//REPEATING// /ARTS WEEKLY/CINEMA-MEXICO: Film on Ill-behaved Priests Riles Catholics

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Aug 20 2002 (IPS) - Catholic church groups in Mexico lost their fight to block the showing of “El crimen del padre Amaro” (the Crime of Father Amaro), a film that shows priests caught up in amorous and political relationships, drug trafficking, and abuse of power.

Cardinal Norberto Ribera, the highest-ranking representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico, said the film reflected “atheist, intolerant laicism aimed at persecuting the Church.”

Mexico’s conference of bishops also condemned the film, on the grounds that it was offensive to the religious beliefs of Catholics.

The film, by well-known Mexican director Carlos Carrera, cost around 1..5 million dollars to shoot, and was partly financed by a government fund for supporting the production of films. It is a loose 120-minute adaptation of the novel by the same name, written in 1857 by Portuguese writer José María Eça de Queiroz.

The movie, which began to be aired Aug 16 in 300 theatres around the country, is “sacrilegious, and violates the constitution,” Rocío Gálvez de Lara, president of the anti-abortion group Pro-Vida, told IPS. Her movement is demanding the resignation of the officials who approved government financing for the film.

Last week, Pro-Vida filed a lawsuit against the government for allowing the film to be released, and for providing the film-makers with financial support.

“El crimen del padre Amaro” was classified by the government as apt for adults, as well as 15 to 18-year-olds accompanied by an adult. Distributors are promoting the film with the warning that it could “offend sensibilities.”

The plot revolves around Amaro, a 24-year-old recently ordained priest who arrives at a town in Mexico’s hinterland to assist a more experienced clergyman.

Amaro, who is played by Mexican actor Gael García, falls in love with a 16-year-old local girl.

While the young priest wrestles with the emotional conflict of finding himself in love, he discovers that the older priest commits abuses of power and receives money from drug traffickers. In addition, he finds out that another priest in the diocese supports local guerrilla organisations.

Gálvez de Lara criticised the film as an “opportunistic production that is trying to take advantage of and extol” the scandals over pedophile priests that have been shaking the Catholic Church in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere in recent months.

The scandal picked up steam in Mexico in April, after several bishops admitted that they had covered up for priests accused of abuse, and that large sums of money had even been paid to keep victims of sexual abuse silent.

But Carrera, who at the age of 40 has already won more than 30 national and international prizes for his films, denies that there was any opportunism involved, and said he had no interest in disparaging Catholics.

In fact, the idea to film “El crimen del padre Amaro” first came to him three years ago, even though work could not get underway until financing was obtained, he said.

“The film shows a viewpoint of the Church as an institution,” said Carrera. “It is not about religion, but rather a reflection on people who use religion to their own advantage, which is a reality.”

Pro-Vida joined together with another local group, Católicos Unidos por México, to launch a campaign in the local media and over the Internet to keep it from being shown.

The campaign, which had the support of the Catholic Church in Mexico, was successful in delaying the debut of the film, which was originally to have hit the theatres during Pope John Paul II’s Jul 30-Aug 1 visit to Mexico.

Those opposed to the film argue that showing it is illegal, and violates a constitutional clause which states that “the expression of ideas will not be the object of any judicial or administrative inquiry, unless it attacks morals or the rights of third parties, provokes a crime or disturbs public order.”

“This film, which is said to be ‘cultural’, is a direct attack on Catholic believers and the Church, and the officials who head the government institutions that supported it, in violation of the law, should resign,” argued Gálvez de Lara.

Carrera, however, said the constitutional clause in question was overly vague, and defended his right to express himself freely.

To make the film, the director sought funds from the governmental Fund for the Support of the Production of Quality Films, and from producers in Argentina, Spain and France.

The government of conservative President Vicente Fox, who is himself an outspoken Catholic, has kept silent regarding the protests by Pro-Vida and Católicos Unidos por México, and authorised the film’s release.

Carrera, who has directed films like “Un embrujo”, “Sin Remitente”, “La vida conyugal” and “La Mujer de Benjamín”, admitted that his new film is “a severe criticism of the Catholic Church as an institution.” However, he said it was highly respectful of religion.

The issues tackled by “El crimen del padre Amaro” have never before been addressed by film-makers in Mexico, where over 80 percent of the country’s 100 million people consider themselves Catholic.

The director said his film “simply shows the moral fall of a 24-year-old priest, his ties to crime, and how he falls in love with a 16-year-old girl.”

The film was shot in November and December 2001, mainly in a slum in the Mexican capital and in a town in the state of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico.

The director of programming of the Cinemark chain of movie theatres, Jean Pierre Leleu, explained the decision to show the film by saying that “fortunately in Mexico today there is openness and democracy.

“Besides, Carreras is a great director, and he makes good films,” he added.