Saints and Sinners

The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002), a film directed by Carlos Carrera, starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Ana Claudia Talancon is modern day and liberated in setting. Padre Amaro a newly ordained priest was assigned in Los Reys in Aldama where lies and scandals were anything but ordinary. In that little town where priests protect drug lords for charity, sleep with women, the church conceals the truth, and people are dogmatic, Amaro little by little falls into the pool of temptation. Like Father Benito who fell in love with Sanjuanera, Amaro falls for Amelia and eventually gets into a lusty relationship with her which caused a series of events that they regret would happen. In the end everyone got their taste of karma as a consequence for their actions.

The film is very realistic in the sense that it is a true picture of the scandals that the church hides since long ago and a society that keeps itself blinded by the faith. It has been repeatedly published in the news that priests do these and that but most of them get out clean and easy. But nevertheless, whether or not they come out innocent for their faults they have been killed by their conscience inside. The people on the other hand due to too much faith and ignorance never would believe such things exist, and keep their eyes shut. This film is an eye opener especially to Filipino people.

The main message of the film for me is karma. I love the way it played on everyone in the picture. Once you do bad things, it will give birth to bad things and nobody can ever escape that. You might look fine from the outside but something will always bother you inside once you don’t gain the forgiveness and peace of mind you need. Good karma on the other hand is the same. Like the man in the beginning whom Amaro helped. Amaro may not have been given the same amount of materiality but the fact that he was remembered as a good Samaritan, is well enough as his reward for his kindness.

Also, Amaro relates to every one of us. We all have our good sides and bad sides. Most of the time we want to follow the right path but sometimes we fall and be tempted. Such instance is falling in love. It feels too good though it’s wrong, and eventually it feels right. Also, we always wanted to look good and wear a façade. Honesty seems very hard to give for fear of being disgusted and hated.

The movie is very heavy in moral. I wished that someone will do a Filipino version of this someday, because this perfectly fits our society. This would be a slap in the face, but as of now we really need a good hard slap.