Angels & Demons - what's fact, what's fiction?

Watched Angels & Demons tonight for the second time, and found myself intrigued by how much is real and how much is fake, having got into a debate with someone who was arguing it was almost all fiction, including some of the locations. Where they got that information from I have no idea, as a moderate amount is demonstrably factual - the locations, for a start!

Antimatter. Yes, this exists, but in nowhere near the quantities used in the film. I'm also relatively sure that there's not enough present in the container to cause an explosion that large (1kg of antimatter colliding with 1kg of matter would have an equivalent energy potential to a 50ish megaton nuclear bomb, although lots of that energy would be lost). The movie explosion isn't anywhere near that size, but it seems to be far too small an amount even for the size of explosion we see. Anyway, the basics are valid - antimatter causes big explosions if you've got enough. Actually storing anything like the amount we see is pretty much impossible though, although the method they use (electromagnetic) is right. Beyond a certain quantity though, the particles of antimatter are repelling each other, so would start overcoming the magnetic storage. Short version - while antimatter's being created, it's so enormously expensive and hard to come by/store that there's no bomb threat on the horizon. Part fact/part fiction.

The Illuminati - while a group called the Illuminati existed for a while, formed in 1776 (after the alleged events of La Purga from the film, which I'll come to), it was basically just a group of philosophers, scientists and the like, with no anti-church sentiment. Any information beyond that dives into conspiracy theory with no evidence either way, so anyone stating with certainty that the Illuminati definitely exist and are trying to control the world/overthrow the church/anything else is basing it on next to nothing. Pretty much the only thing used in the film that's verifiable is the name - dates and activities are at best conjecture, and most likely just made up. And why not - this is fiction, after all. Fiction.

La Purga, as I mentioned before. In the film this is stated as being in the 17th century (I think) when the Catholic church branded 4 Illuminti with a cross and executed them. There doesn't seem to be any evidence for this whatsoever - not least, as stated above, the Illuminati didn't exist at this point. Yes, yes, you can start throwing arguments around like "maybe they existed secretly", but then you're getting into pure conjecture, and that's not what this is about. If you want to start making use of the word "maybe" then why are you after distinctions between fact and fiction? The facts are facts, the fiction may be something that really happened in secret, but it's not based on actual evidence, hence...fiction. So anyway, the Catholic church didn't take on the Illuminati, BUT that's not to say that over its history it hasn't had the occasional period of taking on scientists generally - the Inquisition tortured and killed a few, and people like Gallileo and Copernicus had great problems with their scientific work coming up against the teachings of the church. So plenty of conflict, but this specific incident didn't happen. Fiction.

The Great Castration, as I believe it's referred to in the movie, is the removal of visible genitals from statues by Pope Pius, and their replacement by figleaves. While the specifics may be up for debate, there's definitely a history of paintings and statues having their genitals covered up by figleaves, and occasionally being restored to their original appearance later. So while Pope Pius might not have actually hacked off a load of penii (there's a word I don't often use), the odds of him or someone going around doctoring statues to a greater or lesser extent carries a degree of weight. Fact (loosely)..

The Vatican Archives got debated too - a point I couldn't really see the argument with, as even if they're a fictional creation, so what? Hardly the most offensive thing in the world, and well within the realm of general movie construct. Regardless, turns out the Vatican does have extensive and well-documented archives (around 52 miles of shelving - they've even got their own website, from where the picture comes), some of which are open to the public (well, scholars, if you know what you're after), while there are also some secret archives not publicly accessible. Many documents are sealed for 75 years to protect the information within them, or the people they refer to. While the actual appearance of the low-oxygen rooms is movie-ised to make for a decent escape sequence, it's within the realms of possibility that rooms like that exist to protect more delicate documents. Fact.

Galileo's "Dialogue" - it's a real document that was banned by the Vatican for about 200 years. While Robert Langdon might need to see the original for any clues to the path, I can't see any reason why he'd have problems finding a copy as research for his book, as it's now freely avaiable in a variety of forms. Fact.

Locations and statues - this was the point which set me thinking, after my debating partner alleged the movie made up a church or two. This seemed wrong, but not knowing for sure, I felt I should check. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all locations and statues in the movie are genuine, and are recreated faithfully (recreated because the church denied filming in the actual places after The Da Vinci Code controversy - one or two places might be bigger or smaller than reality due to the constraints of set size and the need for fitting in filming equipment). The Chigi Chapel, where the "earth" victim is found, does have the floor mosaic we see in the movie. Not sure whether it's a cover for a crypt below or not. The image of the wind in Saint Peter's Square is a real thing, as is the Santa Maria della Vittoria, where the "fire" victim is found, and the Fountain of the Four Rivers where the final cardinal is saved, is genuine too. Even the hidden passage between the Vatican and the Castel Sant'Angelo is real - the Passetto di Borgo. Constructed to look like a defensive wall in 1277, but it contains a corridor linking the two buildings. Fact.

Last but not least, tied into the locations and the "Dialogue": The Path of Illumination. Pure fabrication - while the statues exist, with arrows, fingers, etc. pointing in the directions we're shown, there's no evidence that there are clues in Galileo's book to start people on a secret path, or that a path exists. To be honest, the idea of creating a "secret" path which is actually relatively well documented seems self-evidently a bit ridiculous. Fiction.

I think that's most points - I would say raise any questions in the comments section, but I still haven't got one. All in due course. Hopefully this has proved relatively elightening, and the next time you get into a debate with anyone who's trying to argue Angels and Demons is based on real events, you can let them know the difference between the fact and the fiction. Personally I enjoyed the movie and can't see why anyone would be offended by it, as it doesn't invent or change anything particularly dear to anyone. Even the official Vatican newspaper didn't take offense - dismissing it as "harmless entertainment" and complimenting the recreations of areas off-limits to filming as "magnificent."

The one exception might be any particularly religious surviving relatives of Bernini, who's portrayed as a secret Illuminati, conspiring against the church, when in reality he was most likely just a gifted sculptor. Then again he died in 1680, so perhaps they should let it go.