Tuesday, December 13, 2005

l'exorcism d'emilie rose

this is based on a true story.

its like watching LA Law. a case has been brought to court. the people against a priest who is accused of being responsible for a girl's death. the priest is defended by an agnostic lawyer. the people represented by a religious, but objective, lawyer.

the case was simple. the girl thought to be possessed by the devil was actually suffering from a mental illness. well documented cases exhibiting similar symptoms have been brought to the people to judge. the priest was sticking with his story of seeing the devil. being attacked by it. and that the girl was possessed. and that no amount of medical help can help her.

my favorite part was the successive dispelling of every symptom of possession. here are some of them:

1. speaking in tongues
2. possessed speaking in different voices
3. stigmata

this movie is a classic case of common sense. how different people react to something unusual. some would look for the logial explanation. and others are comfortable with believing in a fantastic and invisible world of beings with wings.

rating 4 out of 5
because there's almost always a logical explanation.

3 comments:

robdelacruz said...

This movie wasn't as scary as I hoped it would be. The only scene that was a bit frightening was the part where the boyfriend of Emily Rose wakes up and finds her in a catatonic state with her body twisted in a bizarre manner. I like Laura Linney's lawyer character and wish they had expanded the courtroom more, it felt lacking.



--POSSIBLE SPOILER--

I guess this is subject to interpretation but I guess Emily Rose wasn't really possesed right? That she either had mental or physical problems that manifested the demonic possession?

rmacapobre said...

as far as the state is concerned. emilie is mentally ill. many cases of demonic possession were in fact found to be mental disorders. as in the case of emilie rose, the movie was ambigous.

rmacapobre said...

whats at stake? its not just about demonic possession. its also about the existence of evil (demon) and its counterpart (god). is duality sufficient to explain nature? and then there is also the question of its authority on earth. l'eglise catholique ..