Devorador de pecados

In the bygone days of the Catholic Church, a sin-eater was an individual that, through ritual, would take the sins of a dying person upon themselves. Often, these people were excommunicate or similar individuals who the church would not absolve, thereby denying them entrance into Heaven. The sin-eaters were seen as blasphemous, circumventing the chruch's monopoly on redemption. Sex this up a bit with some overt supernatural mojo, let the concept wander where it may, and you have "The Order", a movie that combines "Stigmata"'s religious anti-authoritarianism, "The X-Files"' paranormal investigation, and "The Thorn Birds"' sexual spirituality into an odd melange that sometimes works.

Alex (Heath Ledger) is a rogue priest, one of the last members of the Order of the Carolingians, a semi-heretical order of knowledge-seeking, demon-fighting priests. When Alex's mentor is found dead under bizarre circumstances, Bishop Driscoll (Peter Weller) sends Alex to investigate. Tagging along are fellow Carolingian Thomas (Mark Addy) and Mara (Shannyn Sossman), who was subject to one of Alex's exorcisms a year prior. The three go to Rome to investigate and are drawn into a dark underworld of bizarre Catholic heresy, ominous prophecies, demonic intrusions, and a man claiming to be the last surviving Sin-Eater (Benno Furmann).

Written and directed by Brian Helgeland (who worked with the same principals on the scattershot and half-hearted "A Knight's Tale"), the film is an odd one, and difficult to classify. It wants to be several things at once -- supernatural thriller, religious intrigue, dramatic television pilot -- and only sometimes succeeds at any of them. This isn't helped by the slow pace or the fact that most of the actors seem to be sleepwalking through their performances with occasional bursts of brilliance. Ledger, in particular, has a particularly stunning scene of despair in an otherwise monochromatic performance. Sossman, however, displayed the same disconnected performance that she's given in all of her films (most notably in "The Rules Of Attraction").

The plot itself meanders back and forth between several different story arcs, leading you to wonder which is the main one with each arc containing its share of red herrings. Large gaps of narrative appear to be lost between scenes at times, which can be confusing for many, but this is also one of the film's saving graces. The structure of the film -- coupled by the fact that there is never a truly clear antagonist until the very end of the film -- forces the viewer to analyze and reason in a time when most films are blatantly obvious about everything (the exception to this is historical background on the Carolingians and the practice of sin-eating, both of which are explained in dry exposition). Even at the beginning of the film, character relationships and history are inferred instead of explained. Combine this with the on-location shooting and judicious use of special effects, and you have a very old-world supernatural thriller, with even the opening credits reminiscent of something from the late 70's/early 80's.

A brief mention here, as well, for the subtle and organic score by David Torn, a combination of minimalist orchestration and Lisa Gerrard-style exotic vocals. A very nice score that is evocative without being bombastic and exists in a very deceptive simplicity.

A confusing plot, a lack of purpose, and sometimes sleepy performances would often damn a movie, but for some reason, "The Order" remains watchable. Many people will be very turned off by the movie for its odd sensibilities, and some may even become angry that they are forced to engage the higher functions of their brain to understand it. Still, the film's sheer intangibility will prevent it from being either a critical or commercial success until the DVD, which I'm sure will be stocked with copious amounts of deleted scenes. A recommended film only for people who like to think while they watch. 6 out of 10.

Although I really, really liked this movie, I must admit it's not for everyone, and here's why. The Order encompasses one or two intriguing ideas gone a bit awry.

A priest (played by Heath Ledger) is called upon to investigate the apparent suicide of his mentor, and uncovers the mystery of an ancient being, the Sin Eater, who is able to absolve the sins of those (unrepentant sinners, excommunicated persons, suicides) a normal Catholic priest would be unable to forgive due to church dogma. The knowledge of this creature forces the priest to face his own conflicted feelings about the priesthood. Before he has even begun to sort out his confusion, the larger plot begins to unravel and he finds that he has been at the center of it for longer than he had ever realized.

Well, it would have been excellent if left at that and fleshed out for the 100-minute duration, but it was not to be. The best bits of turmoil and conflict, of passion and temptation and surrender, were skimmed through so quickly it seemed as if someone thought they were the annoying-but-necessary bits when they should have been the real meat of the film. The rest was a clogged up mess of random (and inexplicable) demon children, a power-hungry cardinal, and worst of all: a love interest who had absolutely no chemistry with the main character, an accent that was completely out of place, a confusingly pointless back story, and who seemed incongruous with the setting and plot. Sadly, there were very few shots of the film's locations, only one wide shot of Rome in fact, which could have been used to set the tone much more effectively than all those shadows and candlelight.

That all said, there were many redeeming features. The soundtrack was hit-and-miss, but more hit than miss and at least it was never distracting. The duo of Ledger and Mark Addy was charming and the chemistry between Ledger's character and "William Eden" (played by Benno Fürmann) was sizzling. That adversarial relationship should have been the focus of the film rather than a sort of easter egg hunt during bits of the second half, but it was more than enough for me to consider this movie an hour and a half well spent.

