Cinema-Is there a Gospel message?

Stephentlig

Hi folks, as we know a lot of films contain philosophy in which we can pick out parts that really preach the Gospel message.

Lately I saw a film that did just that, but it also contained a lack of too.

Crazy Heart is the story about a worn out musician who was an alcoholic and roamed america playing for next to nothing in little clubs here and there.

the lack of... was forgiveness, as when he called his son whom he hadnt seen in years, refused to forgive him and said he never wanted to meet him.

and the positive was the desire that the Musician had to change his life and be a better man, also his lack of desire for materialism and the exchange of that for love, was also evident within the film. I felt that the film was bad in the sense that it didnt suggest to us the healing power of forgiveness that Christ gives us in the Gospel, yet was positive in the sense that it taught us to give up materialism and search for that which is more fullfilling which is love.

would anyone else here care to share a film they have seen recently that they thought conveyed an element of the Gospel message to us? or lack of?

Pax Christi
Stephen

PDN

The Truman Show.

The main character thinks his life is real, but in fact he's more of a puppet than anything else. There's a whole new life waiting to be discovered if he can overcome his blindness, muster his faith, and step through the door.

Coriolanus

And here I thought it was about a manipulative God figure that laboured to deceive his creation. :rolleyes:

The Road I thought had a quite good message. Without any spoilers, faith and trust in man's virtue win out in the end.

Genghiz Cohen

the Exorcist?

Stephentlig

Gran Torino was another film that had a very good Gospel message in it. The Catholic priest often visits him too within the film.

the Film teaches us that beneath that crust of ourselves which is the ego, Christ (love ) is forever knocking and letting us know he is there, and Clint within the film I do believe heard that knock and opened up to love.

Jesus says to give to those whom we know cant give back, and Clint certainly did that within the film when he gave the boy all he had.
he also laid down his life for them, and there is no greater love than to lay down ones life for his friends, and I'm reminded of this every time I see a crucifix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MItMDkc343M

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

krudler

Superman is one giant allegory for christ, man sens his only son to earth to act as a benign overseer as he knows we can accomplish great things but "lack the light to show the way" is raised by a simple human and then embraces his destiny to become our greatest protector, goes back to his home planet only to return to a world that carried on without him, saves us once more and even (in Superman Returns) after throwing New Krypton back into space, plummets back through earths atmosphere, with arms outstretched in a crucifixion gesture.

Manach

I agree with Plowman's assessment of the Matrix sequels (even with Monica Bellucci).
I'd vote "Shoes of the Fisherman" for obvious reasons.

Also "Serenity" : a group of people out to do the right thing, that and one of the funniest outtake lines ever - "Kaylee, find that kid who's takin a dirt nap with Baby Jesus; we need a hood ornament!" - its a contextual thing.

krudler

Stephentlig wrote: »

Gran Torino was another film that had a very good Gospel message in it. The Catholic priest often visits him too within the film.

the Film teaches us that beneath that crust of ourselves which is the ego, Christ (love ) is forever knocking and letting us know he is there, and Clint within the film I do believe heard that knock and opened up to love.

Jesus says to give to those whom we know cant give back, and Clint certainly did that within the film when he gave the boy all he had.
he also laid down his life for them, and there is no greater love than to lay down ones life for his friends, and I'm reminded of this every time I see a crucifix.

I thought Gran Torino had a pretty big anti-church message behind it, Walt clearly wants nothing to do with the priest the whole way through the movie, and he only went to church because his wife wanted him to, he sacrifices himself because only actions will speak louder than any prayers in his eyes

prinz

krudler wrote: »

I thought Gran Torino had a pretty big anti-church message behind it, Walt clearly wants nothing to do with the priest the whole way through the movie, and he only went to church because his wife wanted him to, he sacrifices himself because only actions will speak louder than any prayers in his eyes

Then you missed the point of the movie tbh. Walt's attitude towards the priest changes towards the end changing from telling him to call him Mr Kowalski to asking him to call him Walt, engaging with him properly rather than dismissing him, and he voluntarily makes his confession and wills his house to the Church IIRC before doing what he did.

