Barsotti, Catherine M. and Robert K. Johnston. Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 2004. 320 p., $ 14.99 (USD). ISBN 0-8010-6481-3.
[1] This is a handbook for anyone interested in starting
a reflection group on film and faith, and can be used to prepare
church activities and private meetings. The introduction explains
the relationship between film and faith, using some of the
insights of co-author Johnston’s Reel Spirituality (Baker,
2000), and attempts to convince even the most skeptical Christian
about the use of movies as a means for debating faith-related
issues today. After the introduction, ten pages propose some
criteria to better read and use the book. Even if this work
seems mainly (and successfully) addressed to American Protestants
and Evangelicals, its particular perspective and practicality
make it useful for other English-speaking faith communities.
[2] The thirty-three movies examined are grouped in thirteen
chapters, each focusing on issues such as “affirming
our humanity,” “embracing our vocation,” “forgiveness,” and “renewing
the church.” Each film is presented in five steps: “Synopsis
and Theological Reflection” (usually also providing the
context in which the authors experienced the movie); “Dialogue
Texts” (four or five scriptural quotations that may highlight
a debate between the movie and the bible); “Discussion
Questions” (helping to start the discussion among the
viewers); “Clip Conversation” (suggested film clips);
and “Bonus Material” (extra information about the
movie). Each film comment also suggests faith-related issues
in the film other than the chapter’s theme. In “Bonus
Material,” there is also a report on how the movie has
been received by both film festivals and at the box office,
thus reminding us that other people watched it before and that
cinema is a productive industry as well as an art.
[3] The diversity of the thirty-three films is particularly
noticeable: they vary not only in genre—there are even
two animated features, Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001)
and The Iron Giant (Bird, 1999)—but also in context,
since a good number of them cannot be considered typical “Hollywood” movies.
The suggestion of watching films such as Life Is Beautiful(Benigni,
1997), No Man’s Land (Tanovic, 2001), Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000) and Italian for Beginners (Scherfig,
2001) is an appropriate way to show one of the traits that
cinema shares with the church: its universality (catholicity).
Another reason to praise this choice is that the American reader
(to whom the book is mainly addressed) is not usually accustomed
with non-English speaking movies (in this respect, it is interesting
that the publisher’s handout accompanying the review
edition erroneously states that among the movies examined in
this volume are Planet of the Apes and The Truman
Show). Nevertheless, there is some imprecision regarding
non-English words, e.g., in the discussion of Italian for
Beginners, the name of the character Mortensen and of the
Swedish actress Lena Olin are respectively anglicised as Mortenson
(214) and Lina (298); “foreign” letters receive
the same treatment (Hallström becomes Hallstrom, 298-306).
[4] Among the movies covered two
were directed by Peter Weir—The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) and Fearless (1993)—the
main director presented in Johnston’s Reel Spirituality. Thus
it is most appropriate that, in the present book, co-author
Barsotti comments on Weir’s films.
[5] Even if the authors state that watching a movie is
a viewer-oriented experience, they stress the fact that “we
must have eyes to see,” thus linking the narrative of
a movie to the narrative of Jesus. The “Faith and Doubt” chapter,
by commenting on Signs (Shyamalan, 2002) and K-Pax (Softley,
2001), addresses with great delicacy the subject of fear and
faith, especially linked to 9/11, introducing thus the great
potential of redemption and healing to be found in cinema and
the arts in general.
[6] Another notable chapter is “Embracing Our Vocation,” which
analyzes The Rookie (Hancock, 2002), about a man who
strives to fulfill his childhood dream, Billy Elliott (Daldry,
2002), about a young boy who wishes to become a ballet dancer,
and The Apostle (Duvall, 1997), where a Pentecostal
minister works hard for the glory of God before the police
arrest him for a crime he had previously committed. The combination
of these three films on the theme of vocation is appropriate,
since all of these characters struggle both with their communities
and their inner doubts and weaknesses. Moreover, by encountering
a concept of vocation that is not strictly religious, “lay” readers
will feel more involved in the discussion of the theme.
[7] On four occasions, the authors
suggest how to juxtapose two specific movies, but readers
may go further and do the same with other films, considering
them together according to the suggested faith related issues.
Moreover, in most comments the book suggests other movies
to watch, thus guiding the reader or the film-and-faith-group
in a journey through recent cinema.
Peter Ciaccio
Sarum College
Salisbury, UK
pciaccio@sarum.ac.uk
