Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie

Mr E

This is getting a limited release in Ireland in September (translation: probably just the IFI and/or Lighthouse), but it looks terrific.

I hope it appears outside Dublin, I really do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjwfVCiefM

Zombienosh

Love Louis theroux and hope this gets a cinema release

Duggy747

Feels like I've been waiting to see this for ever.

maximoose

Friend saw it a few months ago in Canada and has been raving about it since, really looking forward to this.

It's been a long time, alright. Wonder when we're going to see the rebuttal documentary by Scientology against Theroux.

intheclouds

Finally!!! Really looking forward to this!

endacl

^^

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We'll be in touch...

Agent Coulson

I love Louis so much and can't wait for this.



Also I'd really love to see the Scientology documentary on Louis.

razorblunt

Brilliant, i had no idea this was even in the pipeline.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

"Are you making a documentary as well?"

I love Louis - this will be a must see for me, so I'll be keeping a closer eye on the IFI listings in the lead up to September

Ipso

Deleted User wrote: »

Wonder when we're going to see the rebuttal documentary by Scientology against Theroux.

Very soon, Xenu willing (and a truck load of cash).

jaykhunter

Really looking forward to this. IFI got back to me saying Oct 7th hopefully

https://twitter.com/IFI_Dub/status/759066420772761601

but there's nothing about it on their site (yet).

bkrangle

It was mentioned a while back that the release in Ireland is complicated by our blasphemy laws

http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/Louis-Theroux-confirms-My-Scientology-Movie-is-finally-getting-a-theatrical-release/380909.htm

Frank Bullitt

I wonder if I will be able to catch this here in Vancouver, ill keep my eyes out.

x Purple Pawprints x

Really wanted to catch this but there's only one showing close enough and I'm working late that day.

irishgeo

bkrangle wrote: »

It was mentioned a while back that the release in Ireland is complicated by our blasphemy laws

http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/Louis-Theroux-confirms-My-Scientology-Movie-is-finally-getting-a-theatrical-release/380909.htm

is Scientology classified as a religion in Ireland?

A_Sober_Paddy

So no mainstream cinema gonna show it? In limerick and we only have 3 and they are chains

emo72

are the cinemas afraid?

EmmaMurray2016

Love Louis can't wait to see this

isntlee

This'll be great fun

Pudsy33

Rumours on twitter tonight suggesting this won't get an Irish release at all due to our blasphemy laws

Nervous Wreck

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Rumours on twitter tonight suggesting this won't get an Irish release at all due to our blasphemy laws

Wouldn't bet on that. Our (bullshît) blasphemy laws have clear exemptions for film, art etc.

Basq

As I mentioned in general Louis Theroux thread, the movie is getting a VOD / DVD release in Oz next month so that's OK our best bet now that it won't be shown here.

https://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/37478/louis-theroux-my-scientology-movie

Arghus

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Wouldn't bet on that. Our (bullshît) blasphemy laws have clear exemptions for film, art etc.

Have to agree. It sounds like a good story but I doubt our laws are going to be responsible for whether the film let's a theatrical release here or not - surely you could justify the film on artistic grounds in any case. I'd imagine hard "will it turn a profit?" thinking will decide if it plays or not.

Nervous Wreck

The story doing the rounds now is that distributors may be afraid to pick it up for Irish distribution in case they get fined... Surely they could just ask...

tigger123

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

The story doing the rounds now is that distributors may be afraid to pick it up for Irish distribution in case they get fined... Surely they could just ask...

If I remember correctly, one of the controversial points on our bullsh*t blasphemy laws is that it only becomes an offence once a person/group decides to take offence to what's being said. So, they could show the movie, no one makes a complaint and nothing happens. Or, alternatively, they show the movie, a complaint is made and it therefore becomes an offence that you've already shown the movie.

Basq

maximoose

tigger123 wrote: »

If I remember correctly, one of the controversial points on our bullsh*t blasphemy laws is that it only becomes an offence once a person/group decides to take offence to what's being said. So, they could show the movie, no one makes a complaint and nothing happens. Or, alternatively, they show the movie, a complaint is made and it therefore becomes an offence that you've already shown the movie.

And if there's one group who love a complaint/lawsuit.....

Arghus

Good article from Donald Clarke in The Irish Times about how the whole story is a load of nonsense:

A bizarre fog of rumour has clouded around the decision by Altitude Film Distribution not to release Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie in Irish cinemas. News organisations have suggested the distributor is concerned the documentary, which finds Theroux investigating that controversial “church”, may fall foul of the nation’s blasphemy laws. At least one newspaper argued that the film “could be banned in Ireland”.

