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“He left behind a whole bunch of his
first-person experiences to read through. I think there are like
a dozen books or something like that, you know. So, it was just
his journey that really fascinated me to start with,” the
58-year-old said.
Crowe’s portrayal of Amorth in Sony’s horror flick “The Pope’s
Exorcist” is based on the books the late priest left behind,
which chronicled 36 years of exorcisms and other work for the
Vatican. Amorth died in 2016.
“The Pope's Exorcist” begins its global release in theaters on
Friday.
The haunting tale begins when an American widow named Julia,
played by horror film veteran, Alex Essoe, moves into an old
castle in Spain with her two children and they soon get more
than they bargained for.
Home renovators break into a sealed room in the basement and
unleash a demon that possesses Julia’s son, Henry, who is played
by Peter DeSouza-Feighoney.
Amorth is tasked with ridding the demon from the child. However,
unlike previous exorcisms, the demon feeds off the exorcist's
own guilt and regrets.
"What the character in the movie is going through, we've tried
to connect to actual experiences in Gabriele's life, so the
process he's going through in terms of what it is to forgive
yourself for the experiences you've had,” Crowe said.
While he knows this depiction of a religious figure may cause
criticism from some, Crowe was determined to stick to Amorth’s
accounts.
“Everybody is going to have their own opinion, but these are
books which are written from first-person experience,” he told
Reuters.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)
(Photo: Actor Russell Crowe speaks at the 30th annual American
Cinematheque Award ceremony in Beverly Hills, California U.S.,
October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
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