A Profecia Celestina

The movie was good enough to remind me of the ideas I started to understand about 10 years ago when I read the book. At that time, the book had become a slow underground success, and when it started getting a lot of attention, the literary critics tended to bash it like they are bashing this movie. As a modern-day movie goer, I would like to have seen a more polished and better executed movie to portray these ideas, BUT it still reached me, and I was inspired again, even more than I was by the book because there has been time for these insights to gestate in me. Human evolution. Spiritual evolution. This movie is more about the insights than the story that encases them. So if you are interested in possibilities of the future human journey, you just might get what you are looking for in this film.

An adaptation of James Redfield's novel about the search for a sacred manuscript in the Peruvian rain forest . Disillusioned and temporarily rudderless, John Woodson (Matthew Settle ) is about to experience a dramatic and profound metamorphosis. Through a mysterious set of coincidences, he travels to Peru to find out strange scrolls , known as the Celestine Prophecy. In Peru Woodson meets a motley group of people (Sarah Wayne , Hector Helizondo , Jurgen Prochnow , Anabeth Gish..) with dark secrets . John gets drawn into a cobweb of mysterious events . Resistant at first, skeptical and unsure, John finds that each step he takes, each person he encounters leads him to a new awakening. It is only in this letting go that he finds his destiny and comes to understand the meaning that had escaped him when his adventure began.

Thought-provoking film that packs suspense , thrills , religious events , heartfelt message and weird philosophy . It's a crossover among various films , as it takes parts from ¨The Seventh Sign¨ , ¨The fountain ¨ , ¨The reaping¨ , and ¨The gathering¨ . The picture contains an interesting premise about the prophecy and its nine key insights, predict a new awakening that redefines human life and provides a glimpse into a completely spiritual culture on earth . It's a spiritual triller skillfully narrated with bit action and slightly entertaining. This polished film provides chills, thrills in lively mystery . It's rich and dark though sometimes confusing . The film belongs to supernatural prophecy sub-genre (along with : ¨The omen¨, ¨The seventh sign¨, ¨The Body¨ , among others). Average acting by Matthew Seattle as a young who finds himself on an adventure to Peru in search of ancient scrolls . Very good support cast plenty of respected players such as Thomas Kretschmann as Wil , Sarah Wayne Callies as Marjorie , Annabeth Gish as Julia , Hector Elizondo as Cardinal Sebastian , Joaquim de Almeida as Father Sanchez and Jürgen Prochnow as Jensen . Esoteric music and excessive use of synthesizer by Nuno Malo .

The motion picture loosely based on the book Celestine Prophecy was regularly directed by Armand Mastroianni . Armand has been directing feature films, mini series, movies of the week, TV pilots and episodic series since 1979 beginning with his first feature film "He Knows You're Alone" which was released by MGM in 1980 and featured the screen debut of Tom Hanks. That film led to a string of features including "The Killing Hour" developed with William Fredkin, "The Supernaturals," "Distortions," "Cameron's Closet" and "Double Revenge." In between shooting feature films Armand began to produce and direct episodic television shows and series like Virus , Invasión , First daughter , Citizen Jane , A Gunfighter's Pledge , The finalist , Pandemic and many others .

Although this movie captures the essence of the book and illustrates a very important message, it does not really bring more than the book. However for those who did not read the book (hello... someone?), it may be an incentive to do so and to discover a new way to look at the world and at oneself.

In spite of a good realization, the film does not stir your soul or even draw a little tear. It is a mind-boggling story and as with the book, many people will follow the hero and find out they can easily identify with him. Unfortunately, the movie targets your mind when it should target your heart. You look at this incredible story with a detached mind and at the end, you may be tempted to say "so what" ?

People interested in the whole "Celestine philosophy" should see it but I recommend renting the DVD.

It was about 10 years ago when I came across the book and not by chance, it literally fell into lap. It was one of the best books I had ever read. That said I waited years for the movie with high expectations. I ordered the DVD as soon as it was available and eagerly watched it with friends. Unfortunately the movie failed on several aspects! As the movie progressed I found myself pausing the movie frequently to explain to those who had not read the book what was going on. The movie seemed to skim quickly over some of the insights without proper explanation which caused me to loose track as to which insight was being discussed in the movie. On a whole I felt the characters were well portrayed and acted, but was let down by a crammed script. I believe this should have been made into a mini series for TV allowing it to take full advantage of the character development and proper explanation of the insights.

Not bad if you have read the book... but if you haven't forget it!

This movie was not bad, however, it should have focused more on the "insights" in the Celestine Prophecy itself, and less on violence, turmoil, strife etc. Know that this movie was trying to be "true" to the book from which it was adapted, so that much of the "dialogue" in the movie seems bookish. I enjoyed reading the insights at the end of the movie, and wish they were more apart of the movie itself; this would have made for a more enjoyable film overall. Watch this movie with an open heart, and realize that humanity is: Undergoing a profound Spiritual transformation, and that movies like this are important to watch to gain an understanding of the Shift that is taking place in our world. Know that this movie could have: Presented us with more Profound ideas to ponder, and informed use about what humanity should do to better prepare for the coming ages. Overall, this movie needs to be watched not for the violence and strife, but for the hope that it offers us all.