Movie 20: Dominion:Prequel to The Exorcist

I remember this being better than "The Beginning."  Lord, I hope I'm right.

Starring: Stellan Skarsgard, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar, Billy Crawford, Ralph Brown, Andrew French.

Director: Paul Schrader.

In my previous entry I discussed the studio implosion that ended up resulting in two versions of the same film.  The short, short version is Schrader hired, studio didn't like him, Schrader fired, Harlin hired, Harlin completes half-finished version, producer later allows Schrader to make his film after all.  It's a fascinating look at how Hollywood works, really, and it also resulted in a direct compare and contrast scenario: One Hollywood Mainstream version and one quiet little indy version.

My memory of "Dominion" is stronger than "Beginning" since I've actually had "Dominion" for quite some time.  There was something exciting about running out and buying the DVD of the movie "that shouldn't have been made" and seeing a very different alternative to the (unimpressive) hollywood film I'd just seen not too long before.  One that didn't have the guy from Snatch in it.  

Technically, the film is still kinda mainstream, though, before we make this out to be some sort of grassroots DIY production or something.  Most of this was still made under the Warner Brothers banner, after all.

Right off the bat, though, we're already getting a better movie.  The snowy, cold Nazi sequence in Holland is truly excellent.  In fact, it's one of the most truly horrific scenes I've ever seen because it's very, very real.  Not only for the scenes purpose: the horrific event that destroys the faith of Father Merrin, but for the horrific nature of what happens in war.  The German commander orders Merrin to choose ten people to die, or he'll kill everyone in the village.  Merrin does everything he can to avoid the choice, only to watch the Nazi scum murder a random man in cold blood, and threaten to murder a child.  Merrin, left with no choice, does the unthinkable and makes the choice.  It's not hard to put yourself in that position, even without religion: could you make that choice within your own community?  How does a man live with that?  How does a man still love god after that?  In five minutes we have twice amount of weight than we did in "Beginning" and have a Father Merrin we can relate to.  Advantage Schrader.

I will try to avoid a "movie to movie" comparison.  I was mildly successful in keeping movie and book separated with "Exorcist" and "Legion" so maybe I have a chance.

We follow up the strong beginning with a deeper understanding of "why we're going here," too.  Lancaster has already been hanging here for awhile and has a relationship with the townspeople-which creates, y'know, stakes later- and our Young Priest is actually a character and, interestingly enough, our audience proxy when it comes to meeting our supporting cast.  Plus, he's also half-antagonist: he's there to more or less judge Merrin, after all.  

Holy crap, even a nice comparison of religious practices and commentary on casual racism!?  Father Francis is horrified at the natives treatment of the bull for their own rituals, and Merrin basically reminds him: "Hey, bro, shit be different in other cultures" and Francis attempting to cover with what amounts to "I'm not racist, but..."  But Merrin, who we actually kinda know, identify with and like, seems to be tolerant of him so we don't hate him.  This is already turning out to be loads better than Harlins version.

There's some nice realism to "Dominion."  It's such a simple thing for Father Francis to be discussing the need to build a new school and discovering he only has two students.  It's very true to life: not everyone wants western civilization, after all.  Also, the locals superstition about Cheche, the young invalid boy who wanders in the desert.  It's just strong.  

Yikes, the CGI Hyenas do look even worse here, though.  No money.  Poor guys.

Skarsgard is way more committed here, too.  Brooding but not unfriendly.  Haunted but not depressed.  It's a nice, balanced performance.  This movie feels way more like a book to me.  There's a lot of thought on the faces of the actors, like there's an internal monologue in their heads.  The film is moody, too.  Scenes actually have room to breathe, set pieces feel lived in, and the story actually progresses in a natural way.  It feels like, if I didn't know better, an adaptation of another Blatty novel.  It certainly feels worthy of a comparison to Blatty, right down to the trippy dream sequence (which is actually kind well done in a scattered kinda way), in that it actually again does discuss matters of faith when it comes to more than God, especially the idea of finding the presence of the divine in places you wouldn't expect to see it.

Clara Bellar's performance as Doctor Rachel Lesno is so much better than Doctor Sarah in "Beginning."  Lesno is charismatic, less brooding, and actually has scenes to show she has compassion and kindness inherent in her...which makes her a more convincing and obvious Doctor than dressing a hand wound.

I can't seem to get over how Skarsgard seems like an entirely different person here.  Maybe it helps to not have to deliver constant expository dialogue telling the audience how he feels.  Show, not tell.  Makes a big difference.  He even shows excitement at showing Rachel the church, and some natural flirtation with her instead of the forced romance...and she shows she cares by trying to push him BACK into being a Priest.  The romantic attraction is not the point of their relationship: they're peers and friends who have a little bit of romantic tension.  It's really nice to see.  

Also nice to see: the Priests of the native religion don't speak English.  Thank you, movie.  Of course, no matter what, put colonial white men into a black nation in a horror movie and those white men act like imbeciles at all times.  Makes sense to me.  It's a trope I always enjoy: bumbling, greedy idiots always ruin everything in horror flicks, and it's great.

Oh, snap.  Harlin kept the stillborn baby thing from Schrader's film.  I will say the scene has more intensity in Harlins version...but more dignity here.  I like the whole sequence: three events, all significant, happening at once and all leading towards one ultimate sense of badness...and one of those events is an act of altruism. 

