Paulo-25

The premiere of "El Crimen del Padre Amaro" (The Crime Of Father Amaro) was preceded by one of the most impressive reactions seen in Mexico about a cinematographic event in recent times. Not since "Los Olvidados" had a movie stirred up as much outrage. And all this was even BEFORE it premiered. Of course, this guaranteed a record-setting public attendance.

The story is based on the 1875 novel of the same title by portuguese writer José María Eca de Queiroz. The story deals with the tribulations of a catholic Father in an ultra-conservative small town. The script was written by Vicente Leñero, responsible por scripting "La Ley de Herodes", a movie with which it shares similarities in plot and structure.

Father Amaro played by Gael Garcia Bernal (of "Amores Perros" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien") arrives to a small town only to discover ilegal actions involving the local drug-mafia and the local church and to find himself infatuated by the presence of Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón). His moral and religious tapestry begins to crumble as the situations around him lead him to question the very principles and essence of his faith.

The film's strongest point is that it tries to bring to the screen issues about the catholic church that have seldom been discussed in the media. It does so with mixed results. While the adaptation to the current political and social scheme doesn't feel forced at all (thank Leñero for that), some scenes just feel downright planned to stir up controversy while adding nothing to the narrative (one of these scenes involve a cat and a holy wafer). Another low point is the cartoonish characterization of the drug mafia. However all of this doesn't diminish at all the las third of the movie when the narrative pace, the technical skills and the acting come together in a solid ending that shows how rewarding this movie could have been, if it would have had well-rounded script.

The bottom line is after all the hype is done with, this movie will be remembered for the boldness of discussing religious issues from a political angle. As far as the moral ground it tries to cover, it doesn't even come close to Buñuel's "Viridiana" or Bresson's "Journal d'un curé de campagne".

An undercover policeman goes trough Paris to find a man whose testimony is the pivotal point to convict a murderer. Good action film, with very good use of editing and music to create tension, however the acting and plot seem to make it a middle ground affair.

Yes. I'll admit it. I believed all the hype surrounding this piece of work, about the trials and tribulations of 6 people, living in Mexico City concerning their sexual lives. And so, I was really expecting to finally see a Mexican movie (in ages) that was both popular and interesting to watch. Unfortunately the film was utterly disappointing. The story presents us with two couples, both with very obvious marital problems. When a third party comes into the life of each couple, their problems reach a pivotal point. Or absolute absurd. The plot then turns into a battle of the sexes. The stance taken by each group (yes, they literally group, girls with girls and boys with boys) is blatantly stupid and childish (I guess the humor was supposed to be there). And it all goes from bad to worse. The performances range from good (Miss Zavaleta) to mediocre (Mr Bichir), with Serrano doing an acceptable job on his opera prima. However, the flat circumstances that make up the plot, the one-dimensional characters, the very poor (if not stupid) perception of what sex represents in a mature relationship etc, make the movie fail. Miserably. SPyL has had an (impressive) good reception at the box-office. Believe the hype at your own risk.