Canis Lupus

prinz wrote: »

Then you missed the point of the movie tbh. Walt's attitude towards the priest changes towards the end changing from telling him to call him Mr Kowalski to asking him to call him Walt, engaging with him properly rather than dismissing him, and he voluntarily makes his confession and wills his house to the Church IIRC before doing what he did.

Before technically committing suicide *coughs*.

prinz

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Before technically committing suicide *coughs*.

Sorry I didn't realise suicide is now an anti-Church statement. :rolleyes: If you want to argue that Walt's attitude towards the priest doesn't change during the film go ahead, but you'd be wrong.

homer911

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Before technically committing suicide *coughs*.

It was more that he laid down his life for another - by offering himself as a sacrifice to the hoods, he saved his young friend

homer911

FYI, Christianity Today has a movies blog which covers films from a Christian perspective

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctmovies/

For example, the Catholic Church in Brazil is suing Columbia pictures over the film "2012"
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctmovies/2010/03/catholic-church-sues-columbia.html

JimiTime

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Before technically committing suicide *coughs*.

Oh no!! Please not the moronic 'suicide by proxy' debate.

Stephentlig

prinz wrote: »

Then you missed the point of the movie tbh. Walt's attitude towards the priest changes towards the end changing from telling him to call him Mr Kowalski to asking him to call him Walt, engaging with him properly rather than dismissing him, and he voluntarily makes his confession and wills his house to the Church IIRC before doing what he did.

good job Prinz not only that, as he is reaching for the lighter in his jacket pocket he is also praying the rosary prayer of ''Hail Mary''.:D

prinz

Stephentlig wrote: »

good job Prinz not only that, as he is reaching for the lighter in his jacket pocket he is also praying the rosary prayer of ''Hail Mary''.:D

One of the best films of the last couple of years to come from America tbh. I've watched it enough times :pac:

Canis Lupus

JimiTime wrote: »

Oh no!! Please not the moronic 'suicide by proxy' debate.

Just gentle leg pulling. No need to take it seriously.

Personally I thought the movie was pretty poor, in particular, the acting of the Vietnamese kids was attrocious.

Now Zombieland on the other hand which I saw the other night is a good movie. I'm not sure it's brimming with christian values but it does have some awesome belly laughs

Anyway I'll stop bothering you guys and let you get back to associating christian values to random movies.

Stephentlig

prinz wrote: »

One of the best films of the last couple of years to come from America tbh. I've watched it enough times :pac:

I've only seen it the once, so my memorie of exactly what goes on is quite Vague tbh.

Americas movies are rubbish these days though, I'd love to see Mel Gib do another one, maybe on the acts of the apostles or something. that'd be cool dont you think?

Pax Christi
Stephen<3

prinz

Stephentlig wrote: »

Americas movies are rubbish these days though, I'd love to see Mel Gib do another one, maybe on the acts of the apostles or something. that'd be cool dont you think?

Honestly, no, at least not one by Mel Gibson. I had mixed feelings on the Passion.. some great performances by the cast but thought it was a poor film overall.

Stephentlig

prinz wrote: »

Honestly, no, at least not one by Mel Gibson. I had mixed feelings on the Passion.. some great performances by the cast but thought it was a poor film overall.

what prompts you to think of it as a poor film? would you care to elaborate?

prinz

Stephentlig wrote: »

what prompts you to think of it as a poor film? would you care to elaborate?

It just didn't make me feel anything, didn't connect with the film whatsoever.

krudler

Stephentlig wrote: »

what prompts you to think of it as a poor film? would you care to elaborate?

Its almost pornographic levels of violence for one, you're essentially watching a man get beaten to death for almost 2 hours, Apocalypto was fantastic though. The "most american movies are rubbish these days" is a laughable statement, some of the best movies ever made have come from America in recent years, There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Zodiac, Up, to name but a few, of course there are loads of crap films, but the same can be said for any country

Puck

Plowman wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. There was only one Matrix film.

krudler

I'd be interested to know if Christians consider stuff like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as evil or the work of the devil due to the witchcraft element involved, had a look at some of those laughable christian movie review sites where apparently every movie ever made has some sort of immoral or anti christian element

doctoremma

Am I to understand that this thread is dedicated to finding bits of films that seem to encourage people to love and share and attributing these features as somehow being a gospel message? Apparently, it seems all the more convincing if there is a priest in a film?

