Fresh and Exciting

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is a series about secrets of the inquisition. As someone who is not a historian, and only having a basic understanding of the history of Christianity in Europe (still probably more than most), I found it informative.For example, I didn't know that the inquisition spanned 600 years. And I didn't know that it existed outside Spain. And I didn't know that Napoleon tried to put an end to it. And I didn't know that it was still going on in the 19th century. And I didn't know that the current Pope held the office of inquisitor, now renamed something more publicly acceptable.The fact that the series dwells on records from the Vatican doesn't bother me. The title of the series suggests that, and the introduction to each episode makes clear that the series is based on access to Vatican records, and that even that access was limited, so we're not getting the whole story as even the Vatican knows it.However, there is slight bias in the series, tending to justify Catholic actions by blaming them on the times, while neglecting the obvious which is that religions claim to produce better people, so the defence of blaming bad behaviour on the times is invalid. One inexplicable scene minimizes the obvious torture of being immersed in boiling oil, by accepting at face value the claim that the victim was stoic and silent, and showing him that way in the re-enactment. People can endure a lot with proper training, but I simply don't believe a person can be cooked to death in boiling oil (taking 15 minutes) and not make any expression of anything.One thing people might take note of... If the Roman Catholic church, with all its power, could not censor the printing press, I think it's folly for anyone to try to censor the internet. That won't stop many from trying, but we can smile knowing they will be defeated.

I too, am disturbed when the popular media is made to serve the easy-bigotry of its creators. In this case, the historical record of the Catholic Church's repression of rivals makes a tempting target for those having pre-existing animus against the Papal See.However, history repeats itself and now it is the Catholics suffering a sort of media witch hunt, ironically. But exaggeration of the actual numbers of Inquisition victims does no service to the cause of Truth. Unfortunately, I feel the exaggerated claims of this program have trivialized the historical facts it has sought to dramatize.Likewise, I prefer verifiable sources and referenced facts to the urban legends repeated by lazy or intellectually dishonest people who defend this manipulation with further rumor mongering that states "PROBABLY greatly santised", and then (predictably) offer no citations to back up their "probable" claim.However for the thinking audience, "probable" is not enough. Transparency of the producer's methods and use of legitimate source material for any claims are the minimum consideration that this show's creator's owe its viewers.

I had the pleasure of hearing the director (David Rabinovitch) speak this past summer about not only this film but in regard to documentary film making in general. He spoke of the importance of getting the "facts" right when making films and this project (probably because of the possible emotional reactions) it was especially important to go to the source. The producers of "Secret Files of the Inquisition" were given access to actual records of inquisitions as recorded during the times. He said he was quite moved in reading records of the trials. He also felt privileged in having the Vatacan open these records to him. We all will see things from different perspectives and film makers are certainly not above putting their own spin on things. The "facts" in this film came from the archives of the Vatican. Each will have their own interpretation. I suggest this film is certainly worth a watch.

The four-part series, "The Secret Files of the Inquisition", was disappointing for its repetition of both narrative and visuals and its superficial treatment of this perverted travesty of Catholicism.The narrative was shallow: too little time was devoted to too few historians; the "company man" speaking for the Vatican was inept; credible Catholic commentators were absent.In this series. sensationalism overwhelmed serious inquiry. The iniquitous Inquisition warrants penetrating discussion. The series was a largely waste of four hours of viewing and what must have been great amounts of time, money and talent in the making.(This comment was also sent to the PBS Ombudsman.)