This politically explosive documentary delves into the mingling of religion and violence, following former Catholic priest James Carroll as he tracks the trail of blood that leads from the Crusades to America's foreign policy in the Middle East. While taking a historic view of religious fanaticism, CONSTANTINE'S SWORD also presents the very personal story of Carroll himself. Based on Carroll's best-selling book.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen
Audio:
(Unspecified) - English
Additional Release Material:
Additional Footage - 1. Introduction by Gabriel Byrne
2. Extended Scene & Outtake
Trailer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Behind the Scenes - Director's Notes
Biographies - Filmmaker Biographies
Distributor Notes: Why are intolerance, violence and war so deeply ingrained in religion?
Why did the Cross become a rallying symbol for persecution?
How does one man who loves the Church confront its history of crusade and conquest?
Constantine's Sword, the latest film by Oscar-nominated documentarian Oren Jacoby, is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, following acclaimed author and former priest James Carroll on a journey of remembrance and reckoning.
Carroll, a National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe, is a practicing Catholic whose search for the truth leads him to confront persecution and violence in the name of God - today and in the Church's past. He discovers a terrible legacy that reverberates across the centuries- from the Emperor Constantine's vision of the cross as a sword and symbol of power, to the rise of genocidal antisemitism, to modern-day wars and conflicts sparked by religious extremism.
At its heart, Constantine's Sword is a detective story, as Carroll journeys both into his own past - where he comes to terms with his father's role as a three-star General in the U.S. Air Force preparing for nuclear war - and into the wider world, where he uncovers evidence of church-sanctioned violence against Jews, Muslims, and others. Visiting the Air Force Academy, he and Jacoby expose how some evangelical Christians are proselytizing inside our country's armed forces and reveal the dangerous consequences of religious influence on American foreign policy.
Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, Constantine's Sword asks the timely question: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs?
Source: First Run Features Home Video
Featured
James Carroll: Former priest and novelist/CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
Source Writer
James Carroll: Former priest and novelist/CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
Writer
James Carroll: Former priest and novelist/CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
Writer
Oren Jacoby: Director/CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
Director of Photography
Bob Richman: Director of Photography, MY ARCHITECT (2003)
Review 1:
"At once enthralling and troubling....[The film] does about as good a job as you could hope of distilling a 750-page historical examination of religious zealotry and power into 95 minutes."
Source: New York Times
04/18/2008
Review 2:
"[I]t grasps the enigmatic flux of Christian history....Whatever your persuasion, you'll walk out enriched." -- Grade: B+
Source: Entertainment Weekly
73 05/30/3008
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