“God
has a problem — he wants the
original Ten Commandments back,
but as no Angel is allowed to go to Earth
to get them the Angels have to arrange
for a special being to be created who is
capable of the task in this enjoyably
oddball film, The Discovery Of Heaven...” DISAPPOINTED WITH MAN, God decides to take back the Ten Commandments.
No Angel is allowed to set foot on Earth, so The Discovery Of Heaven
follows The Angels' plans to create a being astute enough to find the
Stone Tablets and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order return them
to Heaven. The Angel Gabriel (Jeroen Krabbe) is supervising and he and another
Angel — known only as Angel (Viv Weatherall) — have
been working on the project for over ninety Earth years.
The Angels will stop at nothing to get The Covenant back to God — including
interfering in the lives (and arranging deaths) of mortals and even arranging
the First World War in order to get the two sets of grandparents of the future
child together to get the right genes and the right DNA and to start the preparations.
Apparently by coincidence, on Earth Max Delius (Greg Wise) — an astronomer
who believes he is on the brink of discovering Heaven and who is the son of
a Nazi father and a Jewish mother — meets former Prime Minister's son Onno
Quist (Stephen Fry: Wilde). Onno is an eccentric linguist who has just been
awarded an honorary university doctorate for deciphering the Etruscan language.
He has a possible career mapped out in Politics and wants to discover life.
Astounded to find out that they were both born in November 1933 and appear to
have been conceived on the same day, Onno and Max declare themselves 'Cosmic
Twins' and quickly become close and inseparable friends.
Into their lives comes Ada Brons (Flora Montgomery), an accomplished young cello
player. Max falls in love with her and she moves in with him. Onno already has
a girlfriend, Helga (Emma Fielding) but when Max goes away (at the secret instigation
of The Angels) to find out more about his father — who betrayed his mother
to the Nazis and was himself executed when Max was 12 years old — he returns
to find that Ada has moved in with Onno.
Ada is asked to perform in Havana, where she becomes pregnant, but she is not
sure whether Onno or Max is the father. Still The Angels scheme to produce their
Envoy and they cause a series of misfortunes and tragedies as they bring about
the birth of the blond-haired, lapis lazuli blue-eyed child, Quinten.
The boy rapidly begins to develop as a very special and very gifted child who
hears voices and sees the spirit of a dead racehorse. But is he the chosen one
and will he be able to complete The Angels' task? How will he find The Ten Commandments
where so many others have failed?
The Angels live in Heaven in a Gothic structure where Ravens are their companions.
The Discovery Of Heaven is an intriguing and extraordinary story that is skilfully
woven around the suspect machinations of Heavenly beings and the disasters they
wreak on Earth as they try to control Man. From Holland, Quinten finds himself
in Italy and then in Jerusalem where he has a most startling revelation. It
is fantastic, but you need to watch this film with an open mind.
The Discovery Of Heaven also features Diana Quick as Sophia Brons; Harry
Landis as Poet/Guide Ibraham; Maureen Lipman as Angel 1; and John Franklyn Robbins
as Onno's Father. The film is Produced by Ate de Jong; The Screenplay is by
Edwin de Vries; and the Director is Jeroen Krabbe, who also plays The Angel
Gabriel. The Discovery Of Heaven is based on the novel by Harry Mulisch.
The film was also the 'Best Screenplay of a Feature Film' winner at the 2002
Netherlands Film Festival.
• The Discovery Of Heaven will be released
on DVD by Eureka Entertainment on 24 November 2008. Certificate: 15 | Running
Time: 127 Minutes | RRP: £15.99 | Extras: Extra Visual Effects Material | Deleted
Scenes and Trailer.
"The Discovery Of Heaven is an intriguing and extraordinary story that
is skilfully woven around the suspect machinations of Heavenly beings and the
disasters they wreak on Earth as they try to control Man… It is fantastic, but
you need to watch this film with an open mind" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“God
has a problem — he wants the