In fact, any prosecution for blasphemy would be close to impossible. The Irish Film Classification Office has not refused certification on a theatrical release – the closest thing to a ban under the current legislation – in more than a decade and has not yet considered My Scientology Movie.
“It’s a non-issue for us. Because it hasn’t been submitted to us,” Ger Connolly, the Director of Film Classification, told The Irish Times. “This notion of being ‘banned’ in abstentia is ludicrous.”

Is blasphemy a consideration when issuing a certificate? “The opening line on our website states we believe the public should, within the law, be free to view what they choose,” Connolly says. “It would be wrong of me to say that we don’t consider it. It would be accurate to say it hasn’t arisen yet.”
The story says more about the dynamics of modern media than the state’s unsettled business with blasphemy law.

In May of this year, reporting on Altitude’s acquisition of My Scientology Movie at Cannes, the website Entertainment.ie (part-owned by The Irish Times) wondered if the Church of Scientology, a famously litigious organisation, might use the blasphemy laws to stop the release.

Last weekend, Graham Spurling, managing director of the Movies@ chain in Ireland, tweeted about rumours concerning the film’s possible suppression. “Regret that after much trying [My Scientology Movie] will not get an Irish release. Our blasphemy law to blame?” he said.

The Defamation Act 2009 defines an indictable criminal offence of “publication or utterance of blasphemous matter”. Conviction can result in a maximum fine of €25,000.
Phone calls to Altitude, the UK-based distributor of such admired films as Amy and Green Room, initially failed to generate any response. Eventually a gnomic statement arrived. “Altitude Film Distribution currently has no plans for a theatrical release of My Scientology Movie in Ireland, and has no further comment to make at this time,” it read. It is not unusual for British distributors to release films only in the UK.

Meanwhile, Louis Theroux, the mischievous British documentarian who has previously reported on such terrifying bodies as the Westboro Baptist Church, had retweeted a more recent report on Entertainment.ie. “Wow, bummer … Looks like My Sc’tology Movie won’t get an Irish release due to blasphemy laws,” he added.

Yet, to this point, there had been no formal confirmation from the distributor that they were concerned about blasphemy. The story reached an acme of absurdity when the Daily Star suggested: “My Scientology Movie Could Be Banned in Ireland due to Blasphemy Laws”.

The prestigious British magazine the New Statesman magazine then picked up the story. “Is Louis Theroux’s new film ‘banned’ in Ireland?” it asked (using giveaway inverted commas). It’s hard to ban a film that nobody is seeking to release.
Dr Neville Cox, associate professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, told The Irish Times:

“There are three reasons why the blasphemy laws are of no relevance here.” It is significant, he agrees, that the state does not define the Church of Scientology as a religion with charitable status.

“Secondly, for blasphemy it has to deal with issues held sacred by a religion and, thirdly, there is an exception within the blasphemy laws for something that is of literary, political, artistic or scientific merit. There is no way a documentary could not fall under that.”

In My Scientology Movie, Theroux works with Mark Rathbun, a former church official, to create dramatic reconstructions of alleged incidents involving David Miscavige, current leader of the Church of Scientology. The church responds by placing Theroux and his team under close surveillance.

Were those represented unhappy with their depictions then a potential action for libel would be of more concern than any attempted blasphemy conviction. A 2015 documentary on Scientology, Alex Gibney’s Going Clear, had its broadcast delayed on Sky TV due to concerns about the libel laws in Northern Ireland.

This week’s chatter has, however, focused almost exclusively on the blasphemy legislation. Professor Cox explains: “My view is the 2009 act fulfilled a constitutional obligation on the crime of blasphemy, but skilfully rendered the law completely unenforceable. I am not saying that was the intention.”

My Scientology Movie opens in the UK on October 7th. It will be broadcast on the BBC at a later date. The inflated controversy will do the film no harm at all.

maximoose

IFI replied to me on twitter

They had originally said they were planning some screenings from Oct 7th back in July, asked if this was still the case..

Hi guys. Unfortunately, there are no immediate plans to show it here.

Boo.

bren2001

maximoose wrote: »

IFI replied to me on twitter

They had originally said they were planning some screenings from Oct 7th back in July, asked if this was still the case..



Boo.

Well the film has not been sent to the IFCO so nobody can show it here. Not in the hands of the IFI.

Radiosonde

bren2001 wrote: »

Well the film has not been sent to the IFCO so nobody can show it here. Not in the hands of the IFI.

IFI can hold members only screenings of unrated films.

