|
The Vatican wants no part of "Angels & Demons"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle4147839.ece
June 16, 2008 Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches Vatican forbids the makers of the latest Dan Brown thriller to be filmed in any church in Rome Richard Owen in Rome The Vatican has banned the makers of Angels & Demons, the latest Dan Brown thriller to be filmed, from shooting scenes not only in the Vatican but in any church in Rome on the ground that it is "an offence against God" and "wounds common religious feelings". Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, head of the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that the author had "turned the Gospels upside down to poison the faith. It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into mendacious films in the name of business." Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the diocese of Rome, said: "Normally we read the script, but this time it was not necessary. The name Dan Brown was enough." The Vatican fiercely condemned both the novel The Da Vinci Code and its film version, which starred Tom Hanks as the Harvard professor Robert Langdon. Hanks also stars in Angels & Demons which, like The Da Vinci Code, is directed by Ron Howard. Published before The Da Vinci Code — which suggested that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had children — Angels & Demons revolves around a plot by a sinister elite known as The Illuminati to seize control of the papacy during a conclave to elect a new Pope. Key scenes are set in the Vatican and two Rome churches, Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria. In both churches cardinals are murdered and mutilated with mysterious marks and symbols. Father Antonio Truda, parish priest at Santa Maria del Popolo, said that there was "no question" of allowing scenes to be shot there. "It's bad enough having to put up with tour guides explaining the scene to tourists," he said. Vatican officials said that they had been unable to prevent the filmakers shooting exterior shots of St Peter's and the surrounding medieval streets of the Borgo, with the permission of the local borough council. However the marble halls and staircases of the former Royal Palace at Caserta near Naples are having to be used to double for Vatican interiors. "When a film is about the saints or about stories regarding the Church's artistic values, then we give permission without any doubts," Father Fibbi told the TV listings magazine Sorrisi e Canzoni (Smiles and Songs). "But when it is a question of content which does not relate to traditional religious criteria, then our doors are closed." The Vatican asked the faithful to boycott the film of The Da Vinci Code, which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Archbishop of Genoa and now, as Secretary of State, the right-hand man of Pope Benedict XVI, described as a "phantasmagorical cocktail of inventions" and "a pot-pourri of lies". The film was also contested bitterly by the arch-conservative Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, represented in the film by a ruthless killer monk, although it has no monks. The plot of Angels & Demons is, if anything even more preposterous than The Da Vinci Code, and scholars have been quick to point out the book's factual errors. Thes include the claim that the oculus in the domed roof of the Pantheon is known as the "demon's hole", and the omission of "son of Lucius" from the famous inscription on the Pantheon's facade, M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT (Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, Consul for the third time, built this). Santa Maria della Vittoria is wrongly located on Piazza Barberini in the book (it is actually some way uphill, on the corner of Via XX Settembre and Largo Santa Susanna.) Equally bizarre is the climactic scene when Langdon battles the villain at Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in a deserted Piazza Navona, which in reality is lined with bars and cafes and invariably full of tourists and residents (not to mention police) day and night. Moreover the fountain's sculptures represent not Europe but four rivers and continents: the Danube (Europe), the Nile (Africa), the Ganges (Asia) and the Plate (the Americas). The bird on top of the fountain's obelisk is not a sinister portent but a dove, the symbol of the family of Pope Innocent X , who commissioned the fountain. But I think he is also quite an entertaining writer and I thought The Da Vinci Code was a better film than most gave it credit for being. And I also think Angels & Demons was a much better book than The Da Vinci Code and I am very much looking forward to seeing the film. |
It's all fictional anyway, but regardless, they do have every right to say no. I still think it's a silly reaction.
|
Neither do I after the suckfest that was The Da Vinci Code.
|
Screw the Vatican :) I'm still looking forward to the movie. Da Vinci could have been better, but I still enjoyed it. And i liked Angels & Demons a lot more as a book.
|
This is a surprise why? If you read the book then this is not a shock. I think maybe a Catholic told Dan Brown as a child that there was no Santa and he's been paying them back ever since.
|
Even God can't forgive them for first film.
