The film reflects nicely on the way in which cultures can, through lack of practice, simply lose customs or rituals of hospitality and prayer. In both Stranger than Fiction and Book of Eli, an intervention from above and outside the linear, horizontal flow of events disrupts and reshapes the story. But this means that a standard way of thinking of storytelling, with beginning, middle, and end seamlessly integrated, will be inadequate for Christian stories, into which a transcendent author can enter at any moment. Such disruption of the vertical by the horizontal is a pervasive feature of one of the most profound but also most forbidding films of recent years, Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life (2011). On one level, this is a story about a family recovering from the death of one member—the memories and joys and regrets that loss provokes. On another level, this is a story about the place of human persons in the entirety of the created cosmos. The film is
an ambitious artistic exploration of questions rarely formulated by religious believers: How are we to think about cosmology, about the place of human existence in the capacious orders of time and space? What does it matter to God or even to us that we occupy a speck of seemingly insignificant space in an incomprehensibly vast universe? This makes the Psalmist’s question even more weighty: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4). The lost customs of hospitality are on display in the engrossing film Of Gods and Men (2010), based on a true story of Trappist monks living in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria until an Islamic fundamentalist group threatens their community during the Algerian civil war. The monks lead lives of prayer and service, especially medical, to the local Muslim community. They practice the Christian art of hospitality. As the threat becomes imminent, the
monks must decide individually and communally whether to flee or stay. Through their lives, viewers come to appreciate the extraordinary cost of providing ordinary hospitality to others. Some scenes underscore the Eucharistic character of the monks’ lives, the way in which they discover that the story they’ve fallen into is the story of Christ’s sacrificial offering of himself to the Father on our behalf, a story that stretches back before Christ to the covenant with Abraham and even to the foundations of the created universe. That calls to mind a scene from Tree of Life, in which a son asks his mother, “Tell us a story from before we can remember.” Those, as Frodo observes, are the stories that really matter. ■ THOMAS HIBBS is currently Distinguished Professor of Ethics & Culture and dean of the honors college at Baylor University. Selection from Faith & Film: A Guidebook for Leaders (Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 253–254, 256. Reprinted with permission.
Faith and Film: A Guidebook for Leaders The Church is called by Christ to proclaim and explore the Gospel. In every age Christians have used current art forms in this task—from frescoes and carved sarcophagi of the catacombs to the glittering mosaics and stainedglass windows of the cathedrals and the magnificent Renaissance paintings in chapels and homes. In our task of spreading the Good News we still need all the help we can get—and that help could be in the filmmakers who, like the Man from Nazareth, are telling stories that challenge our accepted values and inspire us with new visions. Such films are already drawing those who have not found much challenge or inspiration in sanctuaries, the young adults. It just might be, if we follow them into another place of gathering and ephemeral community, the movie
theater, we might connect with more of them than we are currently able to reach. Here’s a list of 27 films that can help young people develop “eyes that see and ears that hear” that reveal God’s messages of hope and love and can serve as a catalyst for conversation. 1. American Beauty 2. Amistad 3. Babe: Pig in the City 4. Beyond the Sea 5. Chocolat 6. The Color Purple 7. Crash 8. Dogma 9. Erin Brockovich 10. Final Solution 11. The Grapes of Wrath 12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
13. Hotel Rwanda 14. The Insider 15. The Iron Giant 16. Lés Miserables 17. The Matrix 18. Million Dollar Baby 19. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 20. Pieces of April 21. Road to Perdition 22. Shawshank Redemption 23. The Spitfire Grill 24. Tender Mercies 25. The Thin Red Line 26. To End All Wars 27. Walking across Egypt Edward McNulty’s theology of movies guidebook, Faith and Film can be found: www.wjkbooks.com
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