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18 votes
When a Spanish judge has the courage to look into a political murder...
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
ES

An old priest, who has old ideas, is intended to exercise the apostolate in a neighborhood in the suburbs of Madrid. There the revolutionary climate and anti-religious character of the congregation thwarts all his attempts to attract them. The Archbishop admonishes him and asks to renew his methods, using the example of a young priest of a modern parish. The old priest tries to apply in his environment what he has seen in the parish model, setting off a chain of events.

Hypocrisy and betrayal are the two dramatic pivots in this effective, emotionally gripping tragedy about the life and death of Paco (Antonio Banderas), a Spanish peasant who had been fighting against the feudal landowning system that kept farmers impoverished. Paco's life is told in flashbacks by a priest (Antonio Ferrandis) who is seen officiating at an anniversary mass attended by three wealthy landowners and no one else. The priest recalls Paco's baptism, his communion, his marriage ceremony and then his work for the peasants as he advocated and led them in a land-reform movement. The rest of the story will rest heavy on the priest's conscience, as he looks out at his empty church.