I watched Kevin Smith's Dogma(1999) today and know that the self-confessed nerd, my colleague/friend SGJ who raved about it, could have been my soulmate in another dimension.
The movie has everything going about it. The cast is a Kevin Smith special of sorts. There is Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Jason Mewes from his earlier features. Smith himself plays Silent Bob and steals the thunder from even the incredible Alan Rickman. I want more of Silent Bob.
Ben Affleck is almost tolerable. He actually is good at being bad. What a revelation! He killed Armageddon, put me to sleep in Pearl Harbour and really stank it up in Daredevil. And all this while the dude could act. Waste of time, all these years.
There is also Matt Damon doing a reasonably good job of playing the conflicted angel. Loki's argument against organized religion, based on Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" had me hooked from the word go. Damon's convincingly, self-righteously borderline-evil. His Voodoo moment is pure gold. It is also rather interesting how Smith turns the relationship between Bartleby and Loki on its head, transforming the pacifist into the maniacal avenger and vice versa. Smart movie-making, that.
There is more to it than the cast, though. The movie explores the difficult territory of religion. Like the best fantasy and the best satire, Dogma uses humour to deal with a serious, ponderous issue. The one brilliant idea that emerges out of this cinematic experience is that ideas are more important than beliefs. Beliefs are rigid. Ideas are mutable. They evolve. Religion, therefore, can only be interpreted by the individual. God as male/female, black/white, flower child/skeeball player, depends entirely on how your rational/irrational mind perceives it.
The one problem is I have with the movie is how it moves away from atheism entirely and seems to endorse the existance of an omnipresent , omnipotent god. On the other hand, that is probably the framework within which the movie purports to work and to expect "Dogma" to transcend religion altogether is perhaps a little far out.
Dogma is a smart, intelligent film. Funny, sharp, and with a massive bite. If you've missed it, like I did, compensate. Right away.
downloading it now!! :)
ReplyDeleteAdmit to not having caught this before. Will correct this soon.
ReplyDeleteLoved your review! Next on my list is Midnight in Paris which you'd get for me. :)
ReplyDeleteNeers, my girl!
ReplyDeleteVarsha, list for your next vacation coming up :)
Mountainebony, I loved the movie. So much. Thanks!