Hardball will be live from NY Opus Dei headquarters tomorrow - should be interesting!
Random DVC link, from John Thavis of Catholic News Service:
While the movie's portrayal of the Catholic Church is distinctly unflattering, its treatment of the Catholic organization Opus Dei is particularly negative.
The novel placed Opus Dei in the middle of the church's nefarious efforts to keep secret the "truth" about Christ, and had a cruel Opus Dei member commit several murders in the process.
In the book, Opus Dei's fictional leader, Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, is a somewhat unwitting figure in the machinations. In the film, however, the bishop operates with Machiavellian ruthlessness.
The sicko murderer, Silas, is a caricature not only of Opus Dei but of religious sentiment in general. A typical sequence: he crosses himself and says, "God, give me strength"; he pitilessly murders a nun; he prays over her body; he crosses himself; he whips himself bloody as he stands naked in his room; he crosses himself; he phones his superior for further instructions.
Unlike the book, the movie keeps its distance from the Vatican. Instead, unidentified prelates in a sinister "Council of Shadows" pull strings in order to cover up the secret life of Jesus. Their secret meeting room is outfitted with a billiard table.The film retains several of the claims considered outrageous by many Catholic critics: that the Bible as we know it was collated by the "pagan" emperor Constantine; that alternative gospels recounting the real life of Jesus were suppressed; and that church ritual borrows heavily from pagan mystery religions.
But the film puts these and other claims into the mouth of Leigh Teabing, the story's true villain, and at several points has the hero, Langdon, skeptically questioning these assertions. That too is a change from the book, and adds a veneer of even-handedness to the story.
The movie's historical flashbacks illustrating these supposedly dark chapters of church history were so overdone that they provoked catcalls during the first Cannes screening. The pandemonium-in-vestments version of the Council of Nicaea may especially amuse church historians.
I'm thinking this just might be a classic. A different sort of classic, to be sure, but a classic, nonetheless.
The story continues with interviews of a nun and priest keeping vigil - the same sister who was at the filmings in England (whom Howard and/or Hanks have accused, in interviews, of being someone just dressed up in religious garb). The priest sums it up:
Buoyed by the initial critical reaction to the film, he said it seemed "The Da Vinci Code" bubble may have burst.
"What bothers me most is that it reflects the lack of truth in the world today. It doesn't seem to matter anymore what's true and what's not," he said.
Update: Oh, my word, you people are too much. From the comments:
When the Opie Horror Picture Show gets to the Nicaean pandemonium in vestments part, it will be time for the audiences at late night screenings to pull out their flagellae, wave them in the air, and join in singing, "Spring Time for Constantine."
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