Raising Questions and Pondering Possibilities
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes
—9. Spiritual Connections
Talent from The Exorcism of Emily Rose discusses the upcoming film
As a rule, most horror movies are not considered intellectual films. They pull us in, they make us scared, and they spit us out on the other side. Sure, some of them involve more figuring, some a bit more suspense, and many a fair amount of well-thought out complexity. When it comes to our participation, however, we’re pretty much just along for the ride; we don’t question what happens, we don’t second guess how things turn out; we just watch, listen, and easily accept whatever reality flashes before us.
This fall, however, horror refuses to let us do just that with the release of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It has its share of scares, its quota of eerie music, and its required amount of creepy. More than that, however, it makes us think, it makes us consider the "what" and "why" behind its horror, and it makes us ask ourselves what we truly believe is possible and why.
Unlike most horror movies, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is set up to ask questions. It is not unedited reality TV set before us to reveal the truth. It is not a reality we are told to believe in without question. Instead, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is taken to court, put on trial, and set before both characters and viewers alike to decide how we actually define our own realities and how Emily Rose fits into that.
From the beginning of writer/director Scott Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman’s work on the film, Derrickson says their primary purpose has always been to make a scary, entertaining movie. For them, however, doing just that was not enough.
“What I wanted to do was write something that wasn’t propaganda, wasn’t about trying to persuade people to think the way I do, but recognize the fundamental importance of that question, those essential questions—Is there a devil? And more importantly, is there a God? And if so, what’s the implication of that?� says Derrickson.
Making the movie was certainly no slacker project for Jennifer Carpenter (Emily Rose). Everything Emily did, Carpenter did, on her own, no special effects needed. As she put it, she was definitely ready for a good night’s sleep at the end of each day. More than just a physically and professionally challenging role, playing Emily also gave Carpenter’s mind just as intense a workout.
“It made me ask a lot of questions I may not have asked for years,� says Carpenter. As close as she was to every question, however, Carpenter unashamedly admits that she is still working on the answers.
For Laura Linney, the raising of questions instead of assumption of answers was central to her decision to join The Exorcism of Emily Rose cast. The movie does deal with big questions about what we believe, and because of that, says Linney, “I wanted to make sure that the movie was not telling people what to think or believe…We live in a world where certainty is strength…I tend to believe that it’s ok to be unsure…and I think it’s ok for people to have process and to find their own way.�
In the movie, Linney plays attorney Erin Bruner. She is defending the priest charged with the negligent homicide of Emily Rose and is the character assigned to argue for the existence of spiritual forces of evil. Yet, for Bruner, like Linney, the trial and flashbacks that make up the movie do not testify to certainty. Instead, they raise questions and illuminate possibilities that neither Linney nor Bruner feel they are in a place to answer or prove.
There are certainly things that scare Bruner. There are also things that give her some sense of security. When it comes down to Bruner’s actual beliefs about the nature of that fear and/or security, however, Linney says, “She doesn’t know what that is…and I’m similar to her in that way.�
Like Linney, Carpenter also believes leaving faith open to questions is very important. In fact, her favorite line is—“Faith without doubt is very dangerous thing.�
“I just think it says it all,� says Carpenter. “Faith, in, you know, anything, with out a tiny bit of doubt is a dangerous thing.�
In more ways than one, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie about faith. It is about everything we believe in and everything we allow to define ourselves, our world, and our existence. It is about those beliefs encountering possibilities. It is about the reality that to actually exist in a living world, whatever faith we have must some day consider the possibilities and questions that fill the world around it and figure out what they mean.
Most movies about good and evil simply present their existence as a fact, as purely manmade, definitely spiritual, or only fictionally valid. The Exorcism of Emily Rose, however, addresses the truth that many of us are not sure what good and evil truly are, that many views about their nature exist, and that, for better or worse, the way in which we perceive good and evil undoubtedly shapes the way we see our reality.
From Linney to Carpenter to Derrickson and Boardman, every person who is a part of The Exorcism of Emily Rose came to it with his or her own beliefs and faiths. And, just as their audiences will meet its questions as it hits theater screens across the nation, they each met those same questions as well.
