The Vatican cranking the propaganda machine several notches up to [as usual], brain wash the masses: (After all, learning Hollywood tactics seems it would pay off i.e. cater to the idiots, it will pay off BIG dividends)
THURSDAY MARCH 01 2001
Pope hosts a relaunch of agnostic 2001
BY RICHARD OWEN IN ROME AND LAURA PEEK
THE Pope will host the European premiere tonight of the remastered and restored version of Stanley Kubrick’s classic science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Vatican’s decision to show 2001, an agnostic fable exploring mankind’s place in the universe, in the Pope’s own cinema has surprised some in Rome, particularly as it was penned by Arthur C. Clarke, a militant rejector of organised religion.
However, Vatican officials said that the film, based on Clarke’s book of the same name and co-scripted by him, was “top of the list” of films approved by the Pope and his advisers as suitable for viewing by the faithful on the grounds that they promote spiritual or moral values.
Other selected films on the list include Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, Lord Attenborough’s Gandhi, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.
Archbishop John Foley of the United States who, as head of the Papal Council for Social Communications, helped to draw up the list of approved films, said tonight’s showing would be in the Pope’s private cinema, carved out of a disused chapel just over 30 years after the film first appeared.
The Pope — 81 in May — is said to be something of a film buff. He has frequently urged filmmakers to use the medium to promote the positive and the uplifting rather than the sordid and superficial.
[* HO HO HO HO HO HO *]
In 2001: A Space Odyssey, first released in 1968, a space station spins through space to the strains of the Blue Danube Waltz and comes to symbolise mankind’s destiny among the stars. The Pope’s endorsement could come down to interpretation. It is possible that he, with a number of academics, sees the enigmatic gleaming black monoliths in the opening scenes as the work of God, rather than the creation of an alien species. This would change the film’s seemingly atheist message.
The invited audience will include Kubrick’s widow, Christiane, and his daughter Anya. Today’s relaunch of 2001, a week ahead of its release in the rest of Europe, is a coup for the Instituto Luce, the Italian institute of cinema history, which is its Italian distributor.
thetimes.co.uk |
