Dogma: Comical loopholes in religious text

Humour is generally accepted as an open platform to criticise serious topics through lighter mediums. Most people will accept humour as a tongue-in-cheek method of portraying a point of view or ignore it as a baseless statement made for the pure benefit of harmless fun. However when humour tends to touch upon a nerve that may be above reproach of criticism, it may be a problem if it isn’t dealt with in a respectful manner. Kevin Smith’s 1999 release titled Dogma is a humourous portrayal of the Christian faith and the Catholic Church which probably sits in the league of sensitive comedies since it may upset quite a few sensibilities.

Bethany is an abortion clinic worker who is having a crisis of faith after issues with her infertility led to her divorce. She is looking for a way to rekindle her joy in religion which she once felt when she was a young girl. Elsewhere Bartleby and Loki, two fallen angels who were banished from heaven by God, have found a loophole in Catholic dogma which will allow them to re-enter Heaven if they pass through the gates of a church in New Jersey which will absolve them of all their sins. Unknown to Bartleby and Loki, they may accidentally cause the destruction of existence by entering the gates of the church and disobeying the word of God. An angel appears to Bethany and tasks her on a mission to find and stop Bartleby and Loki from fulfilling their goal. The angel informs Bethany that she will be assisted by two self-proclaimed prophets on her journey. Refusing at first, Bethany changes her stance when she is attacked by three demons and rescued by Jay and Silent Bob, the same prophets she was informed about previously. Embarking on the mission together, Bethany, Jay and Silent Bob face hardships and foes along the way while meeting other folk who help them with their journey.

Written and directed by Kevin Smith, this film takes on the religious doctrines put forward by the most popular religion in the world, and particularly its most widely accepted sect. The title of the film is Dogma which itself speaks of the most popular subject the film deals with. Like most of Smith’s other works, this film is also primarily a comedy. Smith has a particular style with his comedy films which borders on blue humour i.e. comedy involving topics such as sexism, racism, religion etc. This film dissects his views on the dogmas of religion and the Catholic Church with humourous twists and turns in the plot. Smith is also known to adopt character based comedy which carries on in this film as well with the recurrence of his funniest characters titled Jay and Silent Bob.

The film isn’t a laugh riot from start to finish but it is amusing to watch Smith take on the Catholic Church and put forward his own views through the medium of his film. Quite a few scenes provide a laugh out loud experience. The portrayal of God as a female flower child doing handstands is hilarious while the ease with which Silent Bob deals with the disgusting excremental demon also calls for a chuckle. The gullibility of Jay asking for sex in every other scene is also amusing as are the few words muttered by Silent Bob which are anticipated throughout the course of the film. Other funny moments in the film include the insinuation that Jesus was Black and racism prevailed over religious text, the idea that God loves playing skee ball and occasionally takes human form to participate in the activity and the hilarity of a cardinal who does away with the traditional crucifix to introduce the new ‘Buddy Christ’ in the hope of bringing the new generation closer to the Church.

The film does not slander the religion it focuses on neither does it rank any religion above or below others. It is just a funny outlook on the state of religion at the moment and what it was initially intended to be.

The Informant!: A whistleblower turns defendant

There are many instances where films made on true life events are captivating and made splendidly. However, there are even more instances where such films based on true stories do not quite work out and end up being just average efforts on the part of the filmmaker. Quite often, this can depend on the story which forms the base of the script and how interesting the true events were, and the way in which the director chooses to make the film in the end. Such is a case with director Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 film The Informant!, the story for which is derived from a book based on true events.

Mark Whitacre was a Corporate Vice President with lysine developing company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in 1992. When he informs his superiors of a case of corporate espionage involving his own company, they decide to approach the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to smoke out the mole and arrest the culprits who are blackmailing the company. Things turn hilariously unprecedented when Mark himself confesses to the FBI agents of his company’s involvement in international price fixing scandals and agrees to be an informant to the FBI thereby making himself a mole in the company. Mark informs the agents that his company’s top executives, as well as himself, would meet with competitors to fix the price and volume of the products being manufactured. The FBI agents now ask Mark to collect evidence against his bosses which requires him to go through inconvenient situations like wearing a wire, tapping phone conversations and video recording meetings involving international executives. Mark struggles to deal with his desire to help the FBI, show loyalty to his company, manage his family and sort out his personal hidden agenda as the story goes on.

