~Lilith~
Headmistress
Posts : 540
Join date : 2009-09-05
Age : 39
Location : Poland/Norway
 | | Subject: 1999 - Dogma Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:44 pm | |
| Alan as Metatron  - Quote :
- The Plot: Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon) are two fallen angels who were banished by God to Minnesota for the rest of time. However, someone brings to Bartleby's attention, a certain loophole in Catholic Dogma which will allow the two angels back into heaven. The problem with that is, God is never wrong and if they fallen angels get back into heaven, God will have been proven fallible and everything will cease to exist. Since God has gone missing, it is up to the seraph, Metatron (Alan Rickman) to dispatch the last scion, Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) - with some help from the Prophets (Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes) and the muse, Serendipity (Salma Hayek) to try and stop the fallen angels entering heaven
Comment: For a film held back for nearly two years due to its highly controversial material, it was worth the wait - as long as you aren't a devout Catholic/Christian... The American religious contingencies came out fighting and condemning this film before its release (thus generating publicity which surely drove up the amount of people going to see what all the fuss was about...). But in its own little way, this film does support religion, not condemn it. Instead of evolving with parables of the time, the Bible froze when the printing press was invented. As such, 1200 years on, there are some gaps in the bible and between all the gratuitous violence and swearing in this movie, Smith does try to plug some of these holes. That said, the film isn't exactly going to do society any favors with moral issues, which the bible does address quite adequately even in today's cynical world!
Smith's script is a parody of the worst of American society, with violence aimed a fast food outlets, cynical Catholics working at abortion clinics and the blatant commercialistic angle of evangelism in some religious sectors of America. It is probably quite fortunate that the script in this film is quite clever - and funny - as some of the storyline and actual wording (read: swearing) leaves a lot to be desired.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon work well together as the enthusiastic and misguided fallen angels - even if it is getting a bit tiresome seeing these two friend act together... Linda Fiorentino makes every scene stretch into eternity as the exceptionally grating and monotone-speaking last scion, Bethany. Alan Rickman is very suitably cast as The Voice of God (OK, one of The Voices of God), and obviously delights in his memorable opening scene when he first meets Bethany... Chris Rock is Chris Rock, his usual loud self. Although the foul mouth of Jason Mewes is a bit tiring, he is actually funny with his singular goal in the entire film of screwing Bethany. And for the men, there is the semi-naked muse-come-bar dancer, Salma Hayek...
This is not the film for the faint-hearted, religious, children or people who hate violence and swearing. However, if you are part of the more accepting part of the population who has been numbed to these type of issues, then this is a clever and funny film. http://www.cybamuse.com/movieThemes/actors/arickman/dogma.htm | |
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