Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
The film starts in black and white -- because it is supposed to be the past. It opens with a priest in a Roman(?) battleground, full of dead bodies, with crows circling the area. Ah, it seems to be the Crusades -- that makes more sense -- and there are people on upside down crucifixes -- loads of them - with lots of crows flying around. Again, crows as a symbol of evil, linking to other exorcism movies.
The film starts with the Nazis in Holland in 1944, which we only saw as flashbacks in the other version, and in a more stylized way. Here it is presented more as a narrative, with the Nazis manipulating Father Merrin to get information about who killed a German soldier. Some of the shots are the same, such as shooting the woman in the head. However, here, Merrin actually names names to the Nazis, sacrificing parts of his “flock” to save others. It shows a different reason for why Merrin loses his faith during the war, and it does not show Merrin being found drunk in a bar, but as a scholar doing work.
Now we in more modern times with Father Merrin, at a bar in the Middle East in the early 20th century. I am totally getting an Indiana Jones vibe, including his being met by a British or something person who will be sending him on a quest to find a holy artifact in an implausible church. Merrin's introduced as an archaeologist focusing on religious icon -- as an ex-priest going to find an icon about a demon.
Merrin seems to be the one who knows the most about the church, and is interested in it because of it being early Christian – he does not appear to have been brought to it in the same way, i.e. no Indiana Jones introduction to make Merrin a heroic character.
In meeting with the British Major Granville, Father Francis mentions Merrin’s work with the Roman rituals, which references exorcisms, but Merrin shoots that down as quickly as he says he is not Father Merrin, seeking to distance himself from his priesthood and thereby again becoming a priest who lost his faith. The Vatican has no record of this church.
We get to see the butterflies of the British Major Granville's collection early. “We all must make our little…deals with the devil, Merrin,” the general said. Odd, then, that he does not suffer the same fate as the general in the other version.
Father Francis saying he thinks many of the Turkana (the native people of the area in Ethiopia they are visiting) are good people but lost in confusion. It is very pious and missionary of him to opion There is a reference to Exorcist when Merrin is offered a drink and thusly, whereas Merrin has a more realistic and culturally relativistic says he shouldn’t but his will is weak. approach to understanding the Turkana. Here we start with a postcolonial read, as Merrin represents a more modern understanding of culture.
We are introduced to a woman doctor – young and blonde and pretty. And Merrin is flirting with her.
It is a completely different actress playing the doctor – she’s a brunette, and she is not introduced as a sexual or a romantic object, but as a real working doctor. There is no going into a bar to meet the other characters, and so far no version of the disgusting British racist. So is this doctor going to be possessed? Because it would not make as much sense as it did in the other version.
Okay, so, instead of being introduced to the site, it is Merrin who is introducing Francis to the site, which means Merrin is in a The introduction to the church is with “there’s your god-damn completely different relationship to the church than in the other church!” Doesn't seem like they are happy to have this place exist. movie – here he is the insider, not the outsider, so who are we There are indications that it was buried right after it was built. Also, identifying with as the outsider to the site? Francis? Does that there are hyenas around during the daytime, which is unusual make Francis is in the protagonist role, whereas Merrin had that behavior. role in the other version? But that doesn't make any sense, given who Merrin is to the canon of the series.
I predict that Joseph or James, the young boys of the African innkeeper, will be possessed, since the father is teaching them the Bible. But then the young doctor is being given a St. Joseph medal necklace for luck, so that doesn't bode well for her.
Is one of the boys played by a different actor? It looks like Joseph is played by someone else. In the other version, Merrin goes off after Joseph into the hills, but here he follows someone named Cheche, and older boy who is crippled, an outsider who the villagers think is cursed. Who happens to hang around a place they think is cursed. Does not bode well for Cheche.
The church has a mural of casting demons into hell. And a large image of Lucifer. And somehow crows are in the church. There is also a Jesus on an upside down crucifix hanging from the ceiling. Thus, we have a desecration of Christ. But the crucifix was not always that way. The person who found the church has gone “mad”. He has been producing images of desecration, demons, especially the Sumarian There is no other person who went insane, the one that was demon Merrin recognizes. He was able to write in Aramaic "The married to the doctor… fallen shall rise in a river of blood.”
Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
The doctor plays with tarot cards, which she had found -- because it makes sense that a European deck associated with witchcraft would somehow wind up in Africa – and keeps getting the Knight of Pentacles, Tower, and Devil -- which are never good cards to get, if you believe in the negative side of tarot readings. She explains to Merrin that her father was one of those good Germans that hid Jews, and that her entire family went to the concentration camps because of it.
The doctor still has the concentration camp tattoo – and there is also an insinuation of a relationship between the doctor and Merrin by Chuma. But that storyline never goes anywhere. The doctor has a different story for why the doctor was in the concentration camp – something about stealing goods.
Merrin became an archaeologist to work with something real, that he could touch – he sees no point to being a priest. So again we have the fallen priest, the man who lost his faith, who is going to be coming into contact with something that reestablishes his faith and his allegiance to the patriarchy of the Church. We are even getting crows in a flashback that shows Merrin’s encounters with the Nazis and why he no longer believes that God cares or exists. And then the hyenas attack, going after James but not Joseph, all because James was teasing Joseph. Is Joseph already possessed Merrin finds Cheche injured by the well. It is not one of the boys, and there was no sign of possession and no attack by hyenas. and commanding the hyenas? As the hyenas drag off James, Joseph’s eyes roll into his head and he collapses. The interesting thing is that it is not a white boy who is possessed – it is a black boy. A minority in American culture, which produced this movie; as much if not moreso than all the women who are possessed, this is a character considered to be with less power than the white protagonist, the priest. Again we have someone who needs to be saved and controlled by the white patriarchy, subjugated to go along with what the patriarchy requires. And it may be that the demon is a way for the boy to be empowered – but again it is a threatening empowerment, and thus one that must be controlled and dispelled. Merrin goes to see the crazy man who had been in charge of the expedition, who has a swastika carved in his chest. He claims to be free, that God is not there today, and then he slits his throat and bleeds out. Somehow he knew Merrin’s name. The Father of the sanitorium says that he was touched by the Devil – not possessed but touched. He refers to the French convent case in the 1600s that Exorcist, the book at least, references.
There is a dream sequence about a man with a bandaged head, a flying clock, stigmata, a woman, the demon from the first Exorcist, a hyena; all of this is definitely not in the other version. We hear the words “Bring him back to me.” The dream is a vision of Merrin’s inner turmoil with his loss of faith, and with what he is experiencing at this church.
The Devil is referred to as the father of lies, seeking to poison minds. If seen as way to empower women and minorities, then it is to say that the empowerment is wrong, and thus must be stopped. That empowerment only comes by accepting God and thus white patriarchy’s ideology. Joseph issues a warning “He’s coming for you” but is it meant for doctor or the British racist? Joseph is showing symptoms not related to shock of seeing James’ death – but uncertain what symptoms could mean. Again, medical examination and theorization are key elements to determining the actuality of possession. Merrin and the doctor kiss – now he is a truly fallen priest – and that is when Joseph starts to exhibit psychokinetic capabilities and tremendous tremors with blood in his saline bag. Tremors due to Merrin laying hands on him – a very bad reaction to contact from a priest and another symptom of possession.
Cheche as the innocent, as mentally handicapped and physically disabled, as one of the unfortunates God makes for people to tend them and prove their worth. His being possessed would be a further test of faith, as how could God allos such a creature to be used as a tool for the Devil?
Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist Inside the church we again see the four angels guarding what is considered in the other movie to be the entrance to hell, where Lucifer fell. Here there is an altar in the middle of where the angels stand, like a plug over the mouth to hell. There is still a sarcophagus but no upside-down crucifix to mark the site as having desecration. They discover that the sarcophagus is over something right away, but we have lacked the foreshadowing that there is a demon, or at least an ancient demonic icon, in this church. Merrin was interested in the church because of its historical significance and oddity. Descending into the space under the church, they find petroglyphs all over the walls, demonic faces – it is some type of temple underneath the church, dedicated to a “pagan god” or “mountain demon.” The idea is that people were sacrificed here, and the church was built on top of it with St. Michael bearing down on it to say that the old gods have no power over the One True God.
