Possessed (2000 film)
Encyclopedia
Possessed is the name of a 2000
Showtime original movie
starring Timothy Dalton
, based on events appearing in the book Possessed by Thomas B. Allen
, which is inspired by the exorcism
case of Robbie Mannheim;
The film was released on DVD
in the USA on October 2, 2001.
(Timothy Dalton
) is a World War II veteran who was severely affected by a bad experience in France on All Saints’ Day in 1944. In the first scene of the movie, we flash-back through one of Bowdern's dreams to where he was trying to escape from a German
advance as SS soldiers execute wounded American soldiers. A wounded soldier calls Bowdern, the chaplain
, to give him the Last Rites
; Bowdern at first denies him so he can escape. Bowdern rethinks the matter and does his duty but is bayonet
ted by an SS soldier. He becomes an alcoholic, tormented by his injuries and the guilt of refusing a dying man's last wish.
Years later, Bowdern is teaching his students at St. Louis University (SLU) when, at the end of the lecture, an angry mob smashes the classroom's windows. When Bowdern gets out, he discovers that there is a demonstration against the school's recent racial integration
. When the police arrive, he asks them to arrest "those people" — meaning the protestors — but the police arrest the black students instead. Angered, Bowdern physically attacks the cops, who arrest him as well. Father Raymond McBride (Henry Czerny
) pays his bail
, and drives him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital to show where the church places hopeless alcoholics and the mentally ill
.
Robbie Mannheim (Jonathan Malen) is sitting with his aunt, Hanna (Piper Laurie
), who is teaching him how to contact the ‘other world’. Robbie's mother (Shannon Lawson) suddenly discovers the two at the Ouija
board. She scolds at Aunt Hanna for disregarding her request that she not expose Robbie to such ideas. Robbie disobeys his mother's demands that he stay away from the supernatural
, as he enjoys the contacts. When Aunt Hanna dies, Robbie continues trying to reach the other world. One day one of Robbie's classmates (Sensei Jamie) during school is severely wounded in the hand when a desk falls on top of him. Robbie is blamed. Ultimately, he is expelled from school. His father (Michael Rhoades) demands why Robbie hurt his classmate. When Robbie explains to his father that he did not deliberately do that and the desk moved itself, his father does not believe him. During their conversation, the chair on which Robbie is sitting moves out from under him, making Robbie crash to the floor. Robbie's parents feel someone or something is trying to harm their child. They feel he may really be ‘possessed’. They take him to the Lutheran Pastor Reverend Eckhardt (Richard Waugh), who understands what is happening to Robbie and takes him to his house to put him under exact monitoring (by putting him in a special room and attaching a light in front of his bed to help him record daily reactions by his camera). During Robbie's stay, several things occur that convince Pastor Eckhardt that Robbie is being afflicted by demons: strange noises are made in the house, the wall clock is smashed, and Robbie falls into fits of rage and hysteria. When Pastor Eckhardt tells his wife that Robbie should be treated by the Catholics, Robbie attacks him.
McBride visits the family in their house to check on Robbie after his parents go to the university requesting help. During one of Robbie's fits of hysteria
, the parents find the letters SLU scrawled on his belly. When he enters his room, he is attacked and becomes convinced that the child is endowed with some sort of supernatural power, and convinces Bowdern to visit the family.
Bowdern visits Robbie in his room, comforting him with his knowledge of comic book
s. Bowdern notices that Robbie is interested in magic
and ventriliquism, while Robbie notices that Fr. Bowdern is affected by his collection of toy soldier
s that sets off a post traumatic stress disorder event. When Father Bowdern tries to convince the parents that there is nothing wrong with Robbie, the boy suddenly becomes hysterical, speaking in Latin
as things fly across the room. Bowdern becomes convinced that Robbie must undergo treatment.
Bowdern and McBride go to Archbishop Hume (Christopher Plummer
) to persuade him to give Robbie an exorcism
. The Archbishop is skeptical, saying that he is trying to improve the Catholic Church's public image as a modern institution, free of ancient superstition
. He requests to speak to McBride alone, and he nominates Bowdern to handle the issue.
