared a fine package in El Crimen del Padre Amaro. Mexican cinema has become more and more popular on the World Cinema scene, and the film became Mexico's reigning box-office champion on the strength of its storyline and wonderful ensemble cast. While the movie isn't perfect, it still remains a fascinating and reasonably compelling film (and if Ana Claudia Talancon isn't one of the most beautiful young actresses to ever grace the silver screen, then I will gladly eat my hat.) The supplemental material isn't extensive, but the commentary track will probably keep fans of the film fairly informed and entertained. The presentation of the material is also excellent, making El Crimen del Padre Amaro a recommended purchase, especially if you are a fan of foreign film.