“The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is a horror, courtroom drama film based on the real story of Anneliese Michel. At the same time, the film does not fully mirror the real story of the life and illness of Anneliese Michel as well as her treatment and trial over people which were accused in the negligent homicide. In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the case of Anneliese Michel was very important since it related to the application of the exorcism, as a religious ritual, which has little in common with the scientifically based medical approaches to the treatment of mental health disorders. However, the case of Anneliese Michel was not as simple as the punishment of people involved in the death of Anneliese Michel. In this regard, the film reveals the full extent of the controversy evoked by the case of Anneliese Michel. In fact, the film depicts the case of Emily Rose, the character which stands for Anneliese Michel in the film, as the conflict between the modern science and medicine and the traditional religious beliefs and exorcist practices, which were applied to the main character of the film and eventually led to her death. But the film remains the question whether her death was caused by exorcism and malpractices of the priest, which deteriorated her mental state and refusal from medical treatment, or probably she was really possessed by demons. In such a context, the film defines the major question the audience has to answer on watching the film whether exorcist practices can be applied and whether they are truly effective and safe to patients’ health.
At the same time, from the beginning, it is important to stress the striking difference between the film and the real case of Anneliese Michel. In fact, the film tends to the mystification of the case of the main character, Emily Rose that leads to the formation of a view on exorcism as a true alternative to conventional medical practices and the medication of the patient. In such a context, the film shifts the emphasis from the danger of exorcism and its irrelevance to the efficient treatment of patients with mental health problems toward the possible positive effect of exorcism. In other words, the film presents the medical treatment of the main character by health care professionals and exorcism conducted by the priest as two, practically equal methods which can be applied to Emily Rose. In this respect, the real case of Anneliese Michel was quite different since, a priori, exorcism could not be perceived as an alternative to the medical treatment since health care professionals diagnosed her mental health problem and defined the course of treatment, which was supposed to help the patient to overcome her problems or at least minimize the risk of the further progress of mental health problems. This means that Anneliese Michel had to be treated by health care professionals and interference of priests and exorcism did not only intervened into the course of the treatment, but, as health care professionals defined, exorcism had a negative impact on the development of Anneliese Michel health problems and, what is more, led to the death of the patient, or, at least, exorcism became one of the causes of the death of the patient. In such a way, the principal difference between the film and the real case of Anneliese Michel lies in the perception of exorcism, because, in the real life, exorcism could have never been applied if it exposed the patient’s health and life to any threat, while, in the film, exorcism is positioned as an alternative, which is practically equal to the medical treatment of Emily Rose or even more efficient.

In this respect, it is possible to refer to numerous examples, when the film focuses on the mystification of the case of Emily Rose, while the medical diagnosis of her case remains unclear. In fact, the film presents the case of Emily Rose in such a way that the audience can never be certain whether Emily Rose suffered from a mental health problem or problems or probably she was really possessed by demons and needed to undergo exorcism in order to save her soul and her life. Naturally, the film lays emphasis on mysticism of the story because it is an effective stylistic element which can draw the attention of the audience and evoke a strong interest of viewers to the film. The film keeps the audience in suspense since, until the end of the film, it is unclear whether Emily Rose was mentally ill or she was possessed by demons. Even after her death and the end of the trial, the audience cannot be certain on the actual cause of Emily Rose’s problems. In such a way, the film ends with the main question being unanswered. Apparently, the director of the film attempted to raise the problem of exorcism and its possible conflict with the actual medical practices, but he leaves up to the audience the answer to the question he raised in his film.

In this regard, the numerous references to mystic elements of Emily Rose’s story tend to make the audience more inclined to accept exorcism as a possible “treatment” of people who have problems similar to those of Emily Rose. For instance, when flashbacks return the audience to the past experience of Emily Rose and the first time when she met what she believed to be demons, the audience can hardly fail to be confused. In fact, the film shows how doors open and shut by itself several times, how Emily is pressed down by some invisible force and how her covers roll themselves down (Derrickson, 2005). On viewing this episode from the past of Emily Rose, the audience would naturally doubt in the diagnosis of her case made by health care professionals. The latter diagnosed epilepsy and psychosis in Emily Rose that is actually similar to the diagnosis of Anneliese Michel, who also suffered from psychosis and depression.

