Illuminati (film)

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Movie
German title Illuminati
Original title Angels and Demons
Country of production United States
original language English , Italian , French , German
Publishing year 2009
length Theatrical version:
138 minutes
Extended version :
141 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Ron Howard
script Akiva Goldsman
David Koepp
production Brian Grazer
John Calley
Dan Brown
music Hans Zimmer
camera Salvatore Totino
cut Daniel P. Hanley
Mike Hill
occupation
synchronization
chronology

←  Predecessor
The Da Vinci Code - The Da Vinci Code

Successor  →
Inferno

Illuminati is an American thriller from director Ron Howard from the year 2009 . The film is based on the bestselling novel Illuminati by Dan Brown , who co-produced the film. The cinema release in Germany was on May 13, 2009.

action

While the deceased Pope is being buried in the Vatican and his fishing ring is being smashed according to tradition, atomic physicist Vittoria Vetra and her colleague Silvano at CERN in Geneva are making a scientific breakthrough by producing antimatter for the first time through a collision in the Large Hadron Collider . But shortly afterwards she is shocked to discover that Silvano was murdered and that a container with antimatter, which is extremely explosive, was stolen. A representative of the Vatican reports to the symbolologist Robert Langdon at Harvard University about a message from the Illuminati , which kidnapped the four favorite cardinals of the papal election ( I Preferiti ) and threatened with the destruction of the Vatican. Langdon and Vetra come to Rome to help the Vatican as experts.

After an initial briefing at the headquarters of the Swiss Guard, the scientist received permission from Camerlengo McKenna to examine Galileo Galileo's work Diagrama Veritatis in the Vatican secret archive . Together with Vetra, he discovers a secret message that points to a "path to enlightenment". On this path, which ends at the meeting point of the Illuminati, are the four "altars of science", on which one of the kidnapped cardinals is murdered every hour on the hour and branded with one of the ambigrams for the four elements earth, air, fire and water should. Langdon suspects the first crime scene to be in the Pantheon , but the “earthen tomb” mentioned in the poem is in the Chigi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, created by Raphael . There the first cardinal was already suffocated with earth.

Langdon follows the clue from the sculpture Habakkuk and the Angels , which points to St. Peter's Square . Numerous believers and media representatives have already gathered in the Vatican for the conclave , the election of the Pope. When a girl screams in horror, Langdon and Vetra discover the second cardinal with his lungs stabbed next to the West Ponente plaque, which symbolizes the wind. The unrest in the Vatican is exacerbated by a message from the Illuminati that the late Pope was poisoned. Vetra and the Camerlengo, who reveals himself to be the adopted son of His Holiness, find the rumor confirmed when they open the coffin and see the face of the Pope. The cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave also learn about this. Langdon, meanwhile, finds out in the archive with a list of Bernini's works that the rapture of St. Theresa is the next clue and that the third murder is supposed to be committed in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria . Meanwhile, in parts of the city, the electricity is cut off in order to locate the location of the explosive device, as it is illuminated by an external light source and its battery loss is continuously transmitted by a camera installed by the perpetrators. The archive is also briefly affected by this. Langdon is trapped but is able to free himself.

Again he arrives too late at the scene with the Swiss Guard. The third cardinal burns alive over a large fire just before the killer cuts the throat of Commander Olivetti and shoots several bodyguards. Langdon hides until the fire department rescues him. With the help of a city map, he recognizes the cross-shaped arrangement of the "altars". He persuades two police officers to take him to the last crime scene, the four rivers fountain . There the killer shoots the two policemen and throws the cardinal, who is tied up and weighed down with weights, into the well. Langdon, after holding his breath for about a minute and a half, pulls the clergyman out of the water with the help of hurrying passers-by so that the cardinal can explain to him with the last of his strength that the hiding place of the Illuminati is in Castel Sant'Angelo . Langdon penetrates there together with Vittoria and a special task force. They soon suspect that the Camerlengo will be the last victim. The killer threatens her with his weapon, but does not want to kill her and escapes again. He is killed by a bomb under his getaway car installed by his clients.

