posted
Has anyone else here seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose yet? Chris and I went this weekend. I suspect a large percentage of the audience went home disappointed. I, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised.
Most people will be disappointed, I say, because the studio chose to bill this as a movie about a young lady posessed by demons. If you go expecting another The Exorcist, you will be disappointed. The movie is actually about the trial of a Catholic priest whose charge, Emily Rose, died while under his care as he was treating her for demonic posession. As a trial movie, I found the subject fascinating and fairly handled. (See the article on Slate.com for a different opinion.) Unlike most "based on a true story" movie's which I've seen that deal with supernatural subjects, this movie seems very plausible to me. Not that I believe in demonic posession -- I don't -- but I believe that many people do sincerely believe in it, and I believe the mind can produce the "evidence" required to believe almost anything, especially if you're seeking out such evidence. Contrary to the Slate.com article cite above, I didn't see anything in this movie that seemed to say "demons do exist". Granted the story was told from the point of view of the defense attorney (played well by Laura Linney). She comes into the story as a jaded agnostic and leaves as a . . . well, I guess we don't really know. Does she believe her client's version of the story? We really can't say. I believe she believes that he believes his version of the story, and the crux of the trial isn't about whether Emily Rose was posessed or not. It is about whether or not spiritual treatment can supercede medical treatment and what liabilities that imposes on those who provide spiritual treatments.
In short, I'd love to discuss this movie with anyone who has seen it. I'd especially like to know Dagonee's take on it and on the issues it raises, especially his take on the courtroom proceedings and the trial itself. I really don't know if or how this court case would or could proceed in the US. (Unfortunately the "true story" this was based on supposedly took place in Germany and I'm still trying to find out what the "real-life" case was all about.)
Anyway, anyone else seen this movie and want to discuss it?
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I've been wanting to see it... and dreading to see it. I've familiarized myself with the story (to some extent) that the movie is supposed to be based on, and have read some reviews of it and watch the trailers.
However, I'm horrible at scary/horror movies. So I'm torn between really wanting to hear/see and experience this story, and also NOT wanting to see it because it is going to be so scary (kind of the same emotions I had with "Signs".
I don't want to end up with nightmares. But I want to see how it all plays out.
Farmgirl
(and they say it was done with absolutely no CG at all -- she contorts herself into some of those horrific convulsions and stuff herself. Good acting)
posted
As scary movies go, it wasn't all that scary. It is suspenseful in places, sort of like Signs but not as well done, though as a suspense movie it isn't very good, either since many of the suspenseful moments have no payoff at all. If you can survive a close viewing of the trailer without nightmares, you should have no problem with the movie. If I recall correctly there are almost no really scary parts that aren't already in the trailer.
quote:(and they say it was done with absolutely no CG at all -- she contorts herself into some of those horrific convulsions and stuff herself. Good acting)
I don't doubt this, but that isn't to say it was done without special effects as opposed to CGI. In our computerized society we often forget that there are a multitude of ways to get a cool effect without using a computer.
However, if you're very familiar with the German case this movie is "based on", you might be disappointed. It certainly takes liberties with the facts and time-line of the real case, and it surely has necessary changes due to setting it in contemporary America rather than early '70s Germany. That said, I did enjoy the film and think it works over-all even if there were no "true story" to have inspired it. (But I didn't know anything about the German case before seeing the film. In fact, I thought it was based on something that had supposedly happened in the US.)
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posted
I want to go see it. When I'll be able to, I'm not sure. Maybe next weekend.
I think we asked one of the monks about exorcists and if he exists. He said that each diocese has an exorcist and the only people that know who that person are the bishop and the exorcist himself.
posted
Well, it might seem crazy for each diocese to have an exorcist, but for them to be kept secret isn't so much so. I'd imagine if you could ID an official exorcist for a diocese it would make it extremely more difficult for that person to function in his other priestly tasks. If nothing else, everytime a religiously inclined horror movie came out he'd find himself a full time press agent for the church.
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posted
If you do see it, I highly recommend making sure you're not required to wake up for work at 3:00 am the next day. It may not be the scary story it looked like in the previews, but it was still enough to creep me out.
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