Movie review: Bloodline

by John P. Meyer

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Whether you buy into the film's outlandish claims and questionable evidence or not, it tells a compelling story - in dramatic cloak-and-dagger fashion.

Much of the evidence captured on film in director/writer Bruce Burgess' Da Vinci Code-themed documentary, Bloodline, appears to be simply preposterous.

I'm talking about a tomb discovered in France by an amateur English archaeologist (more of a treasure hunter, actually, judging by his snatch-and-grab technique) who goes by the name Ben Hammott - which turns out to be an anagram of "The Tombman," under which moniker he posted pictures of his - um - discoveries on the web. In this tomb (which only he knows the location of), "Ben" found - by means of lowering a video camera through a narrow passage - a cloth shroud painted with a (very bright red) cross, laid out over a mound of some sort - which we eventually discover to be a mummified corpse. Which he ("Ben") concludes is probably the body of Mary Magdalene.

Let's back up a bit, because there's a long and twisty road leading us to this conclusion. It begins when filmmaker Burgess (who's previously made films about Area 51, the Bermuda Triangle and a Bigfoot cousin hanging out in Oklahoma) decides to see whether he can finagle his camera crew into the secretive and semi-mythical Priory of Sion. This outfit is mentioned in Holy Blood, Holy Grail and elsewhere as the sect responsible for disseminating (in their own arcane and illogical fashion, and in their own bloody good time) the truth about the life (and death) of Jesus. They are also charged with keeping a handle on the apocryphal relics which will serve to back up their revolutionary claims - once the public is ready to receive them.

Or so the story goes.

When Bruce and his camera guy, Sebastian Rich, perform guerrilla interviews in shadowy locations with a variety of truly intriguing-looking characters, they are at the top of their form. Take Gino Sandri, who purports to be the current headman of the Priory of Sion. This fellow, who speaks to them through an interpreter, has piercing brown eyes and an enigmatic way of smiling as he drops hints about what sorts of things are true in relation to the Jesus-and-Mary-chain bloodline story.

Even more compelling (from the standpoint of enigmatic) is a mysterious British chap named Nicolas Haywood, who sits calmly during his interviews looking like the cat who ate the Catholic canary. NIc's a spokesperson for the Priory, and his approach to information dissemination amounts to the old "getting colder... getting hotter!" routine: when Bruce asks him whether there's evidence yet to be discovered in Rennes-le-Château, for instance, he smiles his Mona Lisa/Norman Bates smile and says, "oh, yes."

After the film team partners up with "Ben Hammott," however, any veracity that's been established for what they're doing begins to flutter towards the dangerously-open window. Because this guy - Hammott - appears to be such a faker. We see him employing his tape measure to establish apparently random distances on walls in the Church of Mary Magdalene, and then using his decoded conclusions to locate various treasure clues buried in wine bottles around the village. And the paper these clues are written on looks awfully well preserved, from a simple film guy's point of view.

Furthermore, "Ben Hammott," though he's characterized as an amateur archaeologist, employs the most destructive recovery techniques ever captured on film. Here's hoping he never wanders onto an actual historical dig site without a handler armed with a cattle prod.

As an entertainment, Bloodline can certainly be said to work, in the fashion of a better-than-average episode of Ghost Hunters. And there's the added element of cloak-and-dagger intrigue thrown in to spice up the mix: at one point director Burgess ponders over the fact that one of his future interviewees has just died suspiciously - of a cerebral hemorrhage, no less - a method that has been previously established as a common one for bad guys (presumably Catholic agents) to induce via poison.

Here are other story elements touched upon during the course of the 113 minute production:

* Vatican archives

* Coded works of art

* Freemasonry

* Treasure chests

* the CIA - Vatican connection

* dowsing

If you're the kind of person who can enjoy a good episode of Ghost Hunters without actually believing in ghosts, then check out Bloodline. It's a fun watch.

THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY: "We were waiting for someone like you to come along." - Nicolas Haywood to Bruce Burgess

WELL, OBVIOUSLY!: "I think if it were true, it would be in the Bible." - street interviewee, re. the Jesus-Mary marriage claim

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