Padre Miguel (Simón Andreu) is a 36 year-old priest, handsome, athletic, expressive, sweet, and virile. His eyes express a certain shyness, and he is sad about his sexuality as he struggles against his own conscience. Daily he is reminded of his lustful needs, which range from a young boy to a married village beauty. The continuing presence in his confessional of Irene (Esperanza Roy), a woman about 30 years old, very beautiful, with an expression of meditation hiding her passionate nature undermines his faith and religious convictions. His continuing doubts and weaknesses along with memories of a difficult childhood lead to a torn and cruel inevitability.
"El Sacerdote" is very enlightening about the sexual conflicts which arise in an environment of imposed celibacy. It is obvious that the modern Catholic church includes many priests who do not remain celibate, and their sexuality if ignored or abused will cause serious problems for the community. Without getting to those dire consequences, Padre Miguel recognizes his own apparent obsession with sex, and turns to his superiors for help. The efforts to change him, to affirm the counter-instinctual ban on sex, lead through a tour of his childhood and the foundation of his life. Sexuality is normal for a man, and so it becomes a contest of mind over matter. The priest discovers that one cannot deny the body, home of desire, just as we do not deny mind, home of the spirit. His tragedy is a giant finger pointing at the church, accusing it of being forever stuck in the kindergarten of spirituality, deprived of the wisdom that would come from a sexually mature world view.
This controversial account of a priest experiencing mid-life depression from an obsession with sexual fantasies leads him to make a tough decision: should he renounce his calling or stay and battle the demons of the flesh that may destroy him? It's a touching film, with brief nude scenes and violent depictions of the torturous lengths a man will go to find peace with himself and his God. Director Eloy de la Iglesia said that he talks "about the world of which the majority of filmmakers do not care to speak, the marginal world...I am the one who always wants to make the films that are not supposed to be made. I'm the one interested in the subjects that everyone else has agreed not to talk about." Carmelo Bernaola composed the music score, and Enrique Barreiro wrote the screenplay. In Spanish with English subtitles. The English title is "The Priest".
