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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 30 of 32
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Punishment, Rubina Ramji
Punishment, Rubina Ramji
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Punishment (2024), directed by Øystein Mamen.
Sasquatch Sunset, Dereck Daschke
Sasquatch Sunset, Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Sasquatch Sunset (2024), directed by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner.
Agent Of Happiness, John C. Lyden
Agent Of Happiness, John C. Lyden
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Agent of Happiness (2024), directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó.
From Patriarchal Stereotypes To Matriarchal Pleasures Of Hybridity: Representation Of A Muslim Family In Berlin, Rahime Özgün Kehya Dr
From Patriarchal Stereotypes To Matriarchal Pleasures Of Hybridity: Representation Of A Muslim Family In Berlin, Rahime Özgün Kehya Dr
Journal of Religion & Film
Sinan Çetin’s blockbuster Berlin in Berlin (1993) is a Turkish-German co-production. In contrast to certain representational tendencies with German orientalism or Turkish occidentalism, it deconstructs the intersectional structures of migration, religion, and gender. The portrayal of religion in films about Turkish-German labour migration is a kind of cultural narcissism often projected into national cinema by denigrating the faith of the other and glorifying one’s own religion. However, perspectives at such intersections are critical and require sensitivity in filmmaking, as films can create prejudice or help build peaceful relationships around these sensitive issues. The paper employs discourse analysis in linking Derrida’s …
Herrens Veje: A Catalyst To Reflect Upon Military Chaplaincy And Ecclesial Issues In A Nordic Context, Jan Grimell, Mariecke Van Den Berg
Herrens Veje: A Catalyst To Reflect Upon Military Chaplaincy And Ecclesial Issues In A Nordic Context, Jan Grimell, Mariecke Van Den Berg
Journal of Religion & Film
This article is based on an analysis of the first season of the Danish series Herrens Veje (The Way of the Lord; Price 2017). The series portrays the young, idealistic pastor and military chaplain August, who is deployed to a conflict zone with a military unit. He accompanies the unit on a patrol to win the trust of the soldiers. During the patrol, they engage in combat and August kills an innocent civilian woman. Upon return, the transition from military to civilian life proves to be increasingly challenging and troublesome. As the series proceeds, August’s mental health deteriorates and his …
Jihad Rehab, John C. Lyden
Jihad Rehab, John C. Lyden
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Jihad Rehab (2021), directed by Meg Smaker.
Midwives, Sheila J. Nayar
Midwives, Sheila J. Nayar
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Midwives (2022), directed by Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing.
Frederick Wiseman's Essene (1972): The Duality Of Mary And Martha, Nilita Vachani
Frederick Wiseman's Essene (1972): The Duality Of Mary And Martha, Nilita Vachani
Journal of Religion & Film
America’s legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman shot Essene 50 years ago at the height of the commune movement in the United States. Unlike his previous institutional films which showcase an insane asylum, a public high school, an inner city police force, a hospital, and a military training school, Essene's canvas is the far less turbulent terrain of a serene and austere Benedictine monastery devoted to the love and service of God and the divine spirit. This paper undertakes a close textual and hermeneutic analysis of Essene alongside an appraisal of Wiseman’s working methodology, his cinematic portrayals of character and dramaturgy, …
Apocalypse And Eschatology In John Ford's The Grapes Of Wrath (1940), Nancy Wright
Apocalypse And Eschatology In John Ford's The Grapes Of Wrath (1940), Nancy Wright
Journal of Religion & Film
John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) visualizes conventions of the apocalypse genre to represent not simply a particular historical setting, the Great Depression, but also a vision of history to be interpreted in terms of eschatology. Expressionistic photography transforms the characters’ experiences into enigmatic visions that invite and guide interpretation. A comparison of montage sequences in Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath and Pare Lorentz’s The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936), a Farm Security Administration documentary, clarifies how Ford’s narrative film aligns spectators within and outside the mise-en-scène.
The Gaze And A Sufi Ethics Of Vision In Majidi’S The Willow Tree: Form, Meaning, And The Real, Cyrus A. Zargar
The Gaze And A Sufi Ethics Of Vision In Majidi’S The Willow Tree: Form, Meaning, And The Real, Cyrus A. Zargar
Journal of Religion & Film
In his 2005 film The Willow Tree (Bīd-i Majnūn), Majid Majidi offers a complex moral commentary on the faculty of sight. To do so, the filmmaker draws from Sufi theories of gazing, in which desire must be for ultimate meaning (maʿnā), as conveyed through the vehicle of perceivable form (ṣūra), a distinction with both metaphysical and ethical implications. Majidi presents sight, when devoid of contemplation, as a sort of voyeurism, especially in contrast to the privacy and immediacy of speech and especially within the context of the modern city. Moreover, his use of a …
Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness, John C. Lyden
Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness, John C. Lyden
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness (2019) directed by Massoud Bakhshi.