However, the film does not debunk the mystic elements of the story of Emily Rose. In stark contrast, on depicting more and more details from the life of the main character, the film raises doubts in the correctness of the diagnosis made by health care professionals. Obviously, the audience can hardly believe in the logic of healthcare professionals when the medical diagnosis turn out to have little in common with what the film presents as real facts, but these facts do not always refer to the case of Anneliese Michel. For instance, being possessed by demons in the course of exorcism, Emily Rose speaks several languages, including ancient Greek, Hebrew, German and others, which she presumably could not have known. On the other hand, the director avoids slipping to sheer mysticism and maintains the audience’s doubts providing some logical explanations to mystical facts. For instance, the fact that Emily spoke different languages was explained by her study of German in high school and her acquaintance with Catholic Catechism, from which she could have learned some phrases in ancient Greek, Latin and other languages (Derrickson, 2005). As a result, the audience remains uncertain in the clear diagnosis or definition of the problem of the main character till the end of the film.

Obviously, the director widely implements mysticism to enrich the film stylistically, introduce interesting details which can attract the audience, but, in actuality, the case of Anneliese Michel was quite different from the case of Emily Rose. In fact, Anneliese Michel was not vulnerable to mysticism. Instead, her case was viewed in terms of existing legal norms and only scientifically grounded evidences were relevant in her case. What is meant here is the fact that exorcism was not considered by the court as an appropriate practice in case of Anneliese Michel. In this respect, the sentence proves the disbelief of the jury in the relevance of the concept of being possessed by demons and effectiveness of exorcism. Remarkably, the sentence was more severe than the prosecution expected, but it was less severe that the public expected – the accused were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and were sentenced to a six months suspended sentence and three years probation (Goodman, 1988).

In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that the sentence in the film is also quite different from the real life situation since the priest who conducted exorcism, Father Moore, was found guilty on a recommendation from the jury and the judge agreed on a sentence of time served. However, in the actual legal practice, juries are only allowed to answer questions specifically directed to them and the jury’s recommendations do not follow the actual legal practice in the USA. In such a way, the film makes the outcome of the Emily Rose trial unrealistic, though the punishment of the guilty is less severe than in the real life. The latter is the direct effect of the general representation of exorcism and medical treatment of Emily Rose. Unlike Anneliese Michel case, the film depicts a case where the audience is uncertain in the negative impact of exorcism on the health of the patient, while in the real life, Anneliese Michel was diagnosed by health care professionals and her mental health problems were obvious and they were beyond doubts for the jury as well as the public (Goodman, 1981). As a result, the outcome of the trial in the film turns out to be logical, while the outcome of the real trial was perceived by the public as unjust because it was not severe enough to punish people responsible for the death of Anniliese Michel.

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the film “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”, being based on the real story of Anneliese Michel, still do not fully match the reality. At the same time, all the difference between the film and the real case of Anneliese Michel may lead to the formation of an erroneous view on the problem of exorcism. To put it more precisely, the real case of Anneliese Michel proved the danger of exorcism because it led to the death of the patient and the public was definitely against such practices since people expected a more severe sentence for the guilty. In stark contrast, the film justifies exorcism in a way. For the sake of the stylistic richness and audience interest to the film, the director introduced mystic elements eliminating the frontier between the real life, the mental health problems of the main character and the imaginary problem of being possessed by demons. As a result, the audience, fails to understand the full extent to which exorcism can be dangerous.

Works Cited:

Derrickson, S. The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Screen Gems, 2005.

Goodman, Felicitas D. How about Demons?: Possession and Exorcism in the Modern World. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1988.

Goodman, Felicitas D. The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel. Eugene: Resource Publications, 1981.

Getler, Micheal. “Cries of a Woman Possessed : German Court Hears Tapes in Exorcism Death Trial” The Washington Post, April 21, 1978.

Klotter, J. & Ingram, J. Criminal Evidence. Cincinnatti: Anderson, 2004.

Lewis, G. Cinematography. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Stewart, L.W. The History of American Cinema. New York: Random House, 2002.

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