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Catholic Studies

Journal of Religion & Film

Articles 1 - 24 of 24

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, And Demonic Belief, Sena Nurhan Duran Apr 2024

The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, And Demonic Belief, Sena Nurhan Duran

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Joseph P. Laycock and Eric Harrelson, The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, and Demonic Belief (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2023).

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Punishment, Rubina Ramji Jan 2024

Punishment, Rubina Ramji

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Punishment (2024), directed by Øystein Mamen.

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The New Boy, Sherry Coman Oct 2023

The New Boy, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The New Boy (2023), directed by Warwick Thornton.

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Natalia, Dereck Daschke Mar 2023

Natalia, Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Natalia (2023), directed by Elizabeth Mirzaei.

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Benedetta, Richard S. Ascough Sep 2022

Benedetta, Richard S. Ascough

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Benedetta (2021), directed by Paul Verhoeven.

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Maharaja's Children, William L. Blizek Apr 2022

Maharaja's Children, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Maharaja's Children (2022), directed by Tomasz Stankiewiez.

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Nothing Compares, John C. Lyden Apr 2022

Nothing Compares, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Nothing Compares (2022), directed by Kathryn Ferguson.

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Medieval Saints And Modern Screens: Divine Visions As Cinematic Experience, Stephen Okey Oct 2021

Medieval Saints And Modern Screens: Divine Visions As Cinematic Experience, Stephen Okey

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Alicia Spencer-Hall, Medieval Saints and Modern Screens: Divine Visions as Cinematic Experience (Amsterdam University Press, 2018).

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Revising Mary Queen Of Scots: From Protestant Persecution To Patriarchal Struggle, Jennifer M. Desilva, Emily K. Mcguire Mar 2021

Revising Mary Queen Of Scots: From Protestant Persecution To Patriarchal Struggle, Jennifer M. Desilva, Emily K. Mcguire

Journal of Religion & Film

Since Mary Queen of Scots’ execution in 1587, she has become a symbol of Scottish identity, failed female leadership, and Catholic martyrdom. Throughout the twentieth century, Mary was regularly depicted on screen (Ford, 1936; Froelich, 1940; Jarrott, 1971) as a thrice-wed Catholic queen, unable to rule her country due to her feminine nature and Catholic roots. However, with the rise of third wave feminism and postfeminism in media, coupled with the increased influence of female directors and writers, Mary’s characterization has shifted from portraying female/emotional weakness and religious sacrifice to female/collaborative strength in hardship and a struggle against patriarchal prejudice. …

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Rebel Hearts, John C. Lyden Feb 2021

Rebel Hearts, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Rebel Hearts (2021), directed by Pedro Kos.

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A Hidden Life, Sherry Coman Oct 2019

A Hidden Life, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of A Hidden Life (2019), directed by Terrence Malick.

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Corpus Christi, Sherry Coman Oct 2019

Corpus Christi, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Corpus Christi (2019), directed by Jan Komasa.

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Between Idealization Of A Martyr And Critic Of A Society: Analysis Of Axel Corti’S "Der Fall Jägerstätter", Jakub Gortat Oct 2019

Between Idealization Of A Martyr And Critic Of A Society: Analysis Of Axel Corti’S "Der Fall Jägerstätter", Jakub Gortat

Journal of Religion & Film

The new film approach to the figure of Franz Jägerstätter by Terrence Mallick in 2019 is an occasion to take a critical look at the first movie about the Catholic martyr that was made by the Austrian director Axel Corti in 1971. Although the movie turned out be to a huge success and until now is viewed as one of the turning points in coming to terms with the Nazi past in the Austrian film history, it idealizes, against the director’s intentions, the protagonist and preserves some of the characteristic elements of the history discourse of the times it was …

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Screening Religiosity In Contemporary Polish Films. The Role Of Religious Motifs In Visual Communication., Mariola Marczak Dec 2018

Screening Religiosity In Contemporary Polish Films. The Role Of Religious Motifs In Visual Communication., Mariola Marczak

Journal of Religion & Film

In the paper the Polish contemporary cinema has been explored as a vehicle through which films can reflect and communicate social issues, such as religiosity of Polish society, the character of it, the ways of expression and values promoted by it. The main components of modern Polish religiosity are shown as they are exhibited in film works perceived as part of modern visual culture. The examination also comprises most frequently and typically tools used for communicating or revealing the transcendent sphere in the contemporary Polish films, such as Christ-figures - including apocryphal ones and parables. They are considered as a …