Screening Religiosity In Contemporary Polish Films. The Role Of Religious Motifs In Visual Communication., Mariola Marczak
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 …
Visual Grandeur, Imagined Glory: Identity Politics And Hindu Nationalism In Bajirao Mastani And Padmaavat, Baijayanti Roy
Visual Grandeur, Imagined Glory: Identity Politics And Hindu Nationalism In Bajirao Mastani And Padmaavat, Baijayanti Roy
Journal of Religion & Film
This paper examines the tropes through which the Hindi (Bollywood) historical films Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Padmaavat (2018) create idealised pasts on screen that speak to Hindu nationalist politics of present-day India. Bajirao Mastani is based on a popular tale of love, between Bajirao I (1700-1740), a powerful Brahmin general, and Mastani, daughter of a Hindu king and his Iranian mistress. The relationship was socially disapproved because of Mastani`s mixed parentage. The film distorts India`s pluralistic heritage by idealising Bajirao as an embodiment of Hindu nationalism and portraying Islam as inimical to Hinduism. Padmaavat is a film about a legendary …
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, John C. Lyden
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, John C. Lyden
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), directed by Morgan Neville.
Classroom Cannibal: A Guide On How To Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using The Windigo And Film, Brady Desanti
Classroom Cannibal: A Guide On How To Teach Ojibwe Spirituality Using The Windigo And Film, Brady Desanti
Journal of Religion & Film
This paper is intended as a pedagogical guide on how to teach elements of Ojibwe religious and philosophical beliefs using the windigo and its depictions in the films Wendigo and Ravenous. The windigo complex is exceedingly complex and remains an enduring component to the cultures of Ojibwe and several other Algonquian-speaking communities in the United States and Canada. While the windigo enjoys exposure in a variety of popular entertainment sources, film remains one of the most useful methods to incorporate in the classroom to help students comprehend how an anthropophagus “monster” directly relates to Ojibwe ideas of personal balance, …
Dreams, Doubt, And Dread: The Spiritual In Film, Joel Mayward
Dreams, Doubt, And Dread: The Spiritual In Film, Joel Mayward
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Zachary Settle and Taylor Worley, eds. Dreams, Doubt, and Dread: The Spiritual in Film. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2016.
Religion And Violence In Jesse James Films, 1972–2010, Travis Warren Cooper
Religion And Violence In Jesse James Films, 1972–2010, Travis Warren Cooper
Journal of Religion & Film
This essay analyzes recent depictions of Jesse James in cinema, examining filmic portrayals of the figure between the years of 1972 and 2010. Working from the intersection of the anthropology of film and religious studies approaches to popular culture, the essay fills significant gaps in the study of James folklore. As no substantial examinations of the religious aspects of the James myths exist, I hone in on the legend’s religiosity as contested in filmic form. Films, including revisionist Westerns, are not unlike oral-history statements recorded and analyzed by anthropologists, folklorists, and ethnographers. Jesse James movies, in other words, have much …
Global Catastrophe In Motion Pictures As Meaning And Message: The Functions Of Apocalyptic Cinema In American Film, Wynn Gerald Hamonic
Global Catastrophe In Motion Pictures As Meaning And Message: The Functions Of Apocalyptic Cinema In American Film, Wynn Gerald Hamonic
Journal of Religion & Film
The steady rise in production of American apocalyptic films and the genre's enduring popularity over the last seven decades can be explained by the functions the film genre serves. Through an analysis of a broad range of apocalyptic films along with the application of several theoretical and critical approaches to the study of film, the author describes seven functions commonly found in American apocalyptic cinema expressed both in terms of its meaning (the underlying purpose of the film) and its message (the ideas the filmmakers want to convey to the audience). Apocalyptic cinema helps the viewer make sense of the …
“It’S Not A Fucking Book, It’S A Weapon!”: Authority, Power, And Mediation In The Book Of Eli, Seth M. Walker
“It’S Not A Fucking Book, It’S A Weapon!”: Authority, Power, And Mediation In The Book Of Eli, Seth M. Walker
Journal of Religion & Film
The mediation of religious narratives through sacred texts is intimately bound to the power relations involved in their transmission and maintenance. Those who possess such mediated messages and control their access and interpretation have historically held privileged positions of authority, especially when those positions are not easily contested. The 2010 film The Book of Eli uniquely engages these elements by placing the alleged last copy of the King James Version of the Christian Bible at the forefront of a clash between different individuals in a post-nuclear wasteland. This paper, drawing on Max Weber’s notion of “charisma,” and scholars addressing religion, …
Zen Noir Vis-À-Vis Myers-Briggs Personality Typology: Semiotic Multivalency As Grounds For Dialog, Edward J. Godfrey
Zen Noir Vis-À-Vis Myers-Briggs Personality Typology: Semiotic Multivalency As Grounds For Dialog, Edward J. Godfrey
Journal of Religion & Film
