Em Nome de Deus

Good enough movie, great story. Abelard and Heloise share one of the great love stories of history. Throw in the religious environment of the middle ages, the clergy's sacred vow of chastity, and a life long enforced penitence, not to mention the unmentionable punishment for any male, and you have a worthwhile film if at all well-made, which this one is. It's a shame that more meaningful movies like this one can't be made available to the American public. The U.S. version has been cut of some sexual content to avoid an R rating, but the love scenes are still erotic and moving. Period costuming also add to the color and enjoyment of 'Stealing Heaven'. As an added bonus, you get philosophical and theological argument and debate. A really worthwhile film overall.

This movie is a must see for romance fans. It has glorious love scenes, fantastic plot, and characters that are very well developed.

An historically-based film focusing on the romance between Abelard and Heloise which highlights two philosophical outlooks on life.

Abelard, though a first-class thinker, accepted the premise of the Church--that one's life belongs to God, that sex is evil, that happiness on earth isn't possible. But yet he acted against that premise--he fell in love with a woman of reason: Heloise. Abelard's implicit premise, the one he subconsciously held, was in fact pro-life and pro-earth. He loved Heloise because she reflected the things he valued most deeply: Intelligence, beauty, and happiness. But since those things are not valued but are in fact derided by the Church, Abelard believed that his feelings for Heloise were wrong, were worthy of guilt.

Heloise, on the other hand, never accepted the anti-life, anti-pleasure, anti-earth philosophy of the Church. She scoffed at religion, challenged its teachers, and refused to accept things on faith. She held reason, beauty and happiness in high esteem. She saw in Abelard a reflection of her highest values, and, consequently, she acted to gain those values. She never felt guilty about her love for Abelard. She never apologized. She never wavered.

The movie is wonderful because it demonstrates two contrasting philosophical views on life. But since the predominant view in Abelard's and Heloise's time was based on faith, mysticism and obedience to authority, unfortunately life, happiness and love were casualties. Watch this film with your lover and say a word of thanks to REASON, FREEDOM, and SCIENCE that you two don't live in the atmosphere that those two did.

I find myself in total agreement with BlackMonk. This is the ultimate philosophical love story. It attempts to answer the age-old question: What is the purpose of life? Is it to serve God, as Abelard thought, or to pursue happiness on Earth, as Heloise believed?

The film makers do a brilliant job of setting up the dramatic conflict between these two views of life. The writing, dialogue, direction, and acting are all first rate. This is one of the greatest movies ever made, and one of history's greatest love stories! Kim Thompson should have received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Heloise. She was Heloise.

It amazes me that one little film gimmick, a feather, could be used so brilliantly to help answer one of life's eternal questions. Make sure you pay close attention to the opening scene, one of the greatest scenes in movie history.

Enthralling!

Guiltily enjoyable, in a quasi-historical, smutty kind of way. The soundtrack was pretty heavy-handed, and the dialogue didn't inspire, but it's a steamy, pretty piece of fluff. [A waste of Denholm Elliot's talent, though.] It has a "made for late-night premium cable" feel.