The Order: Review By Fallenlords

I know this film as the 'The Sin Eater', which I assume is the UK title release. I thought perhaps after me slating 'The Dark Knight' I should at least review a movie in which I liked Heath Ledger.

To me this is fundamentally a film about good and evil, but it also does raise a few interesting questions about religion as a whole.

How sometimes religion is filled with hypocrisy.

Heath Ledger is Father Alex Bernier, who belongs to a dwindling Order of priests who believe not only in God, but the powers of the supernatural. When his mentor, and leader of the Order, Dominic (Francesco Carnelutti) is found dead in Rome, apparently a suicide - something which is taboo within the Catholic church. Alex travels to Rome to investigate the circ*mstances of the death, knowing that Dominic would not take his own life.

Alex starts to uncover the truth slowly, it appears their is a Sin Eater. A renegade of the church who offers to absolve people of their sins at the moment of death, something which typically only a priest can do. He gets involved in the black underbelly of the holy city in his search for information. He suspects the Sin Eater is responsible for the death of Dominic, but he needs to know more and in order to obtain that information he has to seek some very unusual sources. The Black Pope, a satanic version of the normal Pope, holds court in the underworld of Rome. Here a hanged man, asked a question at the point of death. Has no option but to tell the truth. Let your guard down here and you leave yourself open to attack from supernatural forces.

Alex doesn't follow all the rules, when Dominic is refused permission to be buried in consecrated ground because of the so called suicide. Alex takes the body and performs the ceremony anyway. This act of rebellion is not too far removed from how the Sin Eater himself started. Rebellion against the church and the rules.

Alex is helped in his investigations by Thomas Garrett (Mark Addy), another Carolinian Priest. He and Alex are all that is left of this Order with the demise of Dominic. Thomas is somewhat the opposite to Alex, he is more for merry making and less serious in his approach. He wonders whether Alex should be a priest or if he shouldn't find more of a normal life for himself. This is confirmed to him when Mara Sinclair (Shannyn Sossamon) appears in Rome. Following Alex from New York, she is smitten with him and Alex has more than a passing interest in her.

The Sin Eater William Eden (Benno Fürmann) may be viewed as the villain of the story, but that is no without good reason. Events in his long past show the hypocrisy of the church. His brother who is fatally injured while building a church, can not be given the last rites because he was ex-communicated. In essence he was good enough to build God's house, but not good enough to be let into God's kingdom. This event turned the Sin Eater into what he became. A man offering salvation to those who the church frowns upon. But taking on other peoples sin's is not without a price.

This is a wonderful story that goes beyond your typical good vs evil approach. In the end what you think is evil, is perhaps good, and what is good is perhaps evil. It all really depends on your viewpoint.

Heath Ledger gives a great performance as a man torn between his belief, his love for a woman and the possibilities of immortality. The interaction between him and Benno as the Sin Eater have a certain sparkle. You can see that both men have an understanding of their parts. One a priest the other a renegade, yet both ultimately have the same understanding and the same beliefs.

Mark Addy is also great as the robust, jolly priest Thomas. He is the one that finally uncovers the truth to the whole affair. Watch out for Peter Weller as Driscol, he has more of a part to play in this film than it initially seems.

If you like films with a supernatural leaning, The Ninth Gate for example, you should love this film. It is well acted, well directed and tells a unique interesting story. What I find even more interesting about this film is Sin Eaters existed right up until around 1855 in Wales, so there is a perhaps more to this film than does initially meet the eye. This shouldn't be confused with 'The Last Sin Eater', that tells the story of Welsh migrants in the USA who still used a Sin Eater. That is interesting in itself, but The Sin Eater or The Order is the better film.