Bumbling idiots got a pretty gruesome ending, though.  I like Merrin and Francis giving real evidence of the natives innocence, "It's christian imagery, not pagan," and the looming apartheid allegory.  The not-entirely-subtle reference to the beginning-he Germans threatening violent retribution for the death of one of their own from the innocent indigenous population and Merrin being in the middle-is also fairly smart film making.  In fact, when the Major outright murders a young woman it's horrific, scarier than any exorcism.  Great, intense scene.  Actor Julian Wadham is hamming it up a bit, but given that he's obviously under the influence of evil demons , it works.  In fact, I cheered out loud when Merrin just hauled off and hit the man.  

Y'know what, I'm pleasantly surprised.  This movie is good.  Like, legitimately good.  I must not have been able to appreciate it when I was younger.  As I said above, this has way more in common with the literature of William Peter Blatty than traditional horror.  There is very little in way of supernatural goings-on.  That stuff is present, but it's subtle.  But when you have a movie directly discussing the nature of mankind and their perception of religion from a place of very different cultures...especially when you put a Priest who doesn't want to be a Priest anymore at the center..you have what is basically a philosophical morality play more than a horror film and it's really wonderous to behold.  When a film presents a tribal elder, incensed at the murder of one of his own by an unmistakably western force, murdering a bunch of frightened children who have attended a christian classroom because of fear in hopes of stopping "the evil of christianity" responsible for the horrors in their once more-or-less peaceful society...heavy stuff.  Seeing the christian Father, holding the body of his son, asking Merrin "Is this what God does to those who keep faith with him" and having Merrin growl "Yes" is very bold film-making.

Father Francis is a much better character here, too.  Here is a man who believes in the inherent goodness of his society who makes mistakes as a result of that belief.  A man who weeps at the loss of children under his care.  There's no nonsensical "I'm here to protect church conspiracies" here, just an actual fully-formed character.  Francis is flawed, unable to truly forgive the people who-like himself-are behaving in accordance to their faith.  Of course, that's somewhat side-stepped when, y'know, a kid ends up possessed and he's more or less right that evil is everywhere in that place.

I actually enjoy the fervent debates Francis and Merrin have over right and wrong, faith and secularism, and what the source of evil truly is(devil, or man).  Also, despite his villainous actions, the suicide of the Major is quite effective.  The Sergeants threat/warning/cry for help is a nicely veiled acting choice as well.  There's a nice looming sense of danger to "Dominion."  The stakes are actually pretty high.  They were in "The Beginning," too, in a way...but here there's a nice sense of logical escalation: two cultures planning to go to war over what we know to be a misunderstanding, the knowledge that Cheche is possessed and all of our characters are in a pretty clear danger. There's a lot of great stuff happening here, really.  The package is a little rough, due to lack of funding...and far less directorial flourish than Harlin brought to his piece, but the script is one-hundred-and-ten percent better.  

I might have liked to see a scene where Francis is told the locals want his head.  I bet Francis would have volunteered.  Of course, none of the characters would have allowed Cheche to die.

I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, I don't think I did, but the set piece of the church looks a lot better here: maybe it's because they actually showed the work they had done instead of drenching it all in darkness to create "horror."  It's actually a really beautiful set piece.

The injury of Francis is a little hackneyed but well used.  There's always a good reason for the "sidekick gets taken out to give the hero motivation" bit, and it's used pretty rightfully here, too.  

The possession stuff is pretty well done.  It's nice, low-budget stuff, focused on performance and light effects.  I much prefer this low-impact stuff than CGI crab walks, flying and sexual threats.  It's really effective, too.  Skarsgard plays his return to God with much more sincerity and sorrow, too, as a result.  There's some real fear there.  Then, of course, is the "level-up" scene where he puts back on the cloth.  I always enjoy those scenes in possession films: instead of putting a bunch of guns and armor on the bed, talking about the big fight...Merrin places his bible and his robes on the bed in the same fashion.  It always seems like a nice subversion.

Merrins return to the beginning of the film, confronting his great moment of horror, is also really well done.  It's a heroic moment to realize, even when given an out from the wrong choices you've made, that all you can do is move on from it, to live with it.  Then to have the exorcism against the backdrop of a great deal of terrible things happening around the film is a well done trope, too.  Ultimately, the movie couldn't afford the fireworks of previous exorcisms in the series, but it works well enough as a subtle, dramatic moment.

It's great that this movie didn't commit the ultimate prequel sin (neither did Harlins version, really) of leaning heavily on referencing the original.  Other than one line of the Kenyan elder saying "The demon is your enemy now" they don't get too hung up on making it tie-in.  The film works as its own piece.

Hey, look at that!  In "The Beginning" I complained that the Doctor died so it wouldn't be hard on Merrin to be celibate, and this movie did the exact opposite. Rachel lives, and it isn't easy for Merrin to walk away...but he does.

Final Thoughts:  This was legitimately good stuff.  I must not have been able to truly appreciate it earlier, but it's a very strong, thoughtful, philosophical piece about the nature of evil and the decency of man.  Writing-wise, anyway, it's a worthy successor of Blatty's literary work in that respect.  Obviously, because this film was completed after the fact and very much on the cheap, it doesn't look great which is assuredly a detractor: it's always tough to deal with a decent film that looks bad.  I'm capable of seeing past it, with effort, and enjoy the real good it has to offer.  Skarsgard rocks this movie, while looking sedated in the other, so there's that, too.  There was some good work by the supporting cast, especially Gabriel Mann as Father Francis.  

Final Rating: Three stars.  Good flick.