Langdon and Vetra rush through a secret passage, the Passetto , back to the Vatican, where Commandant Richter has locked himself in with McKenna in the papal office. When Langdon can make it clear to the guards that the Camerlengo is in danger, they break into the room. Richter is shot for threatening the Camerlengo with a weapon in front of the guardsmen who are hurrying up; Langdon finds a key in the dead man's hand. The Camerlengo was branded with a mark made of two crossed keys. This makes it clear that the antimatter container is located directly on the tomb of St. Peter in the necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica . When Vetra declares it is too late to change the battery, the Camerlengo grabs the container and rushes outside. With a helicopter standing by, he flies straight up so far that the antimatter explodes at a great height. Several windows were broken by the pressure wave, and some passers-by were injured by flying debris. When the Camerlengo lands with a parachute slightly injured in front of St. Peter's Basilica, the people begin to pray and cheer. The cardinals see this as a divine sign and want to elect him as the new Pope by acclamation .

Meanwhile, Vetra and Langdon open a secret compartment in Commandant Judge's office. Inside there is a computer that can be started with the help of Richter's key. The two watch a video from the Pope's office, including the meeting between the Camerlengo and the judge, in which McKenna surprisingly confesses to the murders and branded himself. When the truth becomes known and the cardinals under the direction of the former master of ceremonies Strauss are stunned, he takes refuge in St. Peter's Basilica and burns himself there: he asks God for forgiveness, sets himself on fire and dies in agony. Cardinal Strauss thanked Langdon for his help for his long-sought diagramma work as a lifelong loan. The finally elected Pope, Cardinal Baggia, whom Langdon had previously rescued from the well, presents himself to the people in St. Peter's Square.

Differences from the novel

The director changed some supporting characters and content:

The Camerlengo, who is called Carlo Ventresca in the novel, is named Patrick McKenna in the film, which takes into account the fact that the actor Ewan McGregor is not of Italian origin. Likewise, the name of the master of ceremonies was changed from Mortati to Strauss. The drug that killed the Pope was also renamed. There is also Commandant Richter, Colonel of the Swiss Guard , who cannot be found in the book. Father Simeon takes over the role of Captain Rocher. The Olivetti in the film is not the same as the one in the book. He is the commander of the Vatican police instead of the Swiss Guard.

Vittoria's role is less important in the film, because instead of her father, a colleague was murdered at CERN and her personal desire for revenge is lost. In addition, only Vittoria and her father in the book know about the antimatter research, in the film a whole team knows about it.

While in the novel a burned-in ambigram on Leonardo Vetra's corpse establishes the connection to the Illuminati, in the film this is done through a written message to the Vatican. Langdon is not woken up in the film by an ominous caller (who later turns out to be director Maximilian Kohler of CERN) and the fax machine, but is visited by an officer of the Vatican police while swimming. His journey takes him to Rome instead of, as described in the book, first to Switzerland in a futuristic jet. In contrast to the novel, Vittoria only meets Robert in the Vatican.

Maximilian Kohler, the general director of CERN, does not appear in the filmed story. Therefore, instead of the " Samaritan of the eleventh hour", the killer himself points out the planned murder on the Camerlengo. That is why the conversation between Richter and the Camerlengo is not recorded on a small video camera, as in the book, which Kohler hands over to Langdon when he dies, but on a recording system that is built into the room. Langdon appropriates the key he needs after Richter died from his gunshot wounds. In the book, Kohler takes his little recording device out of its cradle in the wheelchair and hands it to Langdon, saying he should give it to the media.

In the novel, the killer speaks to Langdon on the phone and therefore knows that Langdon is following him. In the film, he only becomes aware of him during the second murder and writes about him in a letter that is found with the dead cardinal in St. Peter's Square.

In the book there are four black Alfa Romeos , in the film there are only three vehicles, one of which is a Lancia .

In the novel, Langdon doesn't use a gun in the archives to shatter the window before the oxygen runs out - in the film he shoots the gun at the window. In addition, in contrast to the film, nobody is with him in the novel.

Olivetti is killed by the killer in the novel with a broken neck, in the film his throat is cut. In addition, in contrast to the novel, the group in the film is accompanied by several bodyguards in the Santa Maria della Vittoria, who are shot by the killer. The fight between Langdon and the assasin (the murderer) is also described in much more detail in the book and the murderer is injured on his arm. The fact that he then takes Vittoria as prey is not shown in the film.

In the film, Langdon climbs out of the underground channel into the burning church, while in the book he is rescued from a sarcophagus by the fire department, already unconscious.

The BBC reporter duo is also missing from the film. Instead, various comments from the media are shown in different languages ​​in order to illustrate the worldwide attention for the event. Indeed, one of the main problems facing the Church in the novel is first the world's lack of interest - not a single person is in St. Peter's Square to watch the papal election; not even reporters want to cover it. Only when the threat of actively informing the media through the killer becomes public does the media and the public become interested. Achieving this and bringing people back to church was a motivation for the Camerlengo for its plan.

