Heaven's great

>> Kevin Smith sets off a Catholic firestorm with Dogma

by MATTHEW HAYS

One wouldn't expect a bizarre religious comedy epic to emanate from Kevin Smith, the director who made a name for himself with the ultra-low-budget Clerks. But here he is, answering a barrage of questions about his ultra-controversial Dogma, a film which has the Catholic establishment's tits tied in a proverbial knot.

Watching the film, it isn't too difficult to understand why at least a few people are offended. Smith's script--he wrote the first draft at the same time he wrote Clerks--involves two fallen angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) who have been condemned to an eternity of banishment on earth. Since heaven is such a preferable home, Damon and Affleck figure out a way to get back in, using a little-known bit of biblical legislation. Unfortunately, their successful reentry into heaven also means the complete annihilation of the human race.

Since only a human can save humanity, mere mortal Linda Fiorentino is recruited by heaven-sent messenger Alan Rickman and apostle Chris Rock to stop Damon and Affleck. It's a pretty wacky riff on religion, one that's alternately hilarious and horrifying (Smith's pop-culture-reference-laden dialogue is juxtaposed with extremely violent scenes).

But despite charges of blasphemy, Smith stands by his movie--and his Catholic status. He's stated repeatedly that most of his moral beliefs were derived from his Catholic upbringing, and that he believes in god and has great respect for the Bible (the ultimate comic book, he calls it). That hasn't stopped the movie from being slammed by various Catholic activists, who say the film is the most sacrilegious bit of celluloid since Martin Scorsese made The Last Temptation of Christ.

"Most of the extreme mail and the death threats have been against [Miramax honchos] Bob and Harvey Weinstein," reports Smith. "They've got a ton of hate mail, most of it to do with the fact that they're Jewish. The worst said, 'You're Jewish, so save your money for a flak jacket.' Doesn't sound terribly Christian to me."

So much noise was made about the film, the Weinsteins removed the picture from their own production company, Miramax, because it's owned by Disney. The mother corp. was taking heat for the project (with detractors accusing the Big Mouse of being anti-Catholic). Dogma was de-Miramaxed, and Lion's Gate is now distributing the film. "With no network or corporate ownership, there was less for them to worry about," a clearly relieved Smith says.

"The funny thing about all this protesting is that I'm actually quite conservative and boring. Some are saying I must be a self-hating Catholic. Using the F word doesn't make me a bad Catholic. I don't think asking questions is necessarily a bad thing. To me, it's ironic that people will worry about a movie. If you're rock steady in your faith, a movie's not going to shake that." :

Dogma opens Friday, November 12