“What did you expect? Spinning
heads? Pea soup?”
And so my journey into the unfamiliar
territory of more modern horror continues with this acting tour de force from
Anthony Hopkins. A confession, though: I’ve never even seen The Exorcist, let alone blogged it, so I
won’t be making any comparisons. Sorry.
I suppose films about demonic
possession would be scarier for those who believe in all that stuff; I don’t.
Nevertheless, this film is effectively creepy, although it’s first and foremost
a character drama and a chance for Hopkins to show us his considerable talents.
This is a very pro-Catholic film:
the first thing we see is a quote from Pope John Paul II and the vibe seems to
be that such things actually happen. Nonetheless, it’s a solid film, pleasingly
structured with a strong cast, including Toby Jones trying out his American
accent.
The audience identification
character, Michael Kovac, has exactly the sort of theological doubts as to make
him ideal for his role in the narrative; we see Hopkins’ Father Lucan almost
entirely through his eyes. Lucan himself is full of precisely the sorts of
eccentricities that we would expect from such a character. It’s highly
convenient, of course, that Lucan would be Welsh, therefore absolving Hopkins from
having to put on an accent.
We begin by following Michael
through the seminary as he enters the strange, celibate world of the priesthood,
but soon the scene switches to the far more gorgeous and cinematic setting of
the Vatican, with all the obligatory shots where the camera lingers on the
famous tourist sights.
The exorcisms are dramatic, and it’s
clever that the supernatural elements are limited to a phantom horse and some
creepy, devilish creepy crawlies. The creepiest moments, of course, utilise the
psychological side of the supernatural: the most memorable moment in the film
is where Michael speaks by phone to his dying father who says that “They’re
hurting me”, and is then told that his father died hours earlier.
The climax of the film, where
Lucas is himself possessed, conveniently gives Hopkins yet another chance to
dazzle us with his acting skills. The conclusion is satisfying, although the fact
that it revolves around Michael finding his faith again shows us what the film
is trying to say.
This is a rather small scale
little film, and essentially a vehicle for Hopkins to do a bit of a turn, but
it’s well worth a watch.
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