What happened to Harold Angel's soul?
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thomas-begen — 11 years ago(November 28, 2014 02:45 PM)
I didn't realize any two year-olds were killed during the shooting of this film. I suppose you are right that Angel's soul would have been judged accordingly if there's a God. Favorite is several sins deep in Hell: murder, theft, incest, and who knows what else.
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thomas-begen — 11 years ago(November 28, 2014 04:37 PM)
Also, I hear what you are saying. But I meant the question most literally than Angel's soul likely went to Heaven. I suppose I'm interested in what is ultimately unknowable in the film: What took place the night Favorite abducted Angel? He cut out his beating heart, and ate it, thus stealing his body? There's a whole voodoo background to this film I'm trying to make sense of but which probably doesn't have a sensible answer. But the voodoo element plays a crucial role in why "Angel Heart" is so intriguing.
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disinterested_spectator — 11 years ago(November 29, 2014 09:17 AM)
By Johnnys ritual, the real Harold Angels soul went to Hell, while Johnnys soul was thereby saved. Hopefully, when Johnny broke the spell when he broke open the vase, his soul was then damned, while Angels soul was released from Hell.
I dont think Johnny got Harold Angels body. The ritual only involved finding a substitute soul. -
thomas-begen-194-976045 — 11 years ago(December 24, 2014 04:15 PM)
Interesting point. I'm not sure I agree Angel initially went to heaven or hell, or that Favorite's soul was saved. As far as I remember, Favorite was greatly disfigured; hence, he needed a new body. Plus I believe Favorite took Angel's body for the simple reason no one seems to recognize him. Am I wrong? It's been a while since I watched the movie but I got that much from it.
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disinterested_spectator — 11 years ago(December 24, 2014 07:04 PM)
My understanding is that Johnny and Toots Sweet perform the ritual on the soldier before the war. During the war, Johnny is disfigured, and spends time in a hospital. Krusemark and his daughter Margaret get him out of the hospital and drop him off in a crowd on New Years Eve where Johnny and Toots had picked up the soldier. It is their hope that this will cure him of his amnesia. In other words, several years elapse between the ritual murder of the soldier and Johnnys being released into a crowd by Krusemark. The soldiers body would have long since deteriorated.
If this is right, then the damage to Johnnys face was only enough to make him look different, or that some reconstructive surgery was done while he was in the hospital.
I wrote a review on this in which I present the events chronologically, if you are interested:
http://www.imdb.com/board/10092563/reviews-244
I wrote it in a dogmatic style for the sake of brevity, though I am well aware that much of it is subject to debate. -
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Naughty-God — 9 years ago(July 03, 2016 12:08 PM)
From what I gathered from multiple viewings is that Johnny's soul remained intact and it was the body of the dead soldier he inherited through the black magic ritual. That's why Cyphre (Satan) has Johnny motivated enough to murder everyone involved with the body transfer even though as Harold Angel he doesn't see himself as the perpetrator.
Perhaps it was believed by the parties involved that Johnny Favorite could inherit a new soul and start all over again vis--vis murdering the soldier and taking his soul in exchange, but like all things with mortal men you cannot trick a higher power, not even one of God's fallen servants.
I think a better twist for the movie (I never read the book) was to reveal the soldier as a clean shaven DeNiro and that would explain the whole jumbled mess Harold finds himself in towards the end. You don't need the sin of murdering the soldier to count against him, you just need all of the lives Harold took along the way to cover up his charade. -
Urmelita — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 09:26 AM)
The way I see it, the ritual transferred Harry's soul into Johnny's body, so the two actually share it. By and by, Johnny lets Harry be the one in charge, kinda hiding behind his soul, so the devil won't find him. But he's always there in the background, without Johnny knowing it, and ready to "take over" when some action is needed to cover his tracks.
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Drooch — 9 years ago(November 02, 2016 02:13 AM)
The devil tells Rourke that the hideous murders he committed to cover his tracks were 'guided by my hand, of course', so Johnny can't have been successfully 'hiding' during any of the events in the film.
When Rourke has his well acted 'I know who I am' moment at the end, I wonder if that's a genuinely confused Harry, or Johnny in denial? It's all rather complicated and not clearly explained, but basically works because the film is awesome.