Angels & Demons
Short description
Angels & Demons follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who is called to Rome when four cardinals are abducted on the eve of the papal conclave and a centuries-old secret brotherhood resurfaces to threaten the Vatican. Working alongside scientist Vittoria Vetra, Langdon races through Roman churches, crypts and catacombs, tracing a trail of symbols left by the abductors while the College of Cardinals prepares to elect a new pope.
Ron Howard directed the film, the nineteenth in his chronological filmography, following Frost/Nixon and preceding Presidential Reunion. David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman wrote the screenplay, and Brian Grazer and Howard produced. Tom Hanks returns as Langdon, with Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Richter, Pierfrancesco Favino as Inspector Olivetti and Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the assassin. The production was mounted on a budget of 150 million USD and grossed 486 million USD worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 325,000 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 6.7 out of 10, from roughly 7,505 votes. A film critics' rating of 5.2 out of 10, drawn from 257 reviews, places professional assessments below the audience scores on both platforms. The cast and crew credits list 185 and 328 names respectively.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Dan Brown's novel "Angels & Demons" (2000).
- The actors playing the commander and lieutenant of the Swiss Guard would never be accepted into the ranks of this noble corps. At least because neither of them is Swiss: the magnificent Colonel Richter is played by Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, and the role of the honest Lieutenant Chartran is played by Dane Thure Lindhardt.
- The Vatican opposed the film and, as a result, prohibited filming in its churches. The filmmakers found a solution by using similar premises and sets.
- The novel "Angels & Demons" was the first book about the adventures of Professor Robert Langdon—"The Da Vinci Code" was released much later, although the film reverses the chronology of events.
- The main danger in the film comes from a small container with 1/4 gram of antimatter, the explosion of which could, for example, level Rome. In reality, even Fermilab – "a world leader" in the production of anti-matter – would need about 100 million years to generate that amount. The actual production rate is 2 nanograms per year. Incidentally, that 1/4 gram would cost around 30 trillion dollars.
- Clint Eastwood wanted to direct the film, but Ron Howard was contractually obligated to direct this picture after "The Da Vinci Code."
- The film was originally planned for release in December 2008, but due to a strike by American screenwriters, the premiere was postponed to May 2009.
- For the creators of "Angels & Demons," Roman holidays began in the midst of the tourist season. The first day at Piazza del Popolo set the tone for the rest: in the early morning hours, the square was more or less free of onlookers. As the sun rose and the heat intensified, the crowds of curious onlookers grew… and became bolder. Soon, the police cordoned off the square to prevent enthusiastic fans from getting into the shot, hoping to make it into the movie.
- CERN occupies a prominent place in the plot of Ron Howard's thriller "Angels & Demons," as it does in Dan Brown's novel on which the film is based. While filming was underway, CERN began its new and perhaps most significant experiment. In September 2008, CERN launched the Large Hadron Collider, "the world's largest particle accelerator."
- The Illuminati (Latin: illuminati – enlightened) is a general term for several secret groups, both modern and historical, real and fictional, revealed or presumed. However, by “Illuminati” people usually mean the Bavarian Illuminati, the least secretive of all secret societies in the world. Typically, the use of this term implies the existence of a sinister organization of conspirators who seek to control world affairs covertly, changing the existing order to the opposite.
- The film repeats the same mistake as the book: it claims that the camerlengo is not a cardinal, and a person without a cardinal's rank cannot become pope. In reality, the opposite is true. The camerlengo is always a cardinal, and a pope can be elected not only from among cardinals, but from any Catholic.
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