It connects with the rest of the story because it introduces the viewer to the theme of "the Demonic" from the first frame. Obviously Merrin's fearful reaction to the stone amulet of Pazuzu and the large Pazuzu statue on the hill describe his inner state. Since they convey fear, and produce fear, we know that there is "something special" that accrues to them which is evil. The museum curator acknowledges this when he says of the amulet, "evil against evil". As a Muslim, he believes that Paganism and its charms and idols are evil. But Merrin - as the story will let us know - is familiar with an even more universal evil, namely the demon he expelled some twelve years earlier.
The sense of evil and omen is not limited to the statuary at the dig. It's present in the over-loud street noises as Merrin takes tea; in the staring Arabs; in the nitro that we see him taking. He is old and has a bad heart. When the clock stops in the curator's office, it means more than a classic paranormal event presaging death: in a real sense, it means the stopping of Merrin's own "ticker".
Merrin also runs across human weakness and illness: he sees an Iraqi leading a blind or lame partner by the hand; he encounters a one-eyed blacksmith.
The omens and premonitions continue: on his way he is nearly run over by a droshky whose passenger is an old, sick-looking woman. Just before this, we see that he is being watched by a man in a tower. Omens and premonitions.
What had started as a standard archeological dig has now become a projection-carrier for Merrin's fears, specifically as the novel says, in the certainty that "soon he would face an ancient enemy". Iraq itself now reminds Merrin of the kinds of feelings he had in the African exorcism twelve years before.
Finally, the old priest confronts the Pazuzu statue, but not without first encountering rifle-toting guards. As he ascends the hill, the camera shows a single Arab staring at Merrin, while the soundtrack presents the sound of tumbling rocks: will Merrin "loose his footing"?
Then, as he faces the Pazuzu statue by the light of the setting sun, a demonic wind whips up to the tune of the frenzied growling of fighting dogs, while the soundtrack blends a guttural "MERRIN!" into their cacophony.
That's how Merrin and the Iraq prologue tie into the rest of the story. Once we see the old priest from the prologue walking in the woods, and then arrive at the MacNeil house, we realize that the story is coming full circle and that now Merrin will indeed face "the ancient enemy".
Has digging up the figurine-head somehow liberated the demon it represents
No. The demon is not confined to any time and place - it is a nonmaterial spirit entity not dependent on territorial or geographical roots. We know it is free to travel. Merrin first met it twelve years earlier in Africa - who knows where it had been in earlier centuries? Since its exorcism, it has been keeping tabs on Merrin, and Merrin is psychically linked to the demon. He intuits its re-emergence into the world and into his life while he's excavating. But the excavation itself is not a causal element in Regan's possession. It wanted a grudge match with Merrin because it did not like losing the time before. It has found another target in the person of Regan MacNeil. Merrin senses this, and goes back to the States where he starts writing another book. Events conspire to convey the bishop's message to Merrin, based on Damien Karras's exorcism request. We know how the story goes from there.
reply
share
romefan123
7 years ago
No. The demon is not confined to any time and place - it is a nonmaterial spirit entity not dependent on territorial or geographical roots. We know it is free to travel. Merrin first met it twelve years earlier in Africa - who knows where it had been in earlier centuries? Since its exorcism, it has been keeping tabs on Merrin, and Merrin is psychically linked to the demon. He intuits its re-emergence into the world and into his life while he's excavating. But the excavation itself is not a causal element in Regan's possession. It wanted a grudge match with Merrin because it did not like losing the time before. It has found another target in the person of Regan MacNeil. Merrin senses this, and goes back to the States where he starts writing another book. Events conspire to convey the bishop's message to Merrin, based on Damien Karras's exorcism request. We know how the story goes from there.
You don't know that.
What do you know??
"Cobra Kai? Say it...say it...NEVER DIES!" Karate Kid III
reply
share