Bowdern begins Robbie's treatment, assisted by McBride and Father Walter Halloran
(Michael McLachlan
). They conduct several visits to him during which Robbie starts throwing temper tantrums. He scratches at them, vomits and urinates on them, and swears uncontrollably. During the treatment trials, Bowdern has flashbacks to his war experiences and dreads that this may be another failure. Robbie is transferred twice to two different churches. Finally, Bowdern manages to cure him. The room in the church where the exorcism takes place is locked on Archbishop Hume's orders.
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
Showtime original movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
, based on events appearing in the book Possessed by Thomas B. Allen
Thomas B. Allen (Author)
Thomas B. Allen is an American author and historian. He resides in Bethesda, MD. He is also the father of science fiction writer Roger MacBride Allen. Allen is a contributing editor to National Geographic.-Publication and film:...
, which is inspired by the exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
case of Robbie Mannheim;
The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the USA on October 2, 2001.
Plot summary
William S. BowdernWilliam S. Bowdern
Father William S. Bowdern, S.J. was a Jesuit Roman Catholic priest in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He was the author of The Problems of Courtship and Marriage printed by Our Sunday Visitor in 1939. He was a graduate of and taught at St. Louis University High School; he also taught at St....
(Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
) is a World War II veteran who was severely affected by a bad experience in France on All Saints’ Day in 1944. In the first scene of the movie, we flash-back through one of Bowdern's dreams to where he was trying to escape from a German
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
advance as SS soldiers execute wounded American soldiers. A wounded soldier calls Bowdern, the chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
, to give him the Last Rites
Viaticum
Viaticum is a term used especially in the Roman Catholic Church for the Eucharist administered, with or without anointing of the sick, to a person who is dying, and is thus a part of the last rites...
; Bowdern at first denies him so he can escape. Bowdern rethinks the matter and does his duty but is bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
ted by an SS soldier. He becomes an alcoholic, tormented by his injuries and the guilt of refusing a dying man's last wish.
Years later, Bowdern is teaching his students at St. Louis University (SLU) when, at the end of the lecture, an angry mob smashes the classroom's windows. When Bowdern gets out, he discovers that there is a demonstration against the school's recent racial integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
. When the police arrive, he asks them to arrest "those people" — meaning the protestors — but the police arrest the black students instead. Angered, Bowdern physically attacks the cops, who arrest him as well. Father Raymond McBride (Henry Czerny
Henry Czerny
- Career :Czerny received formal training at the National Theatre School in Montreal. After graduating in 1982, he went on to perform onstage across Canada, from Ottawa's National Arts Centre to Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and the Stratford Festival. By the late 1980s, he had established himself as...
) pays his bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, and drives him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital to show where the church places hopeless alcoholics and the mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
.
Robbie Mannheim (Jonathan Malen) is sitting with his aunt, Hanna (Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
), who is teaching him how to contact the ‘other world’. Robbie's mother (Shannon Lawson) suddenly discovers the two at the Ouija
Ouija
The Ouija board also known as a spirit/fire key board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye", and other symbols and words are sometimes also added to help personalize the board...
board. She scolds at Aunt Hanna for disregarding her request that she not expose Robbie to such ideas. Robbie disobeys his mother's demands that he stay away from the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
, as he enjoys the contacts. When Aunt Hanna dies, Robbie continues trying to reach the other world. One day one of Robbie's classmates (Sensei Jamie) during school is severely wounded in the hand when a desk falls on top of him. Robbie is blamed. Ultimately, he is expelled from school. His father (Michael Rhoades) demands why Robbie hurt his classmate. When Robbie explains to his father that he did not deliberately do that and the desk moved itself, his father does not believe him. During their conversation, the chair on which Robbie is sitting moves out from under him, making Robbie crash to the floor. Robbie's parents feel someone or something is trying to harm their child. They feel he may really be ‘possessed’. They take him to the Lutheran Pastor Reverend Eckhardt (Richard Waugh), who understands what is happening to Robbie and takes him to his house to put him under exact monitoring (by putting him in a special room and attaching a light in front of his bed to help him record daily reactions by his camera). During Robbie's stay, several things occur that convince Pastor Eckhardt that Robbie is being afflicted by demons: strange noises are made in the house, the wall clock is smashed, and Robbie falls into fits of rage and hysteria. When Pastor Eckhardt tells his wife that Robbie should be treated by the Catholics, Robbie attacks him.
