Dogma (film)
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This article is about the 1999 film. For the avant-garde filmmaking movement, see Dogme 95.
Dogma
Dogma (movie).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kevin Smith
Produced by Scott Mosier
Written by Kevin Smith
Starring

Ben Affleck
Matt Damon
Linda Fiorentino
Salma Hayek
Jason Lee
Jason Mewes
Alan Rickman
Chris Rock
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Robert Yeoman
Edited by

Kevin Smith
Scott Mosier
Production
company
View Askew Productions
STKstudio
Distributed by Lions Gate Films (US) Miramax (Worldwide) Columbia Tristar (Home video)
Release date
May 21, 1999 (Cannes)
November 12, 1999 (United States)
Running time
128 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $10 million[1]
Box office $44 million[2]
Dogma is a 1999 American fantasy comedy film, written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also stars with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, George Carlin, Linda Fiorentino, Janeane Garofalo, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek, Bud Cort, Alan Rickman, Alanis Morissette and Jason Mewes. It is the fourth film in Smith's View Askewniverse series. Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson, stars of the first Askewniverse film Clerks, appear in the film, as do Smith regulars Scott Mosier, Dwight Ewell, Walt Flanagan, and Bryan Johnson.

The story revolves around two fallen angels who plan to employ an alleged loophole in Catholic dogma to return to Heaven after being cast out by God, but as existence is founded on the principle that God is infallible, their success would prove God wrong, thus undoing all creation. The last scion and two prophets are sent by the seraph Metatron to stop them.

The film's irreverent treatment of Catholicism and the Catholic Church triggered considerable controversy, even before its opening. The Catholic League denounced it as blasphemy.[3] Organized protests delayed its release in many countries and led to at least two death threats against Smith.[4][5]

Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Development
3.2 Casting
3.3 Visual effects
3.4 Locations
3.5 Casting
3.6 Deleted scene
4 Soundtrack
5 Reception
5.1 Box office
5.2 Critical response
6 Cancelled sequel
7 References
8 External links
Plot
Bartleby and Loki are fallen angels, eternally banished from heaven to Wisconsin for insubordination, after an inebriated Loki resigned as the Angel of Death. In a newspaper article that arrives anonymously, the angels discover a way home: Cardinal Ignatius Glick is rededicating his church in Red Bank, New Jersey, in the image of the "Buddy Christ". Anyone entering during the rededication festivities will receive a plenary indulgence, remitting all sins. Were the banished angels to undergo this rite and then die after transmuting into human form, God would have no choice but to allow them re-entry into Heaven. They are encouraged by the demon Azrael and the Stygian triplets, three teenaged hoodlums who serve Azrael in hell.

Bethany Sloane—a despondent abortion clinic counselor—attends a service at her church in Illinois. Donations are solicited for a campaign to stop a New Jersey hospital from disconnecting life support on John Doe Jersey, a homeless man who was beaten by the triplets and is now in a coma. Metatron—a seraph, and the voice of God—appears to Bethany in a pillar of fire and explains that if Bartleby and Loki succeed in re-entering Heaven, they will overrule the word of God, disprove the fundamental concept of God's omnipotence, and nullify all of existence. Bethany, aided by two prophets, must stop the angels and save the universe.

Now a target, Bethany is attacked by the triplets, who are driven off by the two foretold prophets—drug-dealing stoners Jay and Silent Bob. Bethany and the prophets are joined by Rufus, the 13th apostle, and Serendipity, the Muse of creative inspiration, now working in a strip club in search of inspiration of her own. Azrael summons the Golgothan, a vile creature made of human excrement, but Bob immobilizes it with aerosol air freshener.

On a train to New Jersey, a drunken Bethany reveals her mission to Bartleby, who tries to kill her; Bob throws the angels off the train. Bartleby and Loki now realize the consequences of their scheme; Loki wants no part of destroying all existence, but Bartleby remains angry at God for his expulsion, and for granting free will to humans, while demanding servitude from angels, and resolves to proceed.

Bethany asks why she has been called upon to save the universe; why can't God simply do it himself? Metatron admits that God's whereabouts are unknown; he disappeared while visiting New Jersey in human form to play skee ball. The task falls to Bethany because—she now learns—she is the last scion, a distant but direct blood relative of Jesus.

The group fails to persuade Glick to cancel the celebration; Jay steals one of Glick's golf clubs. Their only remaining option is to keep the angels out of the church, but Azrael and the triplets trap them in a bar to prevent them from doing so. Azrael reveals that he sent the news clipping to the angels; he would rather end all existence than spend eternity in Hell. Bob kills Azrael with the golf club, which Glick had blessed to improve his game. Bethany blesses the bar sink's contents, and the others drown the triplets in the holy water. They race to the church, where Bartleby kills Glick, his parishioners, and assorted bystanders. When Loki (who is now wingless, and therefore mortal, with a conscience) attempts to stop him, Bartleby kills him, as well.

