Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

Set in Portland, Oregon in 1971, Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon) is a 26 year-old ringleader of a "family" of drug addicts who travel across the American Pacific Northwest supporting their habit by robbing pharmacies and hospital drug cabinets in search of Valium, Dilaudid and other narcotics to pop, shoot and snort. With his frustrated wife Dianne (Kelly Lynch), his loyal easygoing partner Rick (James Le Gros), and Rick's juvenile girlfriend Nadine (Heather Graham), Bob plots ingenious heists and spends the rest of his time sitting around the house getting high.

When the heat becomes too intense in Portland, the quartet hits the road for small-town drug stores and hospitals, but when their luck runs out it does so in grand fashion. A highlight of the film is an appearance by recovering addict Tom (William S. Burroughs), a defrocked priest who lectures Bob on the dangers of temptation, adding some penetrating social commentary towards the end. After a tragedy strikes the "family" Bob decides to try to "go straight," but finds that there is more to extricating himself from the drug user's lifestyle than just giving up drugs. His inner war with fear and dark forces eventually compels him to enter a methadone treatment program, then find a regular job, even though he knows it means breaking up the "family".

The movie definitely captures the 1970s era well with its acting, dialogue and wardrobe. Performances by Dillon and the others are very good. The mood of this crime drama is generally uncomfortable, however some comic relief is added throughout in the dialogue and trippy visual imagery. Some of the pranks they pull on detective Gentry (James Remar) whom they are eluding are quite humorous. Elliot Goldenthal composed the movie score. Gus Van Sant and Daniel Yost wrote the screenplay derived from James Fogle's book of the same title. Openly gay Gus Van Sant directed. It was his breakthrough picture, very well-received critically.

El Sacerdote (1978)

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".