Are there even crows naturally in Africa? And the crows are cannibals. There’s a twist.
Cow eating a hyena…well, that's a sign of the natural order being disturbed. Kinda like how there are crows in Africa…well, okay, there are crows in Africa, but not like the ones the other version showed.
There is a breeze coming out of the sarcophagus. And a fly comes out – again, links to the other possession movies. Elsewhere, among the Turkana, there is a child who is birthed stillborn and covered in maggots. Worst thing in the movie. Mosaics and paintings in Church are depicting the war in Heaven. They say the church was dedicated to St. Michael. As with the other version, there is still a depiction of Lucifer, seen with two snakes where his penis would be – which ties in with the Exorcist connections to snakes. Thus Lucifer becomes Pazuzu. The doctor wanders around in a darkened hospital in only her towel after a shower – because you have to make the pretty woman as vulnerable as possible and put her in as much peril as possible. The British control the area, and the military is called in as reinforcements to squelch any possible uprising by the local Turkana, who are becoming very upset over the things that are happening, which they blame on the unearthing of the church. So there is another form of white patriarchy controlling the area and the people’s empowerment.
The troops get called in earlier, relative to what happens in this version compare to the other one. Two British soldiers go in to loot the church -- at the same time as the birth scene is occurring – at the same time they are trying to help Cheche by rebreaking his leg – and again the stillborn child covered is in maggots – the two soldiers are found killed in the church, one beheaded and one laid out in an upside down crucifix.
The Turkana shaman try to exorcise/sacrifice Joseph, but the demon is too powerful, and causes massive disruption that harms all of the shaman. They were not seen as strong enough to stop the demon – only a Catholic could. Again the ideology and beliefs of the local people are subjugated to the white patriarchal beliefs. Not so much of a post-colonial reading here, as this reads as outright "Whites are better".
By this point in the other movie, we had the sense of the boy being possessed, but right now there is no clear idea as to who might be possessed. Just a sense of unease, of things going wrong, of murder most foul.
Ah, some exposition: 1500 years ago an army led by priest was massacred as they sought for the source of a massive evil. So, not the Crusades then. One priest survived, and built the church to seal in the evil. That was the beginning. The legend is that after the war in Heaven, this is the spot where Lucifer fell. That would mean that it is the Devil himself in Joseph – and the Devil himself in Regan later. Except that that demon has been identified as Pazuzu in the series' canon, which has been identified as a Assyrian/Babylonian demon, which chronologically makes Pazuzu older and pagan in the eyes of the Church.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
The racist British dude is found strung up in the church, being eaten by the crows. Similar to how the two British soldiers were found in the other version. Either way, it seems like a reaction against colonialism, one that we are okay with because the characters were not good men. British Major Granville may be distorted by the Devil, touched, as he kills the Turkana leader in a rage – and he appeared distracted in first arriving in the area. He seems to be hearing voices – and the crows relate to the crazy. So he shoots himself because of his butterflies, seeing the dead move.
Major Granville still does not believe the Turkana when they complain, calls them savages, and seems to be losing it. But it is not like with the other version, where the supernatural is brought in as an excuse for his anger and insanity. He just seems to really not like the Turkana. There is definitely still the idea of colonialism, of white oppression, coming in how the British military is constantly being racist towards the Turkana, and the tension ratchets up between the two forces – and yet the British are seen as wrong, in the wrong, because we the viewer know the truth that the British refuse to accept – so the critique is pretty obvious. Again, the movie seems more postcolonial than the other version, which uses demons to explain the racism and colonialism of the British.
