O Crime do Padre Amaro  

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O Crime do Padre Amaro ("The Crime of Father Amaro") is a novel by the 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria Eça de Queiroz. It was first published in 1875 to great controversy.

Plot introduction

The novel tells the story of a young priest, Amaro, who serves as diocesan administrator at Leiria. His illicit love affair with Amélia ends in tragedy; she becomes pregnant and dies in a back-street abortion. The church covers up the affair, quietly moving Amaro to a new parish.

An English translation by Nan Flanagan appeared in 1962 under the title The Sin of Father Amaro. The novel has also been translated as The Crime of Father Amaro, published in the UK in 2003 by Dedalus Books in a new version by Margaret Jull Costa.


Main characters:
Father Amaro Born in Lisbon, son of a couple of domestics of the marquise of Alegros. At six years old got orphan and was adopted by the marquise who decided to educate him at home. Then he got laizy and womanish. At 13 years old the marquise died and he was sent to the seminary although he hadn't vocation. When he got out, he was prettier, and when he goes to Leiria he gets involves himself in a romance with Amelia, who he sees not has the woman that he loves but has someone that can satisfy is wishes
Amélia Daughter of Joaneira, she didn't know her father and was educated in a very religious environment, because her mother received a lot of visits by people related to the Church. She learnt that God just knows how to give dead and punishment. She is a very attractive women. She is the future spouse of João Eduardo, but she gets in love with father amaro, get pregnant and die during the delivery. Other Characters
João Eduardo Works has a clerk at a notary's office, his the fiancé of Amélia, hates the clergy and only goes to the church to impress Amélia and her mother. When he discovers that Amélia and Amaro are flirting, he publish a letter in the newspapper "A Voz do Distrito" (the district's voice) delating their involvement. When the people of Leiria knew that he wrote that letter, he lost his job , was excommunicated, and Amélia broke up with him.
Joaneira She is a fat, tall woman. The mother of Amélia, after becoming widow, she starts being visited by a lot of member of the clergy and become the lover of Canon Dias.
Canon Dias Was the Amaro's religion teacher during the seminary, is the lover of Joaneira and is the owner of a large number of rented properties.
Abbot Ferrão Is the unique nice priest in the all story. He helps Amélia while she is pregnant. He is addicted to hunting
Other Characters
'Doctor Gouveia Dionisia Carlota Father Natário Father Brito Uncle Esguelhas Totó Doctor Godinho Libaninho Marquise de Alegros Cond of Ribamar'

Film and TV adaptations

In 2002, Carlos Carrera directed a Spanish-language version of O Crime do Padre Amaro (El crimen del padre Amaro) in Mexico. It starred Gael García Bernal as Father Amaro and was greeted with public outrage in Mexico, where Christian groups called for it to be banned. In 2002, it was one of the Best Foreign Language Film Nominees at the 75th Academy Awards. The film was criticized in Portugal as insufficiently faithful to the novel. It was said that Mexico in 2002 has little or nothing to do with the 19th century context in the novel; in addition, Amaro's motivation is different. In the novel his education steers him into the priesthood, whereas in the film he chooses to follow this path himself and has some anticlerical views. Finally, Eça's Amélia is older (aged 23) than her film equivalent.

In 2005, Carlos Coelho da Silva directed a television movie O Crime do Padre Amaro in Portugal. This was a production sponsored by SIC television channel. Padre Amaro (Jorge Corrula) and Amélia (Soraia Chaves) are the main characters, and sex and nudity are main ingredients. According to the IMDB, it is (as of January 2006) the most successful Portuguese movie in Portuguese box office history.



Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "O Crime do Padre Amaro" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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