Sin Eater, The
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DVD Review
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Review
When the excommunicated head of the Carolingian order of priests, known for their interest in the arcane, dies mysteriously, his protegé Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger) travels to Rome to investigate the death and is plunged into a much darker mystery.
His enquiries lead him to William Eden (Benno Fürmann), a being from the dark side and a Sin Eater. Reputedly able to offer the dying a path to Heaven outside the jurisdiction of the Church, the Sin Eater performs a ritual that absolves them of their past sins, taking them into himself.
Tasked by Cardinal Driscolli (Peter Weller) with finding and slaying the Sin Eater, Alex enlists the help of fellow Carolingian, father Thomas Garrett (Mark Addy) and Mara (Shannyn Sossamon), a troubled artist upon whom he once performed an exorcism (and who earlier tried to kill him). However, the mystery only deepens further and they find themselves pulled into the realm of demons and the Dark Pope…
Review
Released under the title The Order in the US, this is a somewhat over-adventurous project wholly written, directed and produced by Brian Helgeland who was involved in a string of reasonably successful movies such as Mystic River, Payback, Conspiracy Theory, L.A. Confidential and Assassins and some of dubious quality such as A Knight's Tale and The Postman. Like the latter two, this didn't fare well in the box office and I was concerned that this was of that ilk. However, the story is actually reasonably good but while the direction is okay and the acting is adequate throughout, it drags along just a bit too slowly and just lacks the tension and spark of successful movies of the genré such The Omen or The Exorcist.
Heath Ledger plays the disenchanted young priest from a brotherhood on the fringe of the Church quite well and Benno Fürmann is excellent and gives an intense performance as the Sin Eater. The rest of the cast give good supporting performances but there's nothing extraordinary - Mark Addy is the sometimes-comic sidekick and Shannyn Sossamon provides the love interest. Peter Weller is always good and although his part as the Cardinal is quite small it is a very significant role. Interesting to note that Ledger, Sossamon and Addy were cast in A Knight's Tale, which was also written, directed and produced by Brian Helgeland.
The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is pretty good quality even though much of the movie is shot in fairly dark situations and it copes well with blacks and shadows. Colours are good where used but there does seem to be a lot of muted colours used to give the film a darker and almost medieval feel and visual effects and CGI effects are used sparingly so don't overwhelm the story. The locations in Rome and Naples are well used and help accentuate the timeless feel. The soundtrack is available as either DTS 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 and both perform well, especially with the Church and graveyard scenes and with the thumping rhythms in the Inferno club. The surround channels are really well used to promote a feeling of unease with chattering and whispering going on throughout. The only disappointing thing was that the dialogue levels seemed a bit low and I had to increase the volume to hear it clearly.
Extras
Trailers - Hardly an extra but we have to suffer some promo trailers (Down With Love and more) at the start of the movie. Now that's bang on target (NOT) - this is a horror movie so we get a trailer for a romance!
Commentary by Director - Brian Helgeland gives an interesting and fairly non-stop commentary full of information and trivia on casting, location, cinematography, sets and the intricacies of the story. Some of latter helping a great deal with understanding some of the ideas used and it was interesting to find out that Ledger had cost the production $50,000 when he accidentally broke a chandelier on one the sets.
Deleted Scenes - Seven deleted scenes that can be played individually or all at once and lasting just under 10 minutes in all. Mostly adding background detail to the characters, none are particularly interesting and are mostly superfluous or just confusing. These can also be viewed with an optional commentary by the director, which at least helps explain some of them.
Overall
The Sin Eater is a reasonable horror mystery movie, a bit slow for some maybe, but still quite watchable and with a good twist in the tail. The video and sound quality are well up to standard for a 2004 production. You won’t be wowed by it but it won’t disappoint either if you stick with it and it is quite entertaining in parts.
The extras are a bit thin on the ground and I was surprised that there wasn't even the usual filler material such as a theatrical trailer or an image gallery. Perhaps a bit of a look at how the movie was made and the locations in Italy used such as Rome, Naples, Caserta may have added some more added value.
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