McBride visits the family in their house to check on Robbie after his parents go to the university requesting help. During one of Robbie's fits of hysteria
Hysteria
Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes unmanageable emotional excesses. People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to an overwhelming fear that may be caused by multiple events in one's past that involved some sort of severe conflict; the fear can be centered on a body part, or,...
, the parents find the letters SLU scrawled on his belly. When he enters his room, he is attacked and becomes convinced that the child is endowed with some sort of supernatural power, and convinces Bowdern to visit the family.
Bowdern visits Robbie in his room, comforting him with his knowledge of comic book
American comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
s. Bowdern notices that Robbie is interested in magic
Magic (illusion)
Magic is a performing art that entertains audiences by staging tricks or creating illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means...
and ventriliquism, while Robbie notices that Fr. Bowdern is affected by his collection of toy soldier
Toy soldier
A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, pirates, and other subjects that involve combat-related themes. Toy soldiers vary from simple playthings to highly realistic...
s that sets off a post traumatic stress disorder event. When Father Bowdern tries to convince the parents that there is nothing wrong with Robbie, the boy suddenly becomes hysterical, speaking in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
as things fly across the room. Bowdern becomes convinced that Robbie must undergo treatment.
Bowdern and McBride go to Archbishop Hume (Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
) to persuade him to give Robbie an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
. The Archbishop is skeptical, saying that he is trying to improve the Catholic Church's public image as a modern institution, free of ancient superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
. He requests to speak to McBride alone, and he nominates Bowdern to handle the issue.
Bowdern begins Robbie's treatment, assisted by McBride and Father Walter Halloran
Walter Halloran
Father Walter Halloran, SJ was a Jesuit Roman Catholic Christian priest who, at the age of twenty-six, assisted in the exorcism of Robbie Mannheim, a thirteen year old Lutheran boy in St. Louis, Missouri who it is said became possessed after using a Ouija board...
(Michael McLachlan
Michael McLachlan
Michael McLachlan is a Canadian film actor.He was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. He has received many television roles and has appeared in a few films.-External links:...
). They conduct several visits to him during which Robbie starts throwing temper tantrums. He scratches at them, vomits and urinates on them, and swears uncontrollably. During the treatment trials, Bowdern has flashbacks to his war experiences and dreads that this may be another failure. Robbie is transferred twice to two different churches. Finally, Bowdern manages to cure him. The room in the church where the exorcism takes place is locked on Archbishop Hume's orders.
Cast
- Timothy DaltonTimothy DaltonTimothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
– Fr. Willam Bowdern - Henry CzernyHenry Czerny- Career :Czerny received formal training at the National Theatre School in Montreal. After graduating in 1982, he went on to perform onstage across Canada, from Ottawa's National Arts Centre to Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and the Stratford Festival. By the late 1980s, he had established himself as...
– Fr. Raymond McBride - Jonathan Malen – Robbie Mannheim
- Michael Rhoades – Karl Mannheim
- Shannon Lawson – Phyllis Mannheim
- Christopher PlummerChristopher PlummerArthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
– Archbishop Hume - Piper LauriePiper LauriePiper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
– Aunt Hanna - Richard Waugh – Reverend Eckhardt
- Michael McLachlanMichael McLachlanMichael McLachlan is a Canadian film actor.He was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. He has received many television roles and has appeared in a few films.-External links:...
– Father Walter Halloran
External links
- An account of the actual event dramatised in the film http://www.prairieghosts.com/exorcist.html
- Real Men of God at National ReviewNational ReviewNational Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
- Interviews with Timothy Dalton on Possessed