Kevin Smith has stated that the reason his 1999 religious fantasy/comedy Kevin Smith’s filmography being available on a streaming services, Dogma remains a conspicuous blank spot, meaning anyone who wants to watch the film needs to search for alternative methods.
Dogma follows Bartleby and Jay & Silent Bob), a muse named Serendipity, and Rufus, a black man and the unrecorded thirteenth apostle. Smith, who was raised as Catholic, used the film to explore problems he had with his own faith, asking questions but not presuming to offer any answers, instead intending audiences to make up their own minds about the issues he raised.
Harvey Weinstein, it will unfortunately most likely stay that way.
As well as being absent from streaming platforms, Dogma has also been unavailable on home media for many years, with online retailers having long since sold out their stock without the film ever receiving a re-release. As a result, the only available copies are sold second hand on online marketplaces that often require import, and whose owners frequently demand extortionate prices, making watching the film an even more complicated and expensive undertaking.
It’s a shame the complexities of rights issues leave Smith with no control over Dogma’s distribution, as he would presumably make the film available in a heartbeat were he able to, and with streaming being how much of media consumption now takes place, the film’s unavailability it is a frustrating absence. November marks twenty years since the film’s debut in cinemas, which would have been perfect timing for an anniversary edition that looks back on the film’s production and the careers of its stars, in particular its central duo of Matt Damon, who although are now box office draws, at the time were merely “those two guys from Good Will Hunting.” Additionally, as the contemporary US is increasingly required to bend to the will of people’s religious beliefs, the film’s examination of the true purpose of faith could not feel more relevant.
Source: Kevin Smith
