ORDER
Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/14/2010 Run time: 102 mins Rating: RAmazon.com
Writer-director Brian Helgeland attempted something opposite with The Order, and certainly that counts for something. This brooding abnormal thriller was rught away discharged by critics, and it’s easy to see because it flopped: it’s full of solemn, quasi-religious ruminations, it’s ghastly in both visible and thematic content, and it final the viewer’s focused attention, that amounts to pissing in the shoal pool of big-studio filmmaking. And nonetheless those qualities additionally give The Order a little medium cult potential, as it tells the story of Alex (Heath Ledger, star of Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale), a rebel clergyman from an keen border of Catholicism, who investigates the genocide of his excommunicated coach and discovers the life of a complicated day “sin eater,” able of clarification souls of evil, who has selected Alex as his would-be successor. A uneasy love seductiveness (Knight’s Tale costar Shannyn Sossamon) and an immorality principal (Peter Weller) suggest goal and damnation, respectively, but it’s up to particular viewers to confirm if The Order offers anything of durability interest. –Jeff Shannon
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I had not seen it before today, when it was broadcast on television. Its theological confusion was evident from the first 2 minutes of watching. A sin eater? Hmmm… The main character says, “I now hold the keys to heaven.” Uhmmm… Priests already hold the keys to heaven… duh! Jesus granted that power to St. Peter, the Apostles and their successors (priests) when he said, “That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven” (Mt. 16:18-19). Even from the get-go, then, the movie is flawed.
Let me simply cite the review from the U.S. Congress of Catholic Bishops, which summarizes the situation well:
“Problematic supernatural thriller about a maverick Catholic priest (Heath Ledger), who, while investigating his spiritual mentor’s alleged suicide, travels to Rome in order to hunt down the sole remaining practitioner of an arcane medieval ritual known as “sin eating,” a rite by which a person can receive absolution without recourse to sacramental confession. Wrapped in a convoluted story, the film, directed by Brian Helgeland, is full of egregious theological distortions and bogus stereotypes targeted at painting the church and its clergy as callous, corrupt and ultimately the root of all evil. A warped view of church doctrine, a shadowy sexual encounter with partial nudity, a suicide, recurring violence including ritual murder, and sporadic rough and crude language, as well as profanity.” [...]
Rating: 1 / 5
_The Order_ is an excellent thriller movie which deals with certain folk practices surrounding the Roman Catholic Church as well as some of the secret influence behind the Vatican. In this movie, “the Order” refers to a secret (entirely fictional) Catholic order called the Carolingians which is supposed to have “surpassed even the Jesuits” in its quest for knowledge and its flirtation with heresy. Of course, the Jesuit order is well known for producing many exorcists and psychologists as well as for flirting with heresy (routinely being accused of Protestantism and/or unorthodox belief, as well as tampering with earthly governments and kingly courts, and previously suppressed in its history by Pope Clement XIV in 1773, although later reestablished, and today often accused of modernism, liberalism, or worse). However, the idea that the Jesuits constitute a sort of secret society on the same level as the freemasons for example is simply incorrect. While the Jesuit order founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola maintains a code of strict obedience to a superior (argued by critics to involve obedience even unto commission of sin, though in reality never demanding that one sin) and ultimately to the head of the order (sometimes referred to facetiously as “the black pope”, based on his black robes – not to be confused with the “dark pope”, a pagan imposter, vying for the real papacy who appears in the movie as a fictional character), the Jesuits do not demand the kind of secret oaths which masonry demands calling for disembowelment, dismemberment, and the removal of the tongue should one reveal the secrets of the “brethren”. Thus, in this sense the movie relies on certain antiCatholic hysteria in propagating its understanding of the secret order the Carolingians (which in fact does not exist) though supposedly based upon the Jesuits. The movie focusses on a certain character known as the “sin eater” who is supposedly immortal, till a special rite is performed releasing him from his position and creating a new sin eater. According to the movie, the sin eater operates outside the church which maintains a strict interpretation of “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus” (“outside the church there is