I must disagree with many of the reviewers on this film. I consider The Order to be a mature, well-constructed horror story. The "horror" is subtle at first, but it builds, along with the suspense, into several, intense episodes that culminate the film decisively. It is a complex flux of development, change and ever-increasing intensity of suspense and anxiety. As with any horror film, indeed almost any film, one must become immersed in the culture and story that is created. One must assume certain elements of the film to be valid, then flow with the plot. The Order fills all of the requirements of a good horror tale, done smoothly and skillfully. The characters and the actors portraying them fit well into the development of it all. I was most impressed with the lead actress. Her portrayal was stunningly sympathetic. And I really loved the ending. It melded all of the elements of the film together in a satisfying conclusion. This film creates a sense of doom and inevitability that constantly grows with its progression. That is what drew me to keep watching. I am not generally a fan of "Religious" horror. I shall gladly make an exception for The Order.

Suspense, mystery , shocks and grisly horror is this average terror film about occultism . It deals with a young reverend named Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger) is a member of an arcane order of priests known as Carolingians , he is sent to Rome to investigate the troubling death of the head of his order . The body bears strange marks on the chest which may or may not be the sign of a Sin Eater named William Eden (Vincent Cassel had originally been cast but left the production after three weeks due to "creative differences" , as he has been replaced by Benno Fürmann), a renegade who offers absolution, last rites ; therefore a path to heaven outside the jurisdiction of the church and unleashing fantastic powers . Alex enlists the aid of his old comrade named Father Thomas (Mark Addy) . Meantime ,the father is attempting to find out the bottom of events and he soon finds himself plunged into a mystery only to find himself at the heart of it.

This is an average suspenseful and horrifying story , based on a screenplay by Brian Helgeland , also producer and filmmaker . The movie begins slowly and grows more and more until the twisted , creepy and eerie finale . Mediocre picture , thanks to passable acting , slow-moving pacing , middlingly mounted edition and skillful special effects . The film contains restless terror and usual poltergeists phenomenon . Passable acting by Heath Ledger as Alex , a priest sent to Rome to investigate mysterious circumstances surrounding a strange death and Sossamon as a troubled artist upon whom he once performed an exorcism . Enjoyable secondary cast as Mark Addy , Benno Furmann and special mention to Peter Weller , according to Brian Helgeland, did extensive research for his role by studying old religious rituals and histrionics. It is produced with little budget but well recreated with high grade special effects that are frightening and horrifying to spectator as when the sin eater carries out his abilities . It's actually halfway decent terror movie that failed at the box office and it will appeal to ghostly and eerie events fonds . Originally scheduled for January 17, 2002, the film's release date was postponed when the visual effects had to be redone because they were thought to be unintentionally funny , according to a anonymous source close to the production quoted by Variety magazine, the special effects depicting sins exiting the human body after death looked like "calamari".

The picture packs a colorful as well as dark cinematography by Nicola Pecorini and eerie musical score by David Torn . The motion picture was regularly written , produced and directed by Brian Helgeland . Brian is a prestigious screenwriter , he won both his Oscar and a Razzie award the same weekend in 1998: He took Best Screenplay for L.A. Confidential (1997) and Worst Screenplay for Kevin Costner's The Postman (1997). He wrote the draft of the screenplay for Bourne supremacy (2004) but is not credited in the final film. His directing mentor was Richard Donner when they worked together on Conspiratión (1997) and then when Brain started to direct Payback (1999). He went on working on scripts of "Blood Work" and "Mystic River" for Clint Eastwood. An directed this ¨Sin eater¨ with Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, and Mark Addy all previously appeared together in ¨knight's tale¨. The motion picture will appeal to religious thriller buffs and dark atmosphere enthusiasts .

The head of the Carolingian order is killed and one of the last members is called to investigate the death. The Carolingians fight demons, apparitions and perform exorcisms. Can he stop a murderer who is not human?

Apparently all that is required to banish the most powerful denizens of hell is a small wooden Crucifix and the Chant'.I order you back to Hell!' Well I order you to save your ten dollars. Ledger, Sossamon and even Addy are not the problem in this film. The borderline special effects are also not the problem in this film. The problem is this film's trailer (the preview for the film) that promises a horror thriller with a mysterious supernatural killer, involving rogue priests. The problem is the trailer writes checks that the plot can't cash. Now I know we have enough rogue priests in our regular everyday life, but these rogue priests have cool black crucifix tattooed on their legs. The entire cast which, seems to be little more than a Knight's Tale reunion all turn in great performances. The first Forty-five minutes make me think of Stigmata with a taste of The Exorcist. After that it becomes boring, predictable and criminally unimaginative. Not only is it not scary or suspenseful after that, but it wastes what was shapping up to be a fine plot. Originally scheduled to release Jan 17, 2002 it was postponed to redo the special effects, maybe the plot should have received a rework as well.

Though not big box office fare, the special effects weren't completely horrible. The sets were actually very nice and I liked St. Peters in particular. Maybe a Hollywood clone would do the justice that this movie couldn't, or even a direct to video movie about the Carolingians in which we pretend the first movie didn't even exist.