The rumor about the poisoned Pope is conveyed in a letter instead of the BBC reporter Gunther Glick as in the novel.

In the novel, the killer acts out of conviction and is not a hired contract killer as in the film. Besides, he is not of Arabic origin, as in the novel.

In the film, the fight between the killer and Langdon does not take place in the four rivers fountain. Furthermore, Langdon goes alone to the four rivers fountain in the novel, while in the film he is accompanied by two police officers who are both killed by the killer. The valve that Langdon puts in his mouth in the novel to save himself from drowning during the fight with the assasin saves the life of Cardinal Baggia in the film. In the book, the last favored cardinal also dies.

The killer dies in the film from a car bomb and is not, as described in the novel, pushed over the parapet of Castel Sant'Angelo by Vittoria and Robert.

The Illuminati diamond, made up of all four ambigrams, is replaced by the fifth brand of the upturned key, which points directly to the tomb of St. Peter without the need for divine inspiration from the Camerlengo.

In the film, the Camerlengo flies in the helicopter without Langdon, while in the novel Langdon sits in the helicopter with a tarpaulin on the helicopter's windshield. At the same time, the Camerlengo uses the only parachute in the helicopter.

At the end of the film there is no reference that the Camerlengo is the birth son of the deceased Pope conceived through artificial insemination and that he kills the Pope with an overdose due to the allegedly broken vow of chastity. The cardinals in the book are still discussing it with the Camerlengo, in the film the assembled college of cardinals just looks at him in silence.

Since all four candidates for the papacy are murdered in the novel, Master of Ceremonies Mortati is elected as the new pope. Due to the rescue of the last cardinal in the film, he is later elected Pope, who is the first Pope to name himself Luke.

In the novel, the camerlengo is actually elected Pope by acclamation while standing on the balcony, where shortly afterwards it sets itself on fire. At the end of the film, the camerlengo burns himself inside St. Peter's Basilica, unlike in the novel on the papal balcony in front of the crowd, without uttering a scream (unlike in the film).

In the film, Robert Langdon is asked several times about the events from the film The Da Vinci Code. In the case of the novels, however , Da Vinci Code only takes place after Illuminati .

In the novel Langdon receives the Illuminati diamond as a permanent loan from the Vatican, in the film it is Galileo's work Diagrama Veritatis , whose torn page in the book was destroyed by Langdon's landing in cold water after jumping out of the helicopter.

The love story in the novel between Langdon and Vetra is completely absent from the film.

background

Ayelet Zurer and Tom Hanks filming the novel in Rome, June 2008

In 2003 Sony had jointly acquired the film rights to the two novels The Da Vinci Code and Illuminati . In May 2006, Akiva Goldsman was hired to write the film adaptation shortly after The Da Vinci Code hit theaters. Akiva Goldsman received approximately $ 3.8 million for his work. David Koepp revised the script before filming began. Although the novel Illuminati appeared three years before The Da Vinci Code , the precursor became a sequel in the film . Howard justified the decision by saying that most readers would have read the books in that order.

Originally, the recordings should have started in February 2008. But the film was Hollywood's first large-scale production to be delayed because of the scriptwriters' strike that year . Under the working title Obelisk , filming began on June 5, 2008 in Rome , where it was shot for around four weeks.

The palace of Caserta was used as the backdrop for the Vatican . Another location was the University of California, Los Angeles . The rest of the film was made at Sony Studios. Among other things, the interior of St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel were recreated. The St. Peter's Square has been faithfully re-size, after the Vatican had given no permission for filming on location. The same set was used twice for St. Peter's Square and Piazza Navona as well as for the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria .

The second unit photographed the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN , which had not yet been officially opened at the time. Ron Howard also went to the CERN premises to make the film more authentic.

Filming began on June 5, 2008 and ended as early as July 2008. The budget for the film is an estimated 150 million US dollars .

The film premiered in Rome on May 4, 2009 . From May 13, 2009 he was seen in Germany and Switzerland. The first performance in Austria followed one day later and another day later in the USA.

Over $ 46.2 million was raised in the United States on the opening weekend. The total income in the USA amounted to more than 133.3 million US dollars, while in Germany the equivalent of over 42.3 million US dollars was made.

By December 2009, around 4.5 million visitors saw the film in German cinemas.

The original cast for the role of Vittoria Vetra was planned to be Naomi Watts , while Remo Vinzens was negotiating the cast as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca. Leonardo DiCaprio turned down the role of Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, although Tom Hanks personally offered it to him.