Merrin needs to save Joseph because the Turkana believe the evil is in him and will kill the boy. So Merrin needs to perform an Cheche is showing signs of advanced healing – is he blessed or exorcism to save the boy. But Merrin doesn’t believe in any of this, possessed? especially not God – he told Francis that. Merrin wants to take Joseph to St. Joseph, the sanitorium, but a sandstorm sweeps in, so they have to take him to the church. Father Francis tries to do the exorcism on his own.
This movie’s tone is slower, more languid, as things are happening at a slower pace and with less scares as the other at the same point in the film. British show up with many Turkana under armed arrest as Granville goes more and more crazy. As Merrin and the others watch, he does a match for match of what the Germans did in the beginning, including shooting a woman in the head and the blood spraying a person nearby – just in the opposite direction on screen. The comparison to the Nazis is another way the film is trying to create this post-colonial critique. Francis is starting to hear voices…could he be become possessed? Francis feels guilty for being the one to ask Granville to come to deal with the tensions with the Turkana. Thus far in the movie, the symptoms of possession are missing or relegated to the background, while the psychological turmoil of living with guilt seems to be in the foreground. Cheche turns away from the rosary Francis laid near his head – is he possessed? Joseph is killed by a Turkana who said he had to kill them to stop the Christian evil from spreading; other children that Francis was teaching were killed as well Cheche’s crippled arm is doing better – most likely he is possessed, and the Devil is fixing the body from within. Francis says that Cheche is the only innocent creation, and thus proof of God being there, then Francis hears voices, and he thinks the spirit of Christ is in Cheche, so he prays over Cheche, and the bed moves on its own as Cheche groans – and the crucifix burns on Cheche’s forehead, who exclaims in perfect English in a demonic voice with glowing eyes to not touch him with it. He is left with a scar on forehead, smoking forehead, movement under skin. Okay, finally, possession confirmed! Thing is, Cheche does not really look African…which would make him a further outsider. And his original positioning as mentally and physically disabled lends to the reading of only the relatively powerless being possessed.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist The doctor and Merrin say it was the blow to the head that caused what Francis think he heard and saw, a nervous breakdown. Francis wants to baptize Cheche, but only if it is in the church. No flies or crows so far. Granville kills himself without the whole hallucinating butterflies moving and coming out of his mouth. He still blows his head off, though, again suggesting guilt.
Merrin finds that the doctor’s room is smeared in blood with flies swarming around it and the icon of the demon on the wall in the middle of a bloody winged figure. Which means Joseph is not possessed but the doctor is – so hello! Instead of a young African boy being possessed, it is a young blonde woman, who’s uterus is gone, whose innocence was stolen by the Nazis. A woman who lost the power to give birth, a woman’s main power – and now her power is coming through the demon? But why the misdirect and the reveal at the end? She had said her husband had a hard time touching her after learning about what the Nazis did to her – and her husband was the crazy guy who carved the swastika in his chest. So she was unclean, no longer innocent? Women are not to be trusted – the devil can hide in them. Merrin was falling for her, and that would have been the ultimate sin for a priest, to give in to a woman – to want to fuck a woman. Woman are fallen from God’s grace, and to consort with them is to fall to their level. Then because women are fallen, they are more susceptible to the Devil, as he is the ultimate fallen from God’s graces. Women become easy conduits through which the Devil can impact the world and walk the world – after all, it was a woman the Devil tempted to have Mankind be expelled from Eden. That was the first attempt of the Devil trying to assert his influence on the world, through a woman, to possess her to do his will.
The baptism is attempted in the church, as the outside appears more geared for war between the British and the Turkana. In the other movie, the battle was waging as the exorcism was occurring, and there was no example of a pagan exorcism ritual in this one, which in the other served to show the brutality of the pagan approach, which was basically just human sacrifice – but Francis is still attacked by the possessed boy. Turkana leader does want Cheche to die, because they see the boy as drawing strength from the evil happening – so they do want to sacrifice the boy as in the other movie. We just never get to see a ritual as with the other.
