The Catholic Church are complaining again, this time about Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Filmstalker review) for being, let's see, "anti-papist propaganda".

Apparently they are annoyed that it was a misrepresentation of the Church and falsifies history. Two things that the Catholic Church never did.

The story comes through Digital Spy who reveal that the Vatican backed historian (and for that read biased) Professor Franco Cardini said it was an...

“...anti-papal travesty...”

He also added that its misrepresentation of the Church was...

“...continuous and very dire...”

He went onto write that:

“A film which so profoundly and perversely falsifies history cannot be judged as a good film.”

Well it matters little as the film wasn't that great anyway, but that's not the point. The “historian” continues with non-historic rants about the film and his belief that it is biased against the Church, saying that it is demonising the Church and portrays the Catholic King of Spain as a...

“...ferocious, fanatical Catholic swinging his rosary like a weapon.”

Heaven forbid that there's any blood or negativity in the past of the Church, or in the present. Let he who is without sin and all that stuff.

However Digital Spy manage to get a quote from the Director, Shekhar Kapur, who seems surprised at the reaction:

“It's actually very, very deeply not anti-Catholic. It is anti extreme forms of religion. It's anti an interpretation of the word of God, which can be singular.”

I thought it had a larger political message than religious, but then I am someone who has strong views against all organised religion.

Have you seen the film and what do you think? Is it anti-religious, more political than religion, or just a film and perhaps there out to be more that the Catholic Church should be concerned about on this planet?

I would love to see someone create a film about the foundations and operations of the various organised religions, a very non-religious view that looked at real historical fact. Then they would have something to shout and complain about.