During the shooting, the film crew and their equipment blocked a wedding procession from the church. When this was noticed by Tom Hanks, he escorted the wedding party through the set so that the bride could get to the church on time. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were then invited by the grateful family to attend the wedding ceremony, which the two had to decline due to their tight schedule.

Various cameo appearances are included in the film. In Langdon's house there is a photo of Sophie Neveu, played by Audrey Tautou in The Da Vinci Code , on a shelf . Ron Howard's wife, writer Cheryl Howard , plays a scientist at CERN , while actor Rance Howard , father of the director, takes on the role of a cardinal . Jutta Speidel can also be seen briefly , who happened to pass by the set in front of the Pantheon .

The particle called “god particle” in the film is known in scientific circles as the Higgs boson . The diagramma della verità attributed to Galileo Galilei is fictional. Pages from Sidereus Nuncius from 1610 are shown in the film. The explanations about symmetry have no connection with Galileo. The elliptical orbits of the planets ascribed to him in the film were published by Johannes Kepler in Astronomia Nova from 1609. Galileo had never heard of Kepler's three laws. Galileo was not a member of the Illuminati Order, as it was only founded 134 years after his death.

music

Hans Zimmer was again responsible for the film music. He chose the song Chevaliers de Sangreal as the theme , which had already been used at the end of The Da Vinci Code . What was new, however, was that the orchestra only played the accompaniment, while the violin played by Joshua Bell brought in the melody. In addition to the main theme, some new melodies appear, some of which are supported by the choir.

synchronization

The German dubbing was carried out at Interopa Film GmbH in Berlin. Axel Malzacher directed the dialogue .

role actor Voice actor
Robert Langdon Tom Hanks Arne Elsholtz
Camerlengo Patrick McKenna Ewan McGregor Philipp Moog
Vittoria Vetra Ayelet Zurer Melanie Pukass
Chart edge Thure Lindhardt Gabriel Zurbriggen
Commanding Judge Stellan Skarsgård Roland Hemmo
Capitano Olivetti Pierfrancesco Favino Franco Mattoni
killer Nikolaj Lie Kaas Rainer Doering
Cardinal Strauss Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl

criticism

The film received mixed reviews. The lexicon of the international film writes: “Solid thriller, which largely defuses the impulses of the novel that are critical of the church.” The film focuses on “action sequences as well as [the] art-historical sensations of Rome and [the] ceremonial of the Vatican, with little time for development the characters remain. ”However,“ behind the crime fiction […] the conflict between tradition and modernity, belief and science ”appears, while“ respect is shown to both sides in a conciliatory and mediating way. ”

Cinema , on the other hand, has a rather negative view of the film: “All of that doesn't make“ Illuminati ”a good film. Ron Howard has only managed to rid a hair-raising story of its strangest and stupid twists and turns. And yet in the end the sacred force of the staging triumphs over all logic. The Pope should like that. Conclusion: The story of the film is more conclusive than that of the book, but the bombastic staging is downright overwhelming. "

Focus describes Langdon as Indiana Jones of the lending libraries and sees the film “in a dilemma: the readers of the book do not expect anything new and thriller fans without prior knowledge are offered a conventional“ who was it ”plot that reveals its secrets relatively early. [...] Viewers who have a weakness for history, customs and traditions in the Vatican and good actors expect perfectly choreographed images from the heart of Catholicism in “Illuminati”. For example, the Camerlengo itself has never before brought you closer to the rites after the death of a Pope. "

reception

Like The Da Vinci Code, this film caused controversial discussions. Representatives of the Catholic Church criticized the work for its treatment of the story. Originally planned recordings in churches of Rome such as Santa Maria del Popolo or the Vatican itself were rejected by the Diocese of Rome . Archbishop Velasio De Paolis feared a boomerang effect in view of the critical voices, which would lead to even greater attention. Director Howard personally defended himself against allegations, pointing out that Langdon is saving the Church and several signs of a connection between religion and science can be seen. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano initially spoke out against the film, but later assessed it positively as “harmless entertainment” and wrote: “The subject is always the same: a sect against the Church. […] This time the Church is on the side of the good. "

Nominations and Awards

In 2009, Hans Zimmer was nominated for the World Soundtrack Award for "best film composer of the year". In the same year, the film received nominations at the Teen Choice Awards in the categories “Choice Movie: Drama” and “Choice Summer Movie: Drama”.

