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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
"We Are Legion": Primal Dreams And Screams In The Satanic Screen, Carrol L. Fry Dr
"We Are Legion": Primal Dreams And Screams In The Satanic Screen, Carrol L. Fry Dr
Journal of Religion & Film
Satan figures prominently in the Christian tradition as the ultimate Other, the enemy of our species, and he has been a central villain first in literature and now in horror films. Why viewers enjoy films that scare them is a conundrum of long standing. An explanation might come from the work of a new generation of Darwinists who have expanded on the master's findings to develop the field of evolutionary biology. Scholars in these fields believe that adaptation to the environment and survival of the fittest created not only physical forms for species but also behaviors that were adaptive for …
Climbing A Ladder To Heaven. Gnostic Vision Of The World In Jacob's Ladder (1990), Fryderyk Kwiatkowski
Climbing A Ladder To Heaven. Gnostic Vision Of The World In Jacob's Ladder (1990), Fryderyk Kwiatkowski
Journal of Religion & Film
Contemporary film-makers quite willingly employ motifs typical of various gnostic trends. The author shows that ancient gnosticism is a treasury of motifs and a source of aesthetical and narrative strategies present in contemporary cinema. The article treats Jacob’s Ladder (1990, dir. Adrian Lyne) which is analyzed through Gnostic beliefs. In the author’s opinion, this film can be treated as a model where the gnostic thought has been presented in a coherent and systematic manner.
You’Ve Gotta Keep The Faith: Making Sense Of Disaster In Post 9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema, Matthew Leggatt
You’Ve Gotta Keep The Faith: Making Sense Of Disaster In Post 9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema, Matthew Leggatt
Journal of Religion & Film
Abstract: Chronologically examining the role of faith based narratives in the Hollywood apocalypse since the mid-90s, this article charts their reintroduction in the period after 9/11. Through the study of an extensive array of contemporary films the different structures of faith they offer and an exploration of how such faith is used in order to make meaning from disaster, I assert that post 9/11 apocalyptic movies have grappled with issues of faith and meaning in a far more complex way than in the films of the 90s, questioning the value of such faith in a post-disaster world. In concluding, I …
“I Ain’T So Sure But What The Lord Done Put These Folks In Our Path For A Reason”: Latter-Day Saints Building Communities Through Dancing In John Ford’S Wagon Master, Ian Dwayne Pettigrew
“I Ain’T So Sure But What The Lord Done Put These Folks In Our Path For A Reason”: Latter-Day Saints Building Communities Through Dancing In John Ford’S Wagon Master, Ian Dwayne Pettigrew
Journal of Religion & Film
One of Ford’s lesser known works, Wagon Master (1950), utilizes Mormonism’s affinity for dancing to build bonds between diverse groups, thus epitomizing the director’s optimistic vision of a united and progressive America. Through the development of the narrative and Wagon Master’s mise-en-scène, Ford displays a keen awareness of Mormon culture and the reasons dancing still holds such significance to members of the religion. Surprisingly, the film also captures a core tension of LDS culture: the desire to receive the inclusion of the rest of society whilst remaining a distinct and faithful people. For the Saints in the film, …
Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism In Asian And Western Film, Ronald S. Green
Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism In Asian And Western Film, Ronald S. Green
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Silver Screen Buddha, Buddhism in Asian and Western Film by Sharon A. Suh.
Paul Tillich And The Possibility Of Revelation Through Film, Kutter Callaway
Paul Tillich And The Possibility Of Revelation Through Film, Kutter Callaway
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Paul Tillich and the Possibility of Revelation through Film by Jonathan Brant.
A Path Less Traveled: Rethinking Spirituality In The Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Adam Breckenridge
A Path Less Traveled: Rethinking Spirituality In The Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Adam Breckenridge
Journal of Religion & Film
This essay seeks to add to the scholarship around the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky by looking at how Jodorowsky challenge to mainstream religion and spirituality in two of his major films: El Topo and The Holy Mountain. I situate both these films within their cultural context and, working with Slavoj Zizek’s idea of the sadistic trap, explore how they challenge not only mainstream religious beliefs but countercultural ones as well. By doing so, I hope to cast some light on what makes the subversive nature of his films so valuable and to provide some guidance to two films that …
Is Slumdog Millionaire A Retelling Of The Ramayana?, William L. Blizek, Michele M. Desmarais
Is Slumdog Millionaire A Retelling Of The Ramayana?, William L. Blizek, Michele M. Desmarais
Journal of Religion & Film
Is a banner with a picture of Rama and Sita on it and the word, “Ramayana,” the only link between the film Slumdog Millionaire and the great Hindu epic? In this paper we explore elements in the film that correspond to elements in theRamayana. There is no one-to-one correlation, and some relationships between the two are, in fact, mirror images. However, there are enough correlations and influences to suggest that the film might be considered a retelling of theRamayana. We also acknowledge though that there are also features of the film that some would …
Life Itself, Daniel Ross Goodman
Life Itself, Daniel Ross Goodman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of the movie "Life Itself" (2014), Steve James' documentary about the life of film critic Roger Ebert.