The film has several twists and turns which come about through revelations made by the characters. The protagonist in the form of Mark Whitacre is an exceptionally neurotic character which is revealed in due course of the film. The film has a first-person narration during its entire course which is provided by the protagonist. Although narration is considered a faux-pas in filmmaking, the format used in this film does not aid the storytelling process but is mostly random musings on the part of the character. As the film goes on, it is evident that the character cannot be trusted because of the situations in the story and the increasing randomness and patchy intervals at which the narration occurs. As such, the narration helps with the comedic effect of the film and helps establish the confused identity of the protagonist. The narration eventually makes the audience lose its previous apathy for the protagonist which is later replaced with bemusement at his chosen course of action.

The Informant! isn’t a particularly splendid film. It is an average turn out from Steven Soderbergh from a twisting case that started with a whistleblower.

The Departed: A symphony between the mafia and police

Everyone loves a good mafia story, especially if it is done well. For a mafia based film, this requires a well written script which is matched with a great representation on film. We have seen many good mafia stories in the past but quite often they fall short of hitting the benchmark of being truly spectacular. This may be due to the fact that most people automatically put a gangster-mafia film on a pedestal, when in actual fact, it needs to be made well to become one of the ‘greats’.

The Departed is a mafia based drama film which covers two sides of a coin by portraying the atmosphere in both camps; the cops and the gangsters. Frank Costello is the kingpin of the Irish Mafia in Boston. He is feared in the city and receives tribute from every small and big business which helps him keep his reputation intact and run his side business of drug peddling. He takes Colin Sullivan under his wing as a kid and trains him to be an important asset for him. Colin eventually graduates from the police academy and joins the Massachusetts State Police to become an informant to Frank about how the police are running their investigations which helps Frank stay away from their radar. On the other side of the tracks, Billy Costigan also attempts to join the Massachusetts State Police on graduating from policy academy. Unfortunately for him, his family history is riddled with the who’s who of the city’s mafia which is known to his commanders. He is given the option of becoming an undercover officer in the mafia to work as an informant for the police about the mafia’s plans. Frank and the police both become increasingly aware of informants in their ranks and both try to smoke them out. The situation becomes grave for Colin and Billy as both try to keep their cover while exposing the other.

The Departed is a great film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay written by William Monahan. This film which was released in 2006 was based on a 2002 Hong Kong film called Infernal Affairs. The Departed is a gem of a film which shows all sides of the coin of law enforcement. It goes into depth for the three main characters and shows their development as the story progresses with the police informant getting unhinged, the mafia informant becoming increasingly paranoid and the head of the mafia being calm and collected. It shrouds the character of Madolyn in mystery, the psychiatrist who carries on relationships with both the informants while being unaware of who they really are until the end of the film.

The film has a certain sweet symphony to it, especially during the main action sequence which sees a standoff between the police and the mafia. It shows both the emotions and the mental state of the characters as they chase down each other being entirely unaware of who they are but the audience knowing their true identities. Every close call for the characters in the film is a skipped heartbeat for the audience. The title of the film comes from the death of a subsidiary character and in hindsight, there is a bittersweet way in which it ties to the end of the film.

Scorsese has also taken the opportunity to pay tribute and show his audience what influences and drives him. The multiple mentions of Sigmund Freud and his theories show that Scorsese has respect for his ideas and put them in the film. He has also used a quotation by John Lennon which shows his background and interest in music. This is also reflected in the background music which involves music from Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, and others. The music was selected in collaboration with a close friend of his, Robbie Robertson, a member of the band called The Band and the use of the song I’m Shipping Up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys features heavily in the film.

Scorsese brings impeccable style to all his films. Although he does not have a particular recurring style in every one of his films, each film has a unique identity to set it apart. The use of music to coincide with the events of the film and the edits to go along with the music are a part of Scorsese’s style and can be seen evidently in this film.

The Departed is one of Scorsese’s best works. It is a must watch film for lovers of mafia-themed films and those who enjoy good cinema.