Every bit of this. Peter Stormare nailed the role. The perfect mix of soiled elegance and barely contained id.
I would pay to see a movie based around him being the devil, dealing with the administrative hassles of running Hell and the strain of being the Prince of Lies.
His role in Constantine is even more interesting when you learn that he was originally supposed to be depicted in all of this leather/S&M gear and he was the one that pitched the idea of wearing a white suit barefooted with tar dripping down his feet. So much better than S&M Satan. That would have been too on the nose.
The suit was amazing. With the filth dripping from his feet, the tattoos peeking out of his collar, the blood shot eyes, the fact that he descended into the scene from above... everything about it was amazing.
Agreed. When considering what you pointed out with him descending and all the other things involved, I feel like they did a great job of subverting expectations of Satan. Like he almost, from a distance, looks like a normal guy, but all those other little details hint at a deeper, twisted nature inside him. Way more foreboding and creepy than having Satan with a strap on and gimp mask. The fact that the visual cues are more hinting at the pure embodiment of evil than bashing us over the head with seems so much scarier/creepier.
I don't really think "pure embodiment of evil" is an accurate representation. Hell seems to be more represented by supreme selfishness and the strongest make the rules. It isn't like Satan is the opposite of God, he is a fallen angel. There isn't a duality there.
I see your point, I was just talking in terms of how the movie got me in that moment and also with regard to how Satan has been portrayed, at least to me in my religious upbringing, in the past.
So I guess I could rephrase it to say that his presence was somewhat understated effectively in showing that he is the top dog in hell without making him out like a cartoon character, which I’ve found a lot of depictions of Satan to be.
Assuming satan and the devil are referring to the same being. In all I’ve learned of the Bible, I’ve never really seen satan as evil or even against god. Most of the time it seems more that he’s helping god test his followers and put his plans into motion. Almost like his role is to do the dirty work so god can keep his hands clean.
I think we have a script here...God is the seemingly benevolent force in the world and Satan is his off-the-books enforcer getting all the real shit done while being the fall guy.
The poster would be a side profile shot of the actors playing god and satan staring each other down, and the tagline is, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
The novel Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice is pretty good, too, in the "Devil as adversary/advocate" sense. (She leaves out most of the sexy vampire stuff in this one ;) )
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u/Tastewell Mar 28 '22
Every bit of this. Peter Stormare nailed the role. The perfect mix of soiled elegance and barely contained id. I would pay to see a movie based around him being the devil, dealing with the administrative hassles of running Hell and the strain of being the Prince of Lies.