Film and Faith

Excerpt

Almost everyone goes to the movies-including Christians. Recognizing this, the authors present a unique resource to help believers engage and enjoy films of faith. Included are resources for understanding and discerning the Christian message relevant to thirty-three recent movies now available in video or DVD formats. This unique book examines topics such as racial reconciliation, forgiveness, and service through films such as Planet of the Apes; Billy Elliot; Life is Beautiful; The Truman Show; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

A great resource for pastors, youth group and small group leaders, Christian educators, and believers who enjoy renting and reflecting on movies will love this resource for both teaching and personal enjoyment.
     

In a postmodern age, life is often perceived in terms of difficult paradoxes and contradictions, which seem irreconcilable with a Christian understanding of human existence. In this book, Robert K. Johnston uses film criticism as a medium of dialogue between the ancient and the postmodern, analyzing how both the Book of Ecclesiastes and such contemporary films as American Beauty, Magnolia, and Run Lola Run present life's beauty despite its pain and apparent futility.

Johnston argues that there should be a two-way dialogue between Christianity and film, one informing the other. Through its recognition that both Ecclesiastes and today's movies understand something of the hard reality of life, this book presents a challenge to the common assumptions that the Bible is too heavy-handed to be applied usefully to movies and that cinema is dangerous to faith. Rather, Johnston argues that Christians ought not shrink from the fact that life and the life-like material presented in movies are not always neat and tidy. Unike many contemporary Christian film critics, Johnston employs a "reverse hermeneutical flow," beginning by using popular culture as it is presented in film to achieve a better understanding of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Only then does he turn the argument and use the biblical text to see more clearly what movies present to the public. Johnston uses this form of criticism to explore the themes of life and death, chance and choice, loneliness and connection, and God's presence and absence as they are presented in Ecclesiastes, modern films, and human life.
     

Interview

Also included are questions to encourage further reflection, a suggestion for a hymn, and a brief prayer. Ideal for individual or group study, Praying the Movies II will bring the seemingly disparate worlds of the Bible and film together, helping readers to understand each in new ways.

Films discussed include American Beauty, Babe, Chocolate, The Color Purple, Erin Brockovich, Fried Green Tomatoes, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Remember the Titans, Secrets and Lies, To Kill A Mockingbird, and more.
     

Excerpt

Excerpt

The millions of people who loved The Matrix understood that it was much more than just an action adventure movie. Audiences gravitated toward the film because it made a statement about life. The Gospel Reloaded rushes headlong into The Matrix, exploring the trilogy's intricate details, religious undertones, and eclectic philosophies. These aren't movies you just "watch." They are postmodern epics, full of meaning and metaphor - deserving of serious inquiry and contemplation. Get inside the collective minds of the Wachowski brothers. See how even the minute details - from Neo's name to Thomas Anderson's room number - yield secrets to better understand the film. The movies call us to seek and find. Read how the themes of The Matrix call you to your own spiritual revelation. Ask of your own life; what's real and what's a mirage? Then you'll discover just how deep this rabbit hole really goes.