no salvation”) as a sort of secondary way to enter the Kingdom of God (i.e. heaven) at one’s death. The movie suggests that the notion of the sin eater was created when Christ through a special grace gave forgiveness to the “good thief” on the Cross thus allowing him to enter heaven, even though he had not belonged to the Church proper. In reality, there were men called sin eaters living in the Middle Ages (particularly in England) operating outside the church as a sort of folklore among the populace and “eating a man’s sins” by taking a piece of bread off the body of a dying man. Perhaps, the practice of sin eating originated in towns where the plague was particularly violent and access to priests was difficult, or in countries which had been placed under interdict thus not allowing access to the sacraments. The sin eater was often a very rich man taking as a sort of death tax the most precious object he could find in the dying man’s house, and upon “eating the sins” of the dying man would take them upon himself, thus releasing the man from sin and allowing him to enter the Kingdom of God. However, according to folklore the sin eater was not immortal (as the movie suggests). Rather, at death, the sin eater himself would try to find another sin eater (often his eldest sin) to eat his sins, thus furthering the chain. Otherwise, the sin eater would be damned. (Oddly, one wonders how this would continue through generations as each subsequent sin eater would be quite full of the sins of the last, till eventual overflow.) According to the movie, the sin eater works for a secret society, run by the “dark pope” – a sort of mysterious pagan imposter (satanic involute of the true pope) vying for the papal chair. While secret societies and papal poisonings have always surrounded the Vatican hierarchy, particularly in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, when power was consolidated within certain elite families, but perhaps also as late as Pope John Paul I, who died in a rather mysterious fashion which some have suggested may have involved foul play, these serpents should not be confused with the church proper. In fact, for example, the church has always condemned freemasonry (though often infiltrated by its members at high levels) which is such a secret initiatic society. The movie also makes reference to the poetry of English Romantic John Keats including his “Ode to a Grecian Urn” (“beauty is truth, truth beauty”) and “Ode to a Nightingale” (which plays a part in the “illness”/possession of the female character Mara). Despite its many errors in fact and its obvious antiCatholic slant, the movie does provide a good thriller movie which will prove entertaining to all who watch it. Featuring a rogue priest who is initiated when he performs a burial outside the church’s proper jurisdiction, the movie examines the conflicts of a priest burdened with esoteric knowledge. If you have enjoyed books such as _Foucault’s Pendulum_ by Umberto Eco or conspiracy type thrillers in general with occult ideas, this movie will interest you, particularly if you like to take a look at the darker side of human life.
Rating: 5 / 5
I don’t quite understand how this film can be called Chilling! Heath Ledger is a good actor but I hate to see that he agreed to make such a boring movie. He plays a priest who is sent to Rome to investigate the death of a highly revered priest. I suffered through this film only because I had spent the money to buy it… luckily previously viewed so it was pretty cheap in price. I couldn’t wait until this movie was over with. I don’t even consider this movie a thriller. I don’t recommend anyone waste their money on this movie.
Rating: 1 / 5
Not only is this one of the worst movies in terms of technical aspects, but it’s one of the worst in terms of its plot and direction as well. Brian should stick to writing, b/c it’s here, where he seems to be more on (he adapted the story and wrote the screenplay for MYSTIC RIVER, which is one of 2003′s best films) but here, he tries to do it all and fails miserably.Do not see this movie. Do not see it because of Heath Ledger and do not see it because of anyone else. One minute, Heath is walking through a cathedral, the next minute, he’s swimming in a large river that seems to have been hidden in the cathedral’s walls….hmm….symbolism? I think not. Just really really really bad screenwriting, period.
Rating: 1 / 5
This was the worst most unberable movie in a long time. It was postponed for a while and wasting my money to go see it showed me why. It made no sence at all. The scenes looked like they were just thown together out of order with no meaning. So many things not explained or reasons for. Dont waste the time or money on this. Any good reviews on this must be from people who dont get to the movies much because if you are a big movie goer there is no way you could have thought this to be a good movie. Check out critic reviews and you will see they were right for a change.
Rating: 1 / 5