As Boardman sees it, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie that has and will “stretch our parameters of what the usual rules are as we understand them.�
Even a crowd of people who has just seen the movie for the first time knows that the movie’s questions do not aim low. The movie asks the big questions about the big mysteries of life. And as such, their answers cannot be anything but big also. Just consider one of Linney and Derrickson’s favorite lines—“God either exists or he does not, and in either case it is terrifying to contemplate.� BIG questions. I repeat, HUGE.
Less than a week away from the nationwide opening of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Derrickson hopes audiences will enjoy it, fear it, but most of all, stop and think about the truly enormous questions that it raises—“I don’t care what you believe,� says Derrickson. “Those are questions to be reckoned with. Everybody has to reckon with those questions. Everybody has to answer that question, and in some ways, everybody lives their life based on what they believe…about that question.�
Emily Rose’s questions are loaded and ready. The question is, are you?
—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes
—9. Spiritual Connections
—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes
—9. Spiritual Connections
Talent from The Exorcism of Emily Rose discusses the upcoming film
As a rule, most horror movies are not considered intellectual films. They pull us in, they make us scared, and they spit us out on the other side. Sure, some of them involve more figuring, some a bit more suspense, and many a fair amount of well-thought out complexity. When it comes to our participation, however, we’re pretty much just along for the ride; we don’t question what happens, we don’t second guess how things turn out; we just watch, listen, and easily accept whatever reality flashes before us.This fall, however, horror refuses to let us do just that with the release of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It has its share of scares, its quota of eerie music, and its required amount of creepy. More than that, however, it makes us think, it makes us consider the "what" and "why" behind its horror, and it makes us ask ourselves what we truly believe is possible and why.
Unlike most horror movies, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is set up to ask questions. It is not unedited reality TV set before us to reveal the truth. It is not a reality we are told to believe in without question. Instead, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is taken to court, put on trial, and set before both characters and viewers alike to decide how we actually define our own realities and how Emily Rose fits into that.From the beginning of writer/director Scott Derrickson and writer Paul Harris Boardman’s work on the film, Derrickson says their primary purpose has always been to make a scary, entertaining movie. For them, however, doing just that was not enough.
“What I wanted to do was write something that wasn’t propaganda, wasn’t about trying to persuade people to think the way I do, but recognize the fundamental importance of that question, those essential questions—Is there a devil? And more importantly, is there a God? And if so, what’s the implication of that?� says Derrickson.
Making the movie was certainly no slacker project for Jennifer Carpenter (Emily Rose). Everything Emily did, Carpenter did, on her own, no special effects needed. As she put it, she was definitely ready for a good night’s sleep at the end of each day. More than just a physically and professionally challenging role, playing Emily also gave Carpenter’s mind just as intense a workout.
“It made me ask a lot of questions I may not have asked for years,� says Carpenter. As close as she was to every question, however, Carpenter unashamedly admits that she is still working on the answers.
For Laura Linney, the raising of questions instead of assumption of answers was central to her decision to join The Exorcism of Emily Rose cast. The movie does deal with big questions about what we believe, and because of that, says Linney, “I wanted to make sure that the movie was not telling people what to think or believe…We live in a world where certainty is strength…I tend to believe that it’s ok to be unsure…and I think it’s ok for people to have process and to find their own way.�
In the movie, Linney plays attorney Erin Bruner. She is defending the priest charged with the negligent homicide of Emily Rose and is the character assigned to argue for the existence of spiritual forces of evil. Yet, for Bruner, like Linney, the trial and flashbacks that make up the movie do not testify to certainty. Instead, they raise questions and illuminate possibilities that neither Linney nor Bruner feel they are in a place to answer or prove.There are certainly things that scare Bruner. There are also things that give her some sense of security. When it comes down to Bruner’s actual beliefs about the nature of that fear and/or security, however, Linney says, “She doesn’t know what that is…and I’m similar to her in that way.�
Like Linney, Carpenter also believes leaving faith open to questions is very important. In fact, her favorite line is—“Faith without doubt is very dangerous thing.�
“I just think it says it all,� says Carpenter. “Faith, in, you know, anything, with out a tiny bit of doubt is a dangerous thing.�
In more ways than one, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie about faith. It is about everything we believe in and everything we allow to define ourselves, our world, and our existence. It is about those beliefs encountering possibilities. It is about the reality that to actually exist in a living world, whatever faith we have must some day consider the possibilities and questions that fill the world around it and figure out what they mean.
