The Rite:Aftermath

Trailer

The first thing that I was wondering when the credits rolled was if, in anyway, ‘The Vatican’ was involved in the production of ‘The Rite’? This is the kind of genre that scares the bejesus out of me! It’s, in a lot of ways, similar to ‘The Exorcist’, one because both are about exorcisms; secondly because the element of thrill that’s portrayed in both the movies originates from the same source, “despair”.

The movie starts with an avouchment:

“The battle against the Devil, which is the principal task of Saint Michael the Archangel, is still being fought today, because the Devil is still alive and active in the world.”  – Pope John Paul II

The movie is supposed to be inspired by true events and follows the story of Michael Kovak, a skeptic seminary student, who is sent to do a course in exorcism at the Vatican. It’s all about how he gains his faith. The story of a non-believer transforming into a believer is a common cliché in movies. It’s no different here. But what stands out here is the story itself and, of course, the legend of Anthony Hopkins. His role and his hefty presence in the movie makes “The Rite” so powerful that it’ll shake the very foundation of your beliefs.

In that sense, it is very much similar to ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’, which again was based a true story. Even though I’m a skeptic myself, I still am a bit daunted when my watch is reading 3 AM,  which is supposed to be the time of demonic possessions as depicted in the movie, contrary to the popular belief in India that midnight is the time when the devil wanders. 

There are no such scenes in the movie that’ll make you jump out of your seats. If you love cheap thrills, this is not the one for you. There are movies that you watch, have a nice time, and come back home; and there are those from which you take home a part of the ideas pictured and it stays with you for quite a while. ‘The Rite’ is a perfect example.

“Failure to believe in the devil will not protect you from the devil”. That’s one of the bone-chilling dialogues in the movie. I think the desperation to find an explanation made me wonder if ‘The Vatican’ was involved in the project anyway. ‘The Rite’ is directed by Mikael Håfström, whose ‘1408’ wasn’t that impressive, but this time he manages to entwine a good thriller.

All in all, ‘The Rite’ is much more than an entertainer. It falls into the categories of films that make you think, in this case, of your sins that you’ve committed in your past, and in some way or the other dread keeps creeping into your mind at regular intervals. A lot of people may find the perception different, but for me, since I’m a skeptic, and so was the protagonist in the movie, it just made instant connection, and it worked.

Conclusion: I can’t stick a must-watch tag for this one because exorcism is a very controversial practice that some people may find very hard to digest, but for doubters like me, it is a definite thrill ride. But then it hardly takes a second for a believer to be skeptic and vice versa .   

The Strong Theory !

A woman can say more in a sigh than a man can say in a sermon.

– Arnold Haultain

If you’ve, by any chance, seen the action-thriller ‘Heat’, you’d recall Robert De Niro punch-lining, “I’m alone, but I’m not lonely”. Cool statement to make, right? Apparently, it doesn’t seem true for everybody out there; at least not for men.

When it comes to loneliness, there’s a funny fact that I’d like to share. If men have some sort of company, they never feel lonely even if the person they’re chatting with is a total stranger. A woman, on the other hand, can feel the desolation even if she has the entire family’s attention to her. Of course, the above statement holds true only if we exclude love failures and other major depressions of life. Now, why is that?

I feel women are always looking for a spark in their relationships and are constantly on the look for something new in their lives, and needless to say men always are looking for a spark in their salaries, unless of course, you’re Tiger Woods.

When it comes to relationships, I feel women play and handle the whole game really well. They specifically know what they want from a guy, unlike men. Most men who are in a “happy relationship” don’t quite know why they got into it in the first place, and when they think back, they’ll probably only recall the way she looked at him or the way she first smiled at him. My point is, that’s enough reason for a guy to fall in “love”.

It never really matters when you’re happy, and by happy I mean when you’re in the starting phase of your relationship (six months for Indians, and 2 weeks for Westerners). By the time you’re an year into your relationship, problems problems problems. Women seem to handle the rough phase smoothly, but men are likely to feel intense loneliness. They seem to suffer more than their female counterparts.

When in a fight, we men, love to brag about how independent we are. We say it out loud to our girlfriends how better off we are without them, and can survive without them at any point in time. The old Indian adage “barking dogs never bite” holds true here. The truth is men are weak, let me tell you! … especially, the new urban creed of men, the Internet-savvy crowd, who sit 24/7 in front of their PCs doing nothing but watching porn and chatting on Yahoo! (I’m not judging anybody here.)

Females on the other hand are content with themselves most of the time. They take care of their work at office, take care of their children, the family etc etc etc .. and if by chance if anything goes wrong in their relationship, they seem to handle it a bit better than their husbands. My point : Women are much stronger than you think. They can find happiness one way or the other, and are constantly on the look for it knowingly or unknowingly.

I have a theory behind this whole ‘women being stronger’ thing. Now here’s a fact. Exploitation and injustice is something that’s been happening to this creed from times immemorial. It’s a common story for every women everywhere; they’ve been made to struggle and suffer for unethical reasons for a very very long period of time. I think that has made them stronger over the ages. They’re evolving altogether as a stronger gene. It’s genetic! The word STRONG is being scripted in their genes so that they could take on an unforgiving world that is today.

So, don’t feel bad if your girlfriend leaves you after a break-up, and you find her with another man the next day, and she acts as if nothing happened. It’s the gene thing! So you should probably just move on too, or rather next time when you plan for an unnecessary fight, think again! I may be wrong with whatever I’m saying here, but what the heck, I’ve postulated a theory here. I think I’m going to name it “The Strong Theory”. He he, funny me ! (Now, you must be thinking, “Argh, it’s such a waste time.” Go watch porn now you idiots!)

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