Human beings love and share and believe in each other. You can't hijack that by saying that the director's portraying a christian message. Can you?

iUseVi

krudler wrote: »

I'd be interested to know if Christians consider stuff like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as evil or the work of the devil due to the witchcraft element involved, had a look at some of those laughable christian movie review sites where apparently every movie ever made has some sort of immoral or anti christian element

My mother thinks Harry Potter is demonic, but likes Lord of the Rings for some reason. :O But then my mother also thinks real witchcraft exists, as do all the evangelicals from my old church. *shrug*

prinz

doctoremma wrote: »

Human beings love and share and believe in each other. You can't hijack that by saying that the director's portraying a christian message. Can you?

No one is hijacking anything here, except you.

doctoremma

prinz wrote: »

No one is hijacking anything here, except you.

What am I hijacking? Presumably you are suggesting "the thread", simply because I pointed out that finding very poignant and touchingly human films or clips thereof in no way indicates the portrayal of a gospel message.

Unless the gospel message just so happens to overlap with the very essence of humanity....in which case, it's unecessary.

prinz

doctoremma wrote: »

What am I hijacking? Presumably you are suggesting "the thread", simply because I pointed out that finding very poignant and touchingly human films or clips thereof in no way indicates the portrayal of a gospel message..

If that's how you feel the good for you. I am sure there are plenty of fora where you could go and expand on that.. but well done for pointing that out, I am sure none of us would ever have considered such a complicated possibility without your input.

doctoremma

prinz wrote: »

If that's how you feel the good for you. I am sure there are plenty of fora where you could go and expand on that

M'eh, I'll hazard a guess that there's very few people on t'interweb discussing the christian message in Gran Torino, just because someone makes peace with a priest.

prinz wrote: »

.. but well done for pointing that out, I am sure none of us would ever have considered such a complicated possibility without your input.

Do I get a star?

Canis Lupus

prinz wrote: »

If that's how you feel the good for you. I am sure there are plenty of fora where you could go and expand on that.. but well done for pointing that out, I am sure none of us would ever have considered such a complicated possibility without your input.

Touchy

prinz

doctoremma wrote: »

M'eh, I'll hazard a guess that there's very few people on t'interweb discussing the christian message in Gran Torino, just because someone makes peace with a priest.

Nobody claimed there was a Christian message in GT because he made peace with the priest.. that was another issue where it was claimed the film was anti-Church throughout. Quite obviously it isn't.

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Touchy

Not touchy. Not stupid either which is what that type of post tends to imply.

doctoremma

prinz wrote: »

Not stupid either which is what that type of post tends to imply.

Eh? Where did I say that?

prinz

doctoremma wrote: »

Am I to understand that this thread is dedicated to finding bits of films that seem to encourage people to love and share and attributing these features as somehow being a gospel message? Apparently, it seems all the more convincing if there is a priest in a film?

doctoremma wrote: »

..simply because I pointed out that finding very poignant and touchingly human films or clips thereof in no way indicates the portrayal of a gospel message..

doctoremma wrote: »

Eh? Where did I say that?

Implied.

Stephentlig

doctoremma wrote: »

Eh? Where did I say that?

yet again another Christian thread has become infected.:rolleyes::p

Your coming at us with your belief Doctor emma, we are looking for the message of Jesus in films that we see. Christians believe the holy spirit works through all, whether they be Christian or not, and we look for what the Holy Spirit has to say to us through these films, we scrape the mould off ( the stuff that comes from bad spirit ) and we eat the cheese ( what comes from the Holy Spirit) but in order for you to believe in that you must have faith, which is something you obviously dont have.

So why your in this thread is beyond me.

Pax Christi
Stephen

doctoremma

prinz wrote: »

Implied.

More incredulous. I don't think any of you are stupid. I think the topic is stupid. You could find any message you wanted in any film if you looked hard enough, religious, political, whatever. It strikes me that there might be some "bagsies" going on.

