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Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Better avoid this film – the Vatican says so

The Vatican doesn’t like Dan Brown. It decried his The Da Vinci Code, of course, because it suggested Jesus was married and had kids.

The latest Brown book to be filmed is Angels and Demons, which also features Tom Hanks (pictured) as a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, who this time is in a race against time to save the Vatican from an antimatter bomb.

I’ve read the book. It’s so-so, not brilliant. Brown comes in for a lot of flak, but the book will at least keep you reading. I think I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code better, but, then, it had a more complex plot and pottered with history. I haven’t seen either film, yet, though, so can’t speak for them.

Anyway, according to the Daily Telegraph (among others, no doubt), the Vatican is calling on Catholics to boycott it.

Which means it’ll be a huge box-office hit.

I’m amused by this line in the Telegraph story: “Avvenire, the Vatican’s official newspaper, says in its latest edition that the church ‘cannot approve’ of the film.”

Er, since when did anyone need Vatican approval to watch a film? And, anyway, most of the book seems respectful of the Vatican and its institutions, as far as I recall (although there’s a passage in it about the murder of a 20th-century pope, but I won’t give anything away).
Posted

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousTue Mar 24, 02:55:00 pm GMT

    Recently watched a gay french film called "Grande Ecole". Apparently the French aren't squeamish about showing full frontal male nudity.

    Someone should send a copy to the Vatican for entertainment purposes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KyokuMA_JRTue Mar 24, 03:02:00 pm GMT

    Wait... I don't get... Why are they against this movie???

    "who this time is in a race against time to save the Vatican from an antimatter bomb."
    Take your time buddy... I really hope this is one of those not happy endings films where the hero succeeds...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Baal's BumTue Mar 24, 06:00:00 pm GMT

    I didn't think much to the book or the previous much complained about novel and film. I was going to say most people know the difference between fantasy and fact, but if that were true churches would be out of business.
    The real reason is they cannot cope with their ideal of a sinless messiah, tainted by thoughts of him rutting like a common stag.
    Meaning of course unlike the rest of society that they see a good married sex life as sin, whereas buggering choirboys they seem to actively encourage.

    ReplyDelete

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