2008, USA
Adventure, Documentary, Drama, History, Mystery
READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
Extended version:
Great wars can often be traced back to a division of beliefs and difference in ideology. To really set the world on fire, tear apart a religion's foundation by presenting facts that imply that a deity is in fact more human than human. Picking up where The Da Vinci Code left off, director Bruce Burgess investigates the theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and produced heirs in his documentary, Bloodline.
Shrouded in secrecy by the Priory of Sion society and attacked by the Catholic Church, Burgess constantly reminds the audience of the danger of his pursuits. Death hides around every corner which may reveal clues to Jesus' life. Or rather his death, as opposed to his resurrection. Herein lays the reason for such intense opposition to this theory of theology: if Jesus died, he is not a deity, and more specifically not the son of God. If such facts were discovered, Christianity as we know it would crumble.
Cue shocking music, dim the lights and whisper out of breath revelations into the camera. Burgess uses all the tricks of the adolescent filmmaker's trade in his search for the literal body of evidence, which should come as no surprise from the filmmaker who made "Dreamland: Area 51" and "Bigfootville." He gives the film an all-too personal point of view by continually flipping to nighttime confessionals (à la The Blair Witch Project or any reality TV show) or by showing his shocked mug when an interviewee confesses a great secret. And those secrets flow at a conveniently steady rate -- of course because that is the way the Priory members intended.
Particularly by their supposed representative, Nicolas Haywood, who is interviewed in a dark room with the light shining in his face -- a film noir exposé of Jesus, as it were. Rather than pulling out information, Burgess feeds questions in such a way that Haywood and others can simply respond in the affirmative or not, with a sly look intended to imply far more knowledge than actually held.
Burgess states that he is no archaeologist, which becomes brilliantly apparent when he allows an amateur to shamefully destroy what would be the greatest find of all time. This treasure seeker, Ben Hammott (an anagram for his online alias, The Tombman), shares personal videos of his discovery of clues left by the nineteenth century priest of Rennes-Le-Chateau, Bérenger Saunière. Each parchment uncovered looks to be freshly and badly written, and each supposedly authentic item of the period is too perfectly placed. Though Burgess presents appropriate skepticism, he never fails to jump in with both feet. He is either completely gullible or in on the hoax.
To break up the charade, certain credible-looking professionals are briefly interviewed who raise these same obvious questions. Besides, if this investigation were believable, would it not be the center of discussion right now rather than the price of gas? Or does the Pope merely have better henchmen than the oil tycoons?