Egyptian cinemagoers didn't get the chance to see the film adaptation of Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code, a couple of years ago. Its subject matter, dealing with the nature of Jesus, was considered too delicate. The second film of one of Dan Brown's books, though, was less controversial in its subject matter. Dealing with the election of a new pope, the book is perhaps worth reading these days. The film of Angels and Demons, starring Oscar-award winning actor Tom Hanks, is set in Rome and the Vatican. It is a straightforward thriller and in the video shop you will find it under “Thrillers," not under “Theology." There are none of the abstruse and complicated theories in this film, which cause such controversy in the earlier work. The film does revolve around the Roman Catholic Church and its attempt to choose a successor after the pope has died, but there is little controversy here. The story, in fact, is about an imagined secret organisation, the Illuminati, who have resurfaced after many hundreds of years and who pose a threat to the Church itself. According to the story, the Illuminati were persecuted for centuries because of their support for science and free thought, and now they kidnap four of the most likely candidates to become the new Pope and even threaten to destroy the Vatican itself. Anyway, enough of the film. Or, rather, let us take a look at the film's real star. Tom Hanks may play a very credible Professor Robert Langdon, but it is Rome itself which is the real star of the film. The action takes place over five short hours and the hero's quest is to find a link across Rome, through some of its most beautiful churches, to find out where a bomb is hidden, and to save the lives of the four Cardinals along the way. One of those churches, Santa Maria della Vittoria, is worthy of a film to itself. Inside the church is one of the most beautiful sculptures ever made by man, and never surpassed as a Baroque masterpiece, fusing human emotion and religious devotion at the same time. Visitors from across Rome flock to the church to see the beautiful sculpture inside. Maybe Angels and Demons will only make it even better known. Gian Lorenzo Bernini made his fortune working for the Church, but had fallen out of favour when a new Pope, Innocent X, ascended to the Papal throne and wished to be rid of the more secular excesses of his predecessor, Pope Urban VIII. A more mature Bernini was thus commissioned in 1652 to create a statue for the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. The church was begun in 1605 and is the only church in Rome designed and completed by the early Baroque architect Carlo Maderno. It was built for the Religious Order known as the Discalced Carmelites and was originally dedicated to Saint Paul, but after a military victory in Bohemia in 1620 the church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Victories). The interior of the church has a single wide nave, with three interconnected side chapels. It would be one of these side chapels, the Cornaro Chapel, that Bernini used to such magnificent effect. The chapel originally had an image of Saint Paul in Ecstasy, but Bernini chose an obscure event from the autobiography of Saint Theresa of Avila, the one who had refounded the Carmelite Order in Spain and given it new life. She had been canonized as the first Carmelite saint only recently in 1622. His commission was called Saint Theresa in Ecstasy, and it shows the precise moment of spiritual ecstasy when Theresa is supposedly in communion with God Himself. Anyone who has visited Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome will have seen the bronze Canopy, or Baldachino, which stands above the High Altar. Designed by Bernini, it is a superb example of Baroque genius. The four bronze pillars twist and turn upwards, the very essence of Baroque, which suggests movement and shows it off to brilliant effect. Saint Theresa in Ecstasy is perhaps Bernini's greatest work. Made in white marble, the whole piece almost melts before the viewer's eyes, allowing the swirling folds of the saint's clothing to lead upwards towards the experience of religious ecstasy on her face. To our left stands an angel holding a golden spear, which has pieced her heart. The expression on the saint's face, consumed as she is by the experience, caused many to criticise Bernini for making it too voluptuous, almost sexual, in tone. The Cornaro Chapel in which she reclines is an explosion of coloured marble, metal, and detail. The church itself is quite dark and Bernini has used the effect of light very cleverly filtering though a window above the saint, underscored by gilded rays, making the sculpture the very first thing that anyone sees on entering the church.. To underline the dramatic nature of the event being portrayed, Bernini created on the side walls of the chapel, in boxes as if at the theatre, life-size sculpted portraits of the male members of the Cornaro family, who are present and discussing the event taking place before them. Muslims read in the Holy Qur'an in Surat At-Tauba: Those who believe, and emigrate and strive with might and main, in Allah's cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of Allah: they are the people who will achieve (salvation). Holy Qur'an 9:20 Just like the Cardinals who elected the new pope last week, most of us are neither angels nor demons. Most of us sit somewhere in between. In reality, most of us don't achieve greatness in our lives by performing grand actions. Most of us won't appear on the television or be awarded a medal for jumping the highest or the furthest. Most of us, in fact, will live very ordinary lives. Perhaps the message of Bernini's Saint Theresa, though, is that all of us can be touched by God's grace and in this way live lives that can be quite extraordinary because of the intentions which motivate them. We don't have to be religious for truly beautiful things to teach us something about the Creator. Whether or not we have seen the film or read the book Angels and Demons we can all try our best, striving onwards and upwards all the time to be better people. Like Saint Theresa in Ecstasy we can all experience God in our lives. Maybe it won't come as some great earth-shattering experience. But then again, most of the time, God's work in our lives often goes unnoticed. We are usually too busy to see what is right before us. Sometimes it takes a film or a book to alert us to what is right before our eyes. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, teaches at Al-Azhar University and is the author of nine books about Islam. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com, join him on Facebook at Idris Tawfiq Page and listen to his Radio Show, “A Life in Question," on Sundays at 11pm on Radio Cairo 95.4 FM.