The following year Angus Bickerton , Mark Breakspear , Ryan Cook and Barrie Hemsley were nominated for the VES Awards in the category "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture". At the Excellence in Production Design Awards , Allan Cameron , Giles Masters , Keith P. Cunningham , Dawn Swiderski , Luke Freeborn , Alex Cameron , Mark Homes , Patricia Johnson , Patte Strong-Lord , Jeff Markwith , Clint Schultz , Gunnar Ahmer , James Gemmill and Robert Gould received a nomination in the "Contemporary Films" category.

DVD release

The film was released on DVD in Germany on October 23, 2009 . It is available as a cinema version and as an extended version , which, in addition to a few extras on a second disc, is seven minutes longer than the cinema version . Several scenes have been added to this, including an additional conversation between Strauss and Simeon just before the conclave, with Strauss insisting that he not want to be eligible, while other scenes have been expanded. The stay in the first Church of Enlightenment takes a little longer, and the search in Castel Sant'Angelo is a little longer. In addition, in contrast to the theatrical version, blood splatters are not retouched, corpses are shown a little earlier, which led to an FSK 16 rating, while the original theatrical version is still approved for viewers aged 12 and over. The film will also be released on Blu-ray , with the online provider Amazon.com offering a deluxe edition which, in addition to the extended version on Blu-ray, also contains two bookends in the shape of an angel and a demon. As with the previous film, the extended version is designed like a book, containing 24 pages about the production and the structure of the sets.

continuation

In 2012, the third part of the Robert Langdon film series, the film adaptation of the novel The Lost Symbol (The Lost Symbol) was announced by Columbia Pictures . Initially, Ron Howard was again provided as a director; when he got out, Mark Romanek took over the direction of the film. After several script versions had been created, the project was discontinued in July 2013.

Instead, a film adaptation of the fourth part of the novel series, Inferno , was again based on a script by David Koepp and directed by Ron Howard. Actor Tom Hanks starred again. Filming began in April 2015 and the film premiered on October 8, 2016.

Trivia

  • In contrast to the film, the Camerlengo is not a simple priest, but a chamberlain with the rank of cardinal.
  • In contrast to the claims in the film, in principle all male Catholics can be elected Pope (ordination and the elevation to bishop might have to be made up), but it has become common practice in recent centuries for cardinals to choose one of their own .
  • At the beginning of Langdon's office, in the background, typical of American colleges, can be seen with “ Exeter ”, the hometown of the author of the novel, Dan Brown.
  • After his election, the newly elected Pope enters the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica with a miter . The miter is a purely liturgical head covering and is only worn during pontifical acts in worship. The Pope only wears the white papal pileolus on his first presentation .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Illuminati . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2009 (PDF; test number: 117 704 K).
  2. ^ Age rating for Illuminati . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ a b c d start dates
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Background information according to the Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ Ian Freer: Critical Mass . Empire, pp. 69-73
  6. ↑ a b Elisabetta Povoledo: Dan Brown Tourists: Next Stop, Rome? The New York Times , August 24, 2008, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  7. ↑ a b c d e budget and box office results according to the Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ ANGELS AND DEMONS was Filming Today at UCLA in Los Angeles. Collider.com, July 10, 2008, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  9. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  10. ↑ Ceri Perkins: ATLAS gets the Hollywood treatment. ATLAS e-News, June 2, 2008, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  11. ↑ Personal statements from Mrs. Speidel at Wetten, dass ..? on November 3, 2012.
  12. ^ Angels & Demons - Sneak Peek. (Quicktime) Apple, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  13. ↑ Illuminati in the German synchronous file
  14. ↑ Illuminati. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  15. ↑ Film review at cinema.de
  16. ^ Film review by Focus online
  17. ↑ Vatican locks out "Illuminati" team. Spiegel online, June 16, 2008, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  18. ↑ 'Angels & Demons' may face Vatican boycott. Huffingtonpost, April 21, 2009, accessed November 16, 2012 .
  19. ^ Ron Howard: Angels & Demons: It's A Thriller, Not A Crusade. Huffington Post, April 21, 2009, accessed May 9, 2009 .
  20. ↑ Demons “harmless”, says Vatican. BBC News Online, May 7, 2009; accessed May 7, 2009 .
  21. ↑ Angels and Demons: Vatican breaks silence to review film. The Daily Telegraph , May 7, 2009; accessed May 7, 2009 .
  22. ↑ a b c d nominations and awards according to the Internet Movie Database
  23. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kath.de
  24. ^ Conclave www.kath.de. (No longer available online.) In: www.kath.de. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016 ; accessed on October 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kath.de