|
Originally Posted by Rockmjd23
Good for them. :up:
I actually liked Angels & Demons until it got so damn over-the-top ridiculous towards the end. |
Originally Posted by movielib
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle4147839.ece
I think Brown's Da Vinci Code "theory" is preposterous and the Catholic Church has some legitimate factual complaints against that book and film (particularly relating to Opus Dei) and also against Angels & Demons. They have every right to not allow filming. I also think Dan Brown is a bit of a hack writer. But I think he is also quite an entertaining writer and I thought The Da Vinci Code was a better film than most gave it credit for being. And I also think Angels & Demons was a much better book than The Da Vinci Code and I am very much looking forward to seeing the film. lol, factual complaints in a work of fiction. Fiction and factual don't usually dance well together. |
Originally Posted by ardathbey
lol, factual complaints in a work of fiction. Fiction and factual don't usually dance well together.
|
Originally Posted by ardathbey
lol, factual complaints in a work of fiction. Fiction and factual don't usually dance well together.
|
Originally Posted by B.A.
:up:
I actually liked Angels & Demons until it got so damn over-the-top ridiculous towards the end. Spoiler:
but I still think it was a hell of a read. |
Originally Posted by Rockmjd23
Yeah I don't see why them denying access would be controversial. That would be like George W Bush allowing Oliver Stone to shoot "W" in the Oval Office. :lol:
|
"The Vatican asked the faithful to boycott the film of The Da Vinci Code, which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Archbishop of Genoa and now, as Secretary of State, the right-hand man of Pope Benedict XVI, described as a "phantasmagorical cocktail of inventions" and "a pot-pourri of lies".
:lol: They might want to check their bible and see how many lies are in there. |
Originally Posted by mhg83
They might want to check their bible and see how many lies are in there.
I enjoyed the first film, especially the visual flashbacks... hope they continue those. I guess I'll have to read the book too - do fans like that one just as much or better than Davinci? |
Finally got around to reading both those books a little before the movie came out - damn what a load of tripe. For best-selling "thrillers" - they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of action and even writing quality (And that's not even mentioning crap like that aliens conspiracy one he put out).
I mean absent some interesting research paper ideas, this guy makes Clive Cussler's stuff look award-winning good (someone I actually enjoy reading in the airport). |
Originally Posted by Artman
Now was this really called for? Mind if ask how much you've read yourself?
|
Originally Posted by mhg83
"The Vatican asked the faithful to boycott the film of The Da Vinci Code, which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Archbishop of Genoa and now, as Secretary of State, the right-hand man of Pope Benedict XVI, described as a "phantasmagorical cocktail of inventions" and "a pot-pourri of lies".
:lol: They might want to check their bible and see how many lies are in there. |
Originally Posted by Artman
Now was this really called for? Mind if ask how much you've read yourself?
I enjoyed the first film, especially the visual flashbacks... hope they continue those. I guess I'll have to read the book too - do fans like that one just as much or better than Davinci? I'd guess if you enjoyed the first film, the books should be fun and hopefully not tripe :p Since Angels & Demons comes first chronologically, I'd read that first though. |
Originally Posted by Artman
I enjoyed the first film, especially the visual flashbacks... hope they continue those. I guess I'll have to read the book too - do fans like that one just as much or better than Davinci?
|
The book was garbage (just like everything else written by Dan Brown), the movie will be garbage.
:up: to the Vatican. |
Originally Posted by mhg83
"The Vatican asked the faithful to boycott the film of The Da Vinci Code, which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then Archbishop of Genoa and now, as Secretary of State, the right-hand man of Pope Benedict XVI, described as a "phantasmagorical cocktail of inventions" and "a pot-pourri of lies".
I liked the book but not enough to read his Angels and Demons or watch the movie yet. I tried sitting through it once on when I saw it on Showtime/TMC but I was tired and I found it kind of boring. |
I liked the book (read it before DaVinci Code got big). I actually picked up a used 1st edition printing with the original ambigram cover at the library for $5. I thought it was as good, if not better in some parts than DVC; and while I look forward to the movie, I can understand the Vatican's reaction to this.
|
Originally Posted by RyoHazuki
Even God can't forgive them for first film.
The seriousness that this is handled with makes me care less about what organized religon has to say. |
So is this a companion piece to The DaVinci Load 2: Angels and Semen? If so, I don't see why they'd be anywhere near a church to begin with.
|
Originally Posted by movielib
I work in a book store and I've talked to many people who read both and I always ask them which one they liked more. I'd say nine out of ten say A&D is the better book (including myself).
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:38 PM. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.