Since Dogma opened in the US last week, religious protesters have been busy making placards and banners objecting to the 'blasphemous' nature of the film. But filmmaker Kevin Smith -who previously brought us **Clerks, Mallrats **and Chasing Amy - insists the movie is a celebration of faith, not an attack.
Talking to New York magazine Interview, Smith said, "I think for me the flick was my own celebration of faith. I've been hitting a lot of masses that were kind of on the boring side...It seems to me there are a lot of people in church who aren't there because they want to celebrate God more, but because they're terrified of going to hell." The film gets a screening tonight at London's mini-festival Raindance (and goes on general release on December 26), though that news has failed to spark the same kind of fury here that has erupted in the States. Organisations such as The Catholic League are at the forefront of objectors in Smiths homeland, but he gives such pressure groups short shrift. "It's an ongoing massive conspiracy of a certain small group of people who want to keep everyone just stupid, just as dumb as a bag of hammers."