Most movies about good and evil simply present their existence as a fact, as purely manmade, definitely spiritual, or only fictionally valid. The Exorcism of Emily Rose, however, addresses the truth that many of us are not sure what good and evil truly are, that many views about their nature exist, and that, for better or worse, the way in which we perceive good and evil undoubtedly shapes the way we see our reality.
From Linney to Carpenter to Derrickson and Boardman, every person who is a part of The Exorcism of Emily Rose came to it with his or her own beliefs and faiths. And, just as their audiences will meet its questions as it hits theater screens across the nation, they each met those same questions as well.
As Boardman sees it, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie that has and will “stretch our parameters of what the usual rules are as we understand them.�
Even a crowd of people who has just seen the movie for the first time knows that the movie’s questions do not aim low. The movie asks the big questions about the big mysteries of life. And as such, their answers cannot be anything but big also. Just consider one of Linney and Derrickson’s favorite lines—“God either exists or he does not, and in either case it is terrifying to contemplate.� BIG questions. I repeat, HUGE.
Less than a week away from the nationwide opening of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Derrickson hopes audiences will enjoy it, fear it, but most of all, stop and think about the truly enormous questions that it raises—“I don’t care what you believe,� says Derrickson. “Those are questions to be reckoned with. Everybody has to reckon with those questions. Everybody has to answer that question, and in some ways, everybody lives their life based on what they believe…about that question.�
Emily Rose’s questions are loaded and ready. The question is, are you?
—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Soundtrack
—7. Posters
—8. Production Notes
—9. Spiritual Connections
2 Comments:
I found this movie interesting and will see it but I do have a few comments that will challenge the actors and directors. Ever since the Passion of the Christ Hollywood seems to try to be gunning for passion dollars without knowing why the Passion was so successfull. That was because it did take a position.
In reading the comments by the actors and directors I think they are respectful of religion but some have doubts or are agnostic or don't take everything in the Bible literally. The one failure here is that most of the audience is already ahead of the directors. Yes believe it or not conservative religious or just religious people do have doubts but I believe when faith is tested especially with stories we see in the news today much more often than not faith is reaffirmed. Also no matter what religion you have there does come the untimate question were we just created by chance? Was the human eyeball created over billions of years by evolution or Mozart or Bach, or was there a plan.Most people believe there was a plan, but that doesn't mean they never have doubts. I just believe the directors have more doubt than the average movie goer. Unlike Mel Gibson who admitted himself he went through personal struggles in his life like all of us do. It's how we come out of it that matters.In other words DO TAKE A POSITION!!! and maybe you will tap into thosae Passion dollars.
Michael or anyone else reading...in case you wanted to know, the co-writer/director Scott Derrickson and co-writer Paul Harris Boardman are both Christians...I did not include this in my piece, but Derrickson specifically spoke about being a person of faith in the film industry—"It's been tough for me to feel so passionate about my faith and to care so much about it, to live my life within a religious community, and to be such a lover of cinema, and to have cinema be so void of good religious subject matter."
Yes, this movie does give options as to what actually plagued Emily and does a good job at portraying them all...BUT in the end, I felt that it really did point to the existence of a spiritual world. I think the power of the movie asking questions is that it allows anyone who is not sure what he or she believes about spiritual matters to ask those questions themselves and hopefully start on a path to a faith that they truly believe in. If we are just told something and follow immediately, it is hard for it to truly be our own. If something can set anyone on a path of exploration and figuring things out for him/herself, however, what he or she discovers will be something that is firmly rooted within him or her not just worn on the surface. While this film may not have a blatant Christian message, I still felt that it clearly pointed toward Gods for anyone with any interest of finding out exactly who He is and what he’s about.
And Scott, I think with this film, you definitely did bring some good religious subject matter to the landscape of Hollywood.
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