Exorcist: The Beginning

Question: Is there anyone who knows the English translation for the latin that Merrin speaks to Sara right after she dies in the end?

Answer: I do. It's just the Latin form of the Ritual Absolution in the Initial Rites from the Mass, applied to the second singular person (it is said with "us", instead of "you"), though it should not be used there with Sarah. In those situations, the proper absolution is the one that belongs to the Sacrament of Reconciliation or, instead, a simple blessing. The translation is: May Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive your sins and lead you to eternal life.

Question: Near the end of the film, when Sarah dies, where did all the blood come from? Did she hit her head when she fell after the demon was driven out? If so, why did it take so long to start gushing?

wizard_of_gore

Chosen answer: Yes. It may have taken so long because the blood was probably pooling at the back of her head, which caused her to pass out, then finally built up enough pressure to gush out of the cut or fracture at the back of her head.

Macalou

Question: Early in the movie, the cursed church is described as having been built in "5 A.D.," but the Christian religion didn't even start until close to 40 A.D. - is this a factual error, or part of the twisted plot line?

Answer: It was probably a pagan temple originally, then later converted to a Christian church.

Question: Is it just me, or does the young priests and/or Sarah's accents change from English to American as the film progresses? I'm almost sure they did, but did anyone else notice it?

Answer: Sarah is supposed to be from Poland. Izabella Scorupco who plays her is also from Poland. Chances are she didn't try to hide her original Polish accent.

Melissa Swanger

Question: Why do the hyenas attack Joseph's brother, and not Joseph? At the end of the movie we find out that Sarah is the one who is possessed by the devil, not Joseph. So how does one explain the hyenas acting like Joseph didn't exist?

Answer: Maybe Sarah has planned to to blame Joseph being possessed. At least it is how I understand it, because in that way it makes sense.

Question: When first entering the church, Father Francis wonders about the weapons depicted pointing down. What is the significance of where the weapons are pointing?

Answer: Weapons on statues in conventional churches point upwards in veneration. The weapons here are pointing downwards in an offensive gesture.

Factual error: In the very beginning of the film, the priest is walking through a battlefield that contains the bodies of Roman soldiers (they are wearing distinctive Roman uniforms and armor), which dates the battle no later than 6th century AD. He is holding a rosary in his hand, but the rosary wasn't introduced into the Catholic Church until the 13th century.

More mistakes in Exorcist: The Beginning

Sarah: Sometimes I think the best view of God is from Hell.

More quotes from Exorcist: The Beginning

Trivia: Stellan Skarsgard, at age 53 when filming this movie, is nearly a decade older than Max von Sydow was at the time of filming the original movie (age 44), but is playing a younger version of the character.

Macalou

More trivia for Exorcist: The Beginning

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