|
 Movie A- |
Video A- | Audio B+
| Extras B | Recommended!
Gael García Bernal, Sancho Gracia, Ana
Claudia Talancón,
Damian Alcazar, Angélica Aragón
director Carlos Carrera | Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
2002 | Drama - Foreign (Mexican) | R | 119 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 1.85:1 aspect
ratio
English
Dolby Digital 5.1 & Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Summary: The Crime of Padre Amaro
is a powerful and emotionally-moving Mexican cinematic drama based on a
Portugese novel dating back to 1875.
The story has been modernized and transformed into a Mexican
setting. Padre Amaro (Gael García
Bernal) is a young and handsome Catholic priest who is assigned to
a small Mexican town. Everyone
seems to take a liking to him almost immediately: the Bishop, the fellow
priests in his diocese, and particularly a young and sensual catholic
woman by the name of Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancón).
“Priests
are neither young nor handsome”
- Padre Benito
This drama reminds me very much of the TV
miniseries The Thorn Birds. In
many ways, it is similar in nature and theme.
Like The Thorn Birds, The Crime of Padre Amaro is
about more than a Catholic priest falling into mortal sin for lust with a
young woman.
It is also about the politics within the church hierarchy, the
politics within the local community, and the price of ambition.
 I think some devoted Catholics may take offense or find it difficult to view some of strong thematic material.
It is quite a controversial film. I was still thinking about it for
several days after viewing the film. I particularly liked it for its unique and colorful characters and the powerful emotional content towards the end of the movie.
I think drama and foreign movies fans will enjoy this one.
Note, there is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack available, in addition to the original theatrical Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1. English subtitles are also available.
I viewed the movie with the Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack with the English subtitle
option. I think this is the best way to truly enjoy a foreign film.
Special Features: audio commentary with director
and actor; "Making Of" featurette; poster explorations;
filmographies; theatrical and international trailers; trailer for Talk
to Her
DVD released on 4/22/2003 | Reviewed 5/10/2003
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
Let us know what you think about this DVD review, write to us at
Editor@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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