The doctor is left alone with Cheche in the church. Cheche has lost all of his hair, says “I am perfection” in a somewhat feminine voice, even kinda looks androgynous without the hair, which would be a crossing of gendered boundaries. An earthquake locks the doctor and Cheche in the church due to rubble – and apparently they are left that way until sunup, as the British try to get them out. Merrin is later alerted to the fact that Francis is found tied to a bush with arrows in him. I do not think the demon icon shown in this movie matches the icon shown in the Exorcist movie – it is winged and horned but no snakes. When Merrin finally gets into the church, the doctor comes on to Merrin in the underground temple, kissing him. Then Cheche shows up, and is identified as the Great Deceiver, Satan. Cheche is sexualized as a possessed being, as vessel for Satan, lounging in suggestive positions, seducing both the doctor and Merrin by offering them something they both desire. Seduction, snake, Eve, women, sex, it’s all linked, and again men and the holy institution must keep us and our immortal souls safe. And in going to the church and finding the blood, Merrin seeks out God and reaffirms his faith to God. He is reempowered by accepting God and the patriarchy that he had turned his back on. The heavenly music of the scene reaffirms that he is doing the right thing; he is holy now because of his beliefs.
Merrin again having the costume and gear to go fight Satan – like a hero putting on the special necessary clothes to do battle with the villain. The possessed as the vessel for Satan, while the priest is seen as the vessel of God. Holy lights in the sky out, as a lion eats and warriors prepare for war and people go crazy.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
And the demon’s voice in Sarah is masculine, deep and raspy, as she declares she owns the boy. She displays preternatural strength Satan shows Merrin the Nazi scene again, interspersed with the and agility. Now it is a showdown between the demon and Merrin. imagery from the dream… She wonders why Merrin doesn’t want to fuck her anymore. Demon taunts Merrin; why would God help Merrin? The demon drags Joseph through the sarcophagus, into the underground area of human sacrifice and devil worship. The demon creates a forked tongue to represent a snake – again linking to the Devil, Eve and Eden story, as well as The Exorcist – of how the Devil works through women to influence the world by influencing men. Sarah also moves like a spider, as in The Exorcist . Women impact men because men are suckers for women: for their innocence, for believing them to be weak, and for their sexuality. Demonic possessions show women for what they are believed to be: not innocent, not weak, and using sexuality for their own pursuits and pleasures. Merrin enlists Joseph to help with the Roman ritual – white man and black boy casting demon out of white woman. Working together, they save the white woman. Well, at least, they save her soul – she dies from a blow to the head.
Merrin successfully performs the exorcism, casting the demon into a hyena, just as Jesus cast Legion into the pig. The craziness outside stops and there is no scene of a bloody battle between the Turkana and the British.
The thing is, they never show the build up to the possession the way they do in other movies – she is just possessed, in similar movies. We do not get to sympathize with her plight of becoming possessed. We only get to lust after her when she appears to be okay and then to fear her when she is possessed. It shows her as Eve – the figure to desire when she is considered to be pure, and then the figure to be mad at when she eats the apple. She shows the virgin and the whore, the dichotomy of women, because we do not get to see her personal struggle with being possessed. Her agency is thus robbed – yes, she is a doctor, and thus important to the area, but she is also the evil that is blighting the area, that causes the death of so many British and Turkana during their bloody war. She is the object to desire and the object to fear. Such is the role of women in these films – with a big difference being with The Last Exorcism two-parter.
So there is no discussion of the church being over the place where Lucifer fell to Earth after the war as there was in the other version. There is no discussion of the Turkana dying earlier. The doctor never gets possessed but she does go crazy and almost slits her throat while Merrin confronts possessed Cheche. It is a less bloody, less violent version of the story where only a crippled boy, a deformed creature of God that others except for the doctor and Merrin feared, who became the vessel of Satan – a person who is an outsider. Who, in becoming possessed, really suggest a queer theory read, given how the individual is at times positioned as adrogynous, and at other times bisexual, calling into question the boundaries between genders and sexuality and thus making him a subject of abberation and fear.