Marc Rosenbush’s film, Zen Noir (2004) is at first glance a Buddhist film wherein a troubled detective finds himself at a Zen temple with a murder to solve. But upon further investigation, it becomes evident that the film can also be understood in terms of Myers-Briggs personality typology, which is an extension of the personology and depth psychology of C.G. Jung. This suggests a multivalency which allows the imagery of the film to be interpreted in two different ways; as both suggesting Zen enlightenment and Jungian individuation. To assist with this comparison, this paper introduces the Ten Ox-Herding Paintings of …
Beyond The Confines Of Tolerance In Rachid Buchareb’S London River: Theological Discussion And Educational Approach To An Open Ended Film, Panayiotis A. Thoma Pth
Beyond The Confines Of Tolerance In Rachid Buchareb’S London River: Theological Discussion And Educational Approach To An Open Ended Film, Panayiotis A. Thoma Pth
Journal of Religion & Film
The article discusses Rachid Buchareb's film London River both from a theological and an educational point of view. Therefore I argue that this film may be of great use in the lesson of Religious Education (or other subjects that concern multicultural and inter-religious affairs), for it raises some crucial existential issues, mainly: how do people of different ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds truly connect to one another especially in cases in which these exact differences may be the cause of extreme suffering. This is actually the thematic concept of the film. Based on the teachings of the Bible and particularly, …
"If You Can Hold On...": Counter-Apocalyptic Play In Richard Kelly’S Southland Tales, Marcus O'Donnell
"If You Can Hold On...": Counter-Apocalyptic Play In Richard Kelly’S Southland Tales, Marcus O'Donnell
Journal of Religion & Film
Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales (2006) presents a dystopic, post-apocalyptic, near-future through an aesthetic, which fuses contemporary postmodern screens with the phantasmagorical of traditional apocalyptic visions. This article argues that Southland Tales is an example of what feminist theologian Catherine Keller calls the “counter-apocalyptic” (Keller 1996:19-20). Through strategies of ironic parody Kelly both describes and questions the apocalyptic and its easy polarities. In situating the film as counter-apocalyptic the paper argues that the film both resists the apocalyptic impulse however it is also located within it. In this sense it produces a unique take on the genre of the post-apocalyptic film …
Inception And Ibn 'Arabi, Oludamini Ogunnaike
Inception And Ibn 'Arabi, Oludamini Ogunnaike
Journal of Religion & Film
Many philosophers, playwrights, artists, sages, and scholars throughout the ages have entertained and developed the concept of life being a "but a dream." Few works, however, have explored this topic with as much depth and subtlety as the 13thC Andalusian Muslim mystic, Ibn 'Arabi. Similarly, few works of art explore this theme as thoroughly and engagingly as Chistopher Nolan's 2010 film Inception. This paper presents the writings of Ibn 'Arabi and Nolan's film as a pair of mirrors, in which one can contemplate the other. As such, the present work is equally a commentary on the film based on …
With An Eye On A Set Of New Eyes: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Kette Thomas
With An Eye On A Set Of New Eyes: Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Kette Thomas
Journal of Religion & Film
This article focuses on how, Beasts of the Southern Wild, represents both divergence and transgression from paradigmatic structures that determine how certain visual representations are to be used. Specifically, the cinematic detours taken by the filmmakers, Lucy Alibar and Behn Zeitlin, do not lead to alien places for most viewers; on the contrary, ancient myths, legends, heroes and prehistoric references are recalled in total isolation from current social and political discourse. In this way, Beasts of the Southern Wild, effectively, highlights mythological structures operating in contemporary American society. Mircea Eliade, Roger Caillois and G.S. Kirk define mythology as a …
Who Is Dayani Cristal?, Jeanette Reedy Solano
Who Is Dayani Cristal?, Jeanette Reedy Solano
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Who is Dayani Cristal? (2013) directed by Marc Silver.
The Institute, Dereck Daschke
The Institute, Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of The Institute (2013) directed by Spencer McCall.
After Tiller, Dereck Daschke
After Tiller, Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of After Tiller (2013) directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson.
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Dereck Daschke
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) (2013) directed by Barmak Akram.
Good Karma $1, Dereck Daschke
Good Karma $1, Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Good Karma $1 (2013) directed by Amy Laslett and Jason Berger.
Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry
Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry
Journal of Religion & Film
This article attempts to answer the preeminent question Babette’s Feast invites viewers to consider: Why does Babette choose to expend everything she has to make her feast? Of the critical studies made of the film, few have considered analytically crucial the catastrophic backstory of Babette, the violence of which is implied and offscreen. Appreciation of the singularity of Babette’s own personhood and the darker aspects of her experience, and not only how she might act as a figure of Christ, are key to understanding the motivating force behind her meal and its transformative effect: That through the feast Babette lays …