Jay attempts to seduce Bethany before all existence ends; when he mentions John Doe Jersey, Bethany finally puts all of the clues together. Bob and she race across the street to the hospital, as the others try to block Bartleby's path to the church. Bethany disconnects John's life support, liberating God, but killing herself. Bartleby reaches the church entrance, where he confronts God, manifested in female form; she annihilates him with her voice. Bob arrives with Bethany's lifeless body; God resurrects her, and conceives a child — the new last scion — within her womb. God, Metatron, Rufus, and Serendipity return to Heaven, leaving Bethany and the prophets to reflect on the past, and the future.

Cast
Ben Affleck as Bartleby
Matt Damon as Loki
Linda Fiorentino as Bethany Sloane
Salma Hayek as Serendipity
Jason Lee as Azrael
Jason Mewes as Jay
Alan Rickman as Metatron
Chris Rock as Rufus
Kevin Smith as Silent Bob
George Carlin as Cardinal Ignatius Glick
Bud Cort as John Doe Jersey/God
Alanis Morissette as God
Barret Hackney, Jared Pfennigwerth, and Kitao Sakurai as the Stygian Triplets
Production
Development
In October 25, 2000, Kevin Smith wrote an essay title In the Beginning... The Story of Dogma, which details the history and genesis of how Dogma came to be. His essay is available on the Dogma 2-disc Special Edition DVD.

Before Smith began writing Clerks, he began noting down ideas for a film called God. During his brief period in film school, he essentially wrote the scene introducing Rufus, but this version did not feature Jay and Silent Bob. During the development of Clerks, Smith continued to jot down ideas for his God project, including having the main character be a high school jock, the conception of 13th Apostle, Rufus, and a muse named Serendipity; but, Smith didn't have a story to work off of.

By the time Clerks have been picked up for distribution, Smith began writing the first draft for the film. He felt calling the project God seemed inappropriate, and he retitled the project into Dogma. The first draft was completed on August 4, 1994 with 148 pages accomplished, and more additions were added on; the high school protagonist was changed to a stripper named Bethany who meet Jay and Silent Bob at a nudie booth, Azrael (or known throughout the script as the "Shadowy Figure") was introduced in the final 30 pages, and Bethany blew up the church in order to not let Bartleby and Loki pass through the archway. After Smith and Clerks producer Scott Mosier reread the draft, they decided that they didn't want Dogma to be their sophomore film; they didn't want to tackle a bigger scale picture until they felt ready to do it. Despite including the line "Jay and Silent Bob will return in Dogma" at the end of Clerks, Smith moved to Universal Studios in order to develop his next film, Mallrats.

During Mallrats' production, Smith took another jab at the script and made some changes; Bethany's job went from stripper to an abortion clinic and included an orangutan for Jay and Silent Bob to hang out with. In 1996, he took another swing with the script; this time, he dropped the orangutan and reworked Bethany to be played by his then-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams. During that time, he was writing Chasing Amy and got Ben Affleck to agree to be in both projects. And after Chasing Amy was released to critical and box-office success, Smith felt confident to make Dogma.[6]

Jesus
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"Christ" and "Jesus of Nazareth" redirect here. For other uses, see Christ (disambiguation), Jesus of Nazareth (disambiguation), and Jesus (disambiguation).
Jesus
Cefalù Pantocrator retouched.jpg
Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style, from Cefalù Cathedral in Sicily, Italy, c. 1130
Born c. 4 BC[a]
Judea, Roman Empire[5]
Died c. AD 30 / 33b
Jerusalem, Judea, Roman Empire
Cause of death Crucifixion[c]
Home town Nazareth, Galilee[11]
Parent(s)

MaryJoseph[d]
Part of a series on
Jesus
Jesus in Christianity[show]
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Background[show]
Jesus in history[show]
Perspectives on Jesus[show]
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P christianity.svg Christianity portal
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Wikipedia book Book:Jesus
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Jesuse, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ,[f] was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader.[12] He is the central figure of Christianity. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.[13][14]

Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically,[g] although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus.[21][h][i] Jesus was a Galilean Jew[12] who was baptized by John the Baptist and began his own ministry. He preached orally[24] and was often referred to as "rabbi".[25] Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers.[26][27] He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities,[28] turned over to the Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect.[26] After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and the community they formed eventually became the early Church.[29]

Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Christian Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where he will return.[30] Most Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead[31] either before or after their bodily resurrection,[32][33][34] an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology.[35] The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural. The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25 (or various dates in January by some eastern churches) as Christmas. His crucifixion is honored on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. The widely used calendar era "AD", from the Latin anno Domini ("year of the Lord"), and the equivalent alternative "CE", are based on the approximate birthdate of Jesus.[36][j]

Jesus is also revered outside of Christianity. In Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets and the Messiah.[38][39][40] Muslims believe Jesus was born of a virgin, but was neither God nor the son of God. The Quran states that Jesus never claimed divinity.[41] Most Muslims do not believe that he was crucified, but that he was physically raised into Heaven by God. In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, and was neither divine nor resurrected.[42]