Sunday, April 01, 2007

Satan as Protagonist in Upcoming Films

In recent years Satan has showed up in cinema played comically by Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled and dramaticly by Rosalinda Celentano in The Passion of the Christ (right).

Yet, in a time period where Pope Benedict XVI is reaffirming the realness of an eternal hell, there are a number of films on the forefront that will also be examing hell and Satan.

The newest buzz about a Satan-themed film is War in Heaven, dubbed to be "the next 300." This will be based off the yet published comic book series by Jeff Krelitz and is said to be: "a Braveheart-like storyline that ultimately follows Lucifer as he leads a rebellion in Heaven. Battle sequences shows legions of Angels, including Gabriel and Michael, battling with their brother Lucifer and his army of fallen Angels." (via)

War in Heaven is still certainly, a ways off. Similarly it's hard to tell when Scott Derrickson will begin full blown production of Paradise Lost, a film greenlighted last April (as mentioned on StrangeCulture). This film version of the classic epic poem by John Milton, like "War of Heaven" includes God as a character but focuses on the Devil as the central protagonist, a character in crisis.

And of course, even on the comic front, their is a film with the Devil as the central protagonist. Daniel Craig is set to play Satan in the "what if" movie called I, Lucifer. I, Lucifer is based Glen Duncas in which God gives Satan a shot of redemption if lives out a blameless life as a human.

Obviously the Father of Lies is no stranger to the film camera, but it will certainly be interesting to see how evil is embodded through Satan in the films that come out in the years ahead, and whether Satan will be portrayed as a real being or in a mythological or comicy way.

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12 comments:

Sheila West said...

Satan as the good guy.

What a concept.

I can understand Paradise Lost only because I already know the general story: he declines. The main emotional thread of that tale is our own sad tragic angst at seeing him destroy himself. And that's acceptable to me. But to position Satan as the Braveheart good-guy is just nuts in my opinion.

Magnus said...

"Freedom!"
Don't worry, Braveheart was far from factually sound as well.

Terence Towles Canote said...

The film featuring Satan that stands out in my mind is The Prophecy, where he was played by Viggo Mortensen (years before he gained fame as Aragon in the Rings movies).

And I have to agree with Magnus. Braveheart was far from factually sound.

b13 said...

Can't wait to find out more regarding War in Heaven.

Anonymous said...

Al Pacino in the Devil's Advocate.

Dad said...

This doesn't have much to do with your post.
Did you see Amazing Grace?

Seems like a movie you would catch on PBS on a Sunday night. But I really liked the story. I was unaware of the impact (negative) of the American and French Revolution on the Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire.

I wonder if movies are going to play an increasing role in educating the public about history and politics.

Anonymous said...

Great post. Personally, I'm all up for seeing more "Lucifer" on-screen - especially if well done.

RC said...

bennett, i didn't see amazing grace...i look forward to catching this later on dvd though.

i kind of got that same feel you did about it's PBS-eyness...but it had a great group of people working on it. I look forward to seeing it.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, we can see some interesting antichrist movies be made like The Omen or Rosemary's Baby. Daniel Craig as satan sounds pretty appealing.

Art said...

I don't think I've ever seen what I would consider a good portrayal of Satan. The one from the Passion of the Christ comes close though...

F.J. Delgado said...

This sounds really interesting, looking forward to hearing more about these projects.

tlwest said...

I dont like Satan but maybe a movie l;ike this will bring people to a realization... but then may be not...