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Engaging with Culture :: Film – Part III
Finally I want to put forward 9 ‘world-view questions’ we can ask of a film to try and identify how the story is being told. I’ve also included some film titles that I think illustrate these particular points.
1. What does the film reflect about being human? (Million Dollar Baby; Schindler’s List)
2. What kind of universe exists? Is it naturalistic or supernaturalistic? (Donnie Darko; Star Trek)
3. How does the story reflect history? Is it fatalistic or do choices determine history? (Sliding Doors; Twelve Monkeys)
4. How is evil portrayed? (Hannibal; Taxi Driver)
5. Does existence have meaning? (Collateral)
6. How does the film deal with the issue of justice? (Kill Bill; To Catch a Fire; Gladiator)
7. How does it reflect relationships? (The Last Kiss; The GodFather; Heartlands)
8. Is there redemption in the film? Who needs saving? Who is the Messiah? (Whale Rider; The Matrix)
9. Does the story have hope when looking to the future? (The French Connection; Lord of the Rings)
Engaging with culture :: Film – Part II
Making Connections – The Film’s Story and God’s Story
The Bible’s story could be summarised under the following headings:
Creation/Fall/Redemption/Consummation (or Fulfillment)
In fact everyone understands their story in this way, whether they relate it to the Bible or not. Everyone sees somewhere they have come from (creation), recognise that there is something that needs dealing with (fall), they see something or someone as the one who is going to deal with that problem (redemption) and have hope that this will finally deal with the issue (consummation).
For instance, take your average business man in the west. The ‘problem’ many people want solving is that of identity. They want to know who they are and their place in the world. They want to be recognised for who they are an affirmed. The way they think they will get this is through working hard. This will gain them the desired recognition and approval. This, they hope will give them worth and standing. Work is their functional saviour. Perhaps the ‘consummation’ will come when they reach the top of their profession. Read the rest of this entry »
Hi everyone.
This is the first of three seminars I gave at our church on Engaging with Culture. The first is largely borrowed from Andrew Fellows’ talk which can be found at http://www.bethinking.org/resource.php?ID=250 – well worth having a listen to.
Hope you find it useful!
Engaging with Culture :: Film – Part I
Engaging with film
It doesn’t take much looking around to recognise the huge impact of film on modern, western life. From the movie celebrities who ’sell’ products to us simply by being pictured holding them to the magazines that fill our shelves telling us the latest, dirtiest story about an actor, whether true or not.
Cinema attendance is on the increase after a slump around the advent of TV in the 1960’s, while technology for watching films at home has progressed significantly. You no longer have to travel to a video shop to get the latest film – you can have it delivered straight to your door by one of a number of companies now renting out movies. The pub trade has steadily struggled as it has to compete with entertainment that is easy to get and doesn’t take much effort in engaging with.
When a film celebrity dies, like the recent death of Heath Ledger, it makes national news. Quote a line from the latest film and you can almost guarantee a conversation revolving around further quotes and analysis of the story of that film.
If it weren’t for film how many of us would know what it meant to ’sleep with the fishes’? Who doesn’t respond when you say the immortal lines ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far far away…’?