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Ask The Beasts Of The Southern Wild: Exploring Human Identity As Beast, Being And Beholder In Ask The Beasts: Darwin And The God Of Love And Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Stephanie Cherpak Clary Dec 2018

Ask The Beasts Of The Southern Wild: Exploring Human Identity As Beast, Being And Beholder In Ask The Beasts: Darwin And The God Of Love And Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Stephanie Cherpak Clary

Journal of Religion & Film

Anthropocentrism and hierarchical dualism together encourage a dangerous anthropology where human primacy among creation and the prioritization of certain humans leads to destruction for all. During a time when suffering caused by climate change continues to intensify, it is increasingly important to find compelling ways to share the stories of those who suffer most. I will explore how Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012) contextualizes the ecofeminist theology found in Johnson’s Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love (2014), specifically the idea of humans identifying as beasts, beings and beholders. Furthermore, I will discuss how the representation …

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Novitiate, Joshua Canzona Apr 2018

Novitiate, Joshua Canzona

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Novitiate (2017) directed by Maggie Betts.

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Scorsese’S Silence: Film As Practical Theodicy, Ian Deweese-Boyd Sep 2017

Scorsese’S Silence: Film As Practical Theodicy, Ian Deweese-Boyd

Journal of Religion & Film

Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence takes up the anguished experience of God’s silence in the face of human suffering. The main character, the Jesuit priest Sabastião Rodrigues, finds his faith gutted by the appalling silence of God as he witnesses the horrific persecution of Christians in seventeenth century Japan. Yujin Nagasawa calls the particularly intense combination of the problems of divine hiddenness and evil the problem of divine absence that resists resolution through explanations that have typically characterized the theodicies offered by philosophers. Drawing on the thought of Ignatius of Loyola, this essay explores the way …

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Still Banned After All These Years- Retracing The Journey Of Cavani’S ‘Revolutionary’ Galileo (1968)., Silvia Angeli Sep 2017

Still Banned After All These Years- Retracing The Journey Of Cavani’S ‘Revolutionary’ Galileo (1968)., Silvia Angeli

Journal of Religion & Film

“Revolutionary” and “scandalous” are adjectives the late Ettore Bernabei, General Director of Italian State Television (RAI) from 1961 to 1974, used to describe Liliana Cavani’s Galileo (1968) in a 2005 interview for Corriere della Sera. Such harsh judgment reflects the undiminished hostility of a significant branch of Italian Catholicism toward the film. The fact that almost 50 years after its release Galileo has yet to be broadcast on public television despite being commissioned by it unequivocally confirms this hostility. Based on primary sources such as press articles and archival sources, this article chronicles Galileo’s incredible journey through …

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Verónica, Kyle Derkson Sep 2017

Verónica, Kyle Derkson

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Verónica (2017), directed by Paco Plaza.

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The Little Hours, Frederick Ruf, Kathryn Wade Sep 2017

The Little Hours, Frederick Ruf, Kathryn Wade

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Little Hours (2017), directed by Jeff Baena.

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Beatriz At Dinner, Kevin V. Dodd Sep 2017

Beatriz At Dinner, Kevin V. Dodd

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Beatriz at Dinner (2017), directed by Miguel Arteta.

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Silence, Caesar A. Montevecchio Apr 2017

Silence, Caesar A. Montevecchio

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Silence (2016), directed by Martin Scorsese.

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I Dream In Another Language, John C. Lyden Jan 2017

I Dream In Another Language, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of I Dream in Another Language (2017), directed by Ernesto Contreras.

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Seeing The Light, Hearing The Call: Women Religious As Spectators And Subjects Of Popular Nun Films, Maureen A. Sabine Professor Apr 2016

Seeing The Light, Hearing The Call: Women Religious As Spectators And Subjects Of Popular Nun Films, Maureen A. Sabine Professor

Journal of Religion & Film

Though popular films like The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), The Nun’s Story (1959), and The Sound of Music (1965) have routinely been criticized for circulating polarized stereotypes about nuns, convent memoirs indicate that some women felt the stirrings of a religious vocation from watching these movies. This article arose out of interest in whether other women heard God’s call through nun films, and is based on a survey of 86 sisters from 28 different communities who had entered the convent between 1947 and 2007, and were prepared to discuss what they saw in these …

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