Me, I think the best suggestion for a film with a godly message so far on this thread is No Country For Old Men. A perfect portrayal of an implacable, neutral, couldn't-care-less force-of-will.

strobe

The Greatest Story Ever Told has a gospel message hidden in there somewhere, it's pretty subtle but if you really look into it, it can be seen.

prinz

doctoremma wrote: »

More incredulous. I don't think any of you are stupid. I think the topic is stupid...

Yet you still felt compelled to post on it.

doctoremma wrote: »

You could find any message you wanted in any film if you looked hard enough, religious, political, whatever.

Indeed you could. There is a whole industy involved in it, but I doubt the hundreds of authors of works on this issue really need you to inform them that they are hijacking directors for example. The thread is a place for Christians to discuss movies in the light of the Christian message. Nothing more, nothing less.

It does not mean anyone here is trying to stake a claim, or "bagsies" as you put it, assuming that is just intellectual arrogance.

PDN

Anyone ever see a film starring Richard Dreyfus called "Mr Holland's Opus"? It is the story of a music teacher who believes he has a great symphony to unleash upon the musical world. However, he never quite finishes it, getting bogged down with looking after his students and caring for a deaf son.

In the end he sees the influence he has had on generations of students and realises that they are his real 'opus'.

Stephentlig

PDN wrote: »

Anyone ever see a film starring Richard Dreyfus called "Mr Holland's Opus"? It is the story of a music teacher who believes he has a great symphony to unleash upon the musical world. However, he never quite finishes it, getting bogged down with looking after his students and caring for a deaf son.

In the end he sees the influence he has had on generations of students and realises that they are his real 'opus'.

never saw it, but will put it on my list to see.

Pax Christi
Stephen<3

JimiTime

PDN wrote: »

Anyone ever see a film starring Richard Dreyfus called "Mr Holland's Opus"? It is the story of a music teacher who believes he has a great symphony to unleash upon the musical world. However, he never quite finishes it, getting bogged down with looking after his students and caring for a deaf son.

In the end he sees the influence he has had on generations of students and realises that they are his real 'opus'.

Sheesh. Talk about a spoiler!:)

krudler

PDN wrote: »

Anyone ever see a film starring Richard Dreyfus called "Mr Holland's Opus"? It is the story of a music teacher who believes he has a great symphony to unleash upon the musical world. However, he never quite finishes it, getting bogged down with looking after his students and caring for a deaf son.

In the end he sees the influence he has had on generations of students and realises that they are his real 'opus'.

Aside from Jaws is Dreyfus's career best performance imo. Dont really see where the gospel message is though

homer911

I suppose "Chariots of Fire" would have to be on the list - we even get a sermon or two thrown in

homer911

strobe wrote: »

The Greatest Story Ever Told has a gospel message hidden in there somewhere, it's pretty subtle but if you really look into it, it can be seen.

..the film where John Wayne only had one line, and he couldnt deliver that very well!

The story goes that direct George Stevens gave him 3 goes at his line "Truely, this was the Son of God" and then got annoyed - "You are talking about the Son of God here. You've got to deliver the line with a little more awe"

Cameras roll and Wayne looks up at the cross - "Aaaaaw, truely this was the Son of God"

PDN

homer911 wrote: »

..the film where John Wayne only had one line, and he couldnt deliver that very well!

Like hell he didn't!

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

PDN

krudler wrote: »

Aside from Jaws is Dreyfus's career best performance imo. Dont really see where the gospel message is though

It's about how true greatness is not found in fame or fortune, but rather in serving and empowering others. That, for those of us who follow a Saviour who came to serve rather than to be served, is at the heart of the Gospel message.

prinz

PDN wrote: »

Anyone ever see a film starring Richard Dreyfus called "Mr Holland's Opus"?

+1 Great film. I remember watching it one night into the small hours because as usual with RTE they put their best entertainment on at all hours of the night after hours of crap (but that's another issue).

prinz

krudler wrote: »

Dont really see where the gospel message is though

You're not supposed to... it's subliminal brainwashing

Zombrex

JimiTime wrote: »

Sheesh. Talk about a spoiler!:)

And then the boat sinks...