EmmaMurray2016

Louis is on bbc2 now Saville

maximoose

Shame we won't have a chance to see it on the big screen.

In other news

GreNoLi

Mildly amusing, nothing groundbreaking, will watch anything with Theroux.

DVD-Lots

Just watched it last night, not a Theroux fan but I did enjoy it. Going Clear was a better film imho but this is worth watching just for the bats$1t crazy squirrell hunters. NVTS nuts.

intheclouds

I watched it, didnt think it was great.

Mostly just that there was nothing new, nothing we havent seen to do with scientology in other documentaries and I felt it was a bit full of filler as opposed to journalism.

Basq

Yeah, thought it was OK. Prefer Louis's docs instead of "making a movie about making a documentary in which they're making a movie"..

alastair

Poor film tbh. Not vintage Louis by a long shot. Best bit is the strange accidental cameo by Paz de la Huerta. He should have made the documentary about her. There's been far better Scientology docs than this already - it brings nothing new to the table, and it's pretty much devoid of his trademark revelatory conversations.

StupidLikeAFox

alastair wrote: »

Poor film tbh. Not vintage Louis by a long shot. Best bit is the strange accidental cameo by Paz de la Huerta. He should have made the documentary about her. There's been far better Scientology docs than this already - it brings nothing new to the table, and it's pretty much devoid of his trademark revelatory conversations.

It seemed lime he was laying the groundwork for some revelation but it never came, felt a bit flat as a consequence.

Was expecting something to come out about the main ex scientologist he was interviewing, or that he would at least get him talking about the **** he got up to, but it never came. There was a vague idea that he wasn't telling the full story, but we never got it in the end anyway. Was ok overall, but nothing new

Idioteque

I was very disappointed with My Scientology Movie, probably more so because I was excited by the idea of Theroux making a movie on Scientology. Not a patch on Going Clear in my eyes.

It did have a few moments but overall it felt to me that Theroux didn't really know where to go with it when he didn't have 'inside' access that he did with some of his other great documentaries. Instead it felt to me like he thought he'd have a go at the person who enabled him to even have any semblance of insight - Marty Rathbun.

I cringed at a few points where the cringe was not the usual "Jesus, did he really just ask that question..I wonder will Louis now get punched in the face" but instead felt like a poor tabloid 'investigative' reporter clutching at straws to try get a scoop. Rathbun came across as someone who's had to battle and is currently battling some demons but is trying to set things right.

Apparently the book that the film Going Clear was based on is meant to be a great read, if anyone hasn't had their Scientology fascination fulfilled.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

I watched this last night...I'm a huge Louis fan...but this was terrible. A movie about making a movie about Scientology, wut? Considered turning it off half way through it was so bad.

Idioteque

Found this interesting post from Marty Rathbun's blog on the background to how he got involved in the film...

https://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/louis-therouxs-scientology-movie/

tigger123

Watched it on Friday and enjoyed it. It should be watched after Going Clear though, which is better.

Masala

The Honey Monster wrote: »

I watched this last night...I'm a huge Louis fan...but this was terrible. A movie about making a movie about Scientology, wut? Considered turning it off half way through it was so bad.

Ya.. Watched it myself and found it very disappointing. Nothing new to be seen here.... Not up to Louie usual high standard. don't know what the hype about is about!!!!

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Masala wrote: »

Ya.. Watched it myself and found it very disappointing. Nothing new to be seen here.... Not up to Louie usual high standard. don't know what the hype about is about!!!!

Extremely disappointing

PressRun

I think the problem with it is that Louis' filmmaking and interviewing style relies on a certain level of trust between him and the people he's interviewing. He needs to actually be close to his subjects in order to get the best material. Scientology is so guarded and distrustful of everyone that it's impossible for him to really get close to them to employ the kind of gonzo-style journalism that he's good at. His talent for getting people to open up is really wasted on these folk because they are openly hostile and never wanted to talk to him in the first place. It's hard to make a documentary that relies on the personal if those involved don't want to co-operate.

Chain Smoker

So... what in the name of Christ was that Tom Cruise stuff about?!

Skerries

the best bit was a panto scene about a ****ing road!?

It's a public road
no it's not
yes it is
no it's not
yes it is....

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

It really was awful

El Horseboxo

To me it views like he set out to make a documentary about scientology but didn't get what he wanted as he couldn't interview anyone still in it. Decided to can the documentary but said screw it and just released whatever random scenes had already been filmed. It was just all over the place and don't really get why it was released. Surely he didn't have that final product in his head when he set out given how good his other work is. Not being able to interview anyone still in it was never going to suit his style.