The Movie Mogul, Moses And Muslims: Islamic Elements In Cecil B. Demille’S The Ten Commandments (1956), Michael D. Calabria Ofm
The Movie Mogul, Moses And Muslims: Islamic Elements In Cecil B. Demille’S The Ten Commandments (1956), Michael D. Calabria Ofm
Journal of Religion & Film
Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, has come to define the genre of the biblical epic. It has earned a permanent place in American culture due to its annual airing on television during the Easter and Passover holidays. Most viewers are unaware, however, that DeMille had sought to make a film that would appeal to Jews, Christians and Muslims at a time when their common Abrahamic ancestry had yet to be articulated, and interreligious dialogue was all but unheard of. To this end, Henry Noerdlinger, DeMille’s researcher for the film, consulted the Qur’an, and screenwriters incorporated Islamic …
Documentary As Exorcism: Resisting The Bewitchment Of Colonial Christianity, Michael Broyles
Documentary As Exorcism: Resisting The Bewitchment Of Colonial Christianity, Michael Broyles
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Documentary as Exorcism: Resisting the Bewitchment of Colonial Christianity by Robert Beckford.
Der Skandinavische Horrorfilm. Kultur- Und Ästhetikgeschichtliche Perspektiven (The Scandinavian Horror Film. Cultural Historical And Aesthetical Historical Perspectives), Christiane Königstedt
Der Skandinavische Horrorfilm. Kultur- Und Ästhetikgeschichtliche Perspektiven (The Scandinavian Horror Film. Cultural Historical And Aesthetical Historical Perspectives), Christiane Königstedt
Journal of Religion & Film
In this book review I discuss a recently published anthology on "The Scandinavian Horror film". The authors are well aware that the existence of this genre is not to be taken for granted, and instead ponder films by directors ranging from Carl T. Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman to Lars von Trier and beyond, who in their work dealt with horrorful sensations in the past 120 years. Focussing especially on the sources and means of the horror sensation, the anthology investigates the characteristics and common features of the films in discussion, as well as their US-American adaptations.
An Evil Threat To Marriage, Children And The Future: Queer Theory, "The Passion Of The Christ," And Evangelical Political Rhetoric, Richard Wolff
An Evil Threat To Marriage, Children And The Future: Queer Theory, "The Passion Of The Christ," And Evangelical Political Rhetoric, Richard Wolff
Journal of Religion & Film
This article employs queer theory to analyze Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ (2004) for its portrayal of queer characters (Satan and Herod) in contrast with non-queer (Pilate and Claudia, Seraphia, Simon the Cyrene, and Mary, Christ’s mother), and how it depicts the former as evil and the latter as good. In particular, these contrasts involve self-indulgent or predatory sexual expression versus a healthy marital relationship, and evil versus loving influences over children, who represent hope for the future. Finally, the article looks at the film’s heavy marketing to American evangelicals and how the symbolic representations in the …
Personal Identity And Angelic Touch In Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire, Chris Venner
Personal Identity And Angelic Touch In Wim Wenders' Wings Of Desire, Chris Venner
Journal of Religion & Film
Wenders' Wings of Desire offers a rich tapestry for theorists of personal identity and its relationship to the Other. Set in a Berlin where angels walk among humans, it depicts those angels reorienting humans' lives with but a touch. Martin Heidegger and Gilles Deleuze also theorize the Other's touch as central to any change in the self. Bringing Wenders' film into dialogue with their theories offers new insights into the film's central question, “Why am I me and not you?”
The Binding Of Abraham: Inverting The Akedah In Fail-Safe And Wargames, Hunter B. Dukes
The Binding Of Abraham: Inverting The Akedah In Fail-Safe And Wargames, Hunter B. Dukes
Journal of Religion & Film
This article draws upon Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling and Jacques Derrida's The Gift of Death to trace how two exemplars of atomic bomb cinema reinterpret the Binding of Isaac (Akedah). Released during the twin peaks of Cold War tension, Fail-Safe (1964) and WarGames (1983) invert the Akedah of Genesis 22. In both films, an act of sacrificial patricide accompanies or replaces the sacrifice of an Isaac-like son. When viewed in the context of Cold War cultural politics—events such as Norman Morrison’s Abrahamic self-immolation and Kent State’s rejection of George Segal’s sacrificial memorial— the inverted Akedah emerges as …
Undoing The Claim Of Objectivity: Contradictions At The Heart Of Bergtji Van Der Haak, Saudi Solutions (2005), Anisa Saeed Mohammed Nasser
Undoing The Claim Of Objectivity: Contradictions At The Heart Of Bergtji Van Der Haak, Saudi Solutions (2005), Anisa Saeed Mohammed Nasser
Journal of Religion & Film
This paper is a study of Bergtji van der Haak, Saudi Solutions (2005). It attempts to question Bergtji van der Haak’s claim of “objective” depiction of Saudi women’s “reality,” as well as the claim of portraying Saudi women through their perspectives as stated in the opening scene. The premise is that the editing strives to undercut the very views of the women that the film is claiming to present, and in the process it duplicates some of the very mechanisms of oppression that the film is denouncing. The documentary’s attempt at ‘subalternizing’ and diminishing Saudi women discloses the subjectivity of …
Iranian Women, Iranian Cinema: Negotiating With Ideology And Tradition, Najmeh Moradiyan Rizi
Iranian Women, Iranian Cinema: Negotiating With Ideology And Tradition, Najmeh Moradiyan Rizi
Journal of Religion & Film
Throughout the ruptures of Iran’s history, Iranian women have been at the core of any social and political changes and challenges. In this historical context, Iranian women’s body, sexuality, and individuality have been confined within the constitution of religion and tradition. In recent years, however, the new generation of Iranian women is negotiating the notions of femininity, sexuality, and modernity in Iran’s society. Along with this negotiation, Iranian cinema, as the visual showcase of Iranian culture and society, has recently represented an unprecedented portrayal of Iranian women on the screen. This portrayal stems from the gender consciousness of Iranian women …