Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Divine Love, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Divine Love (2019) directed by Gabriel Mascaro.

Sister Aimee, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Sister Aimee (2019), directed by Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann.

Hala, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Hala (2019), directed by Minhal Baig.

Abe, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Abe (2019) directed by Fernando Grostein Andrade.

Hail Satan?, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Hail Satan? (2019) directed by Penny Lane.

Report From The 2019 Slamdance Film Festival, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is the Introduction to the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival.

Show Her It's A Man's World: How The Femme Fatale Became A Vehicle For Propaganda, Leann Bishop

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

During World War II women joined the workforce in droves due to propaganda such as Rosie the Riveter. When Soldiers began returning from the war they wanted stability and normalcy. They wanted to return to the America they left where women ran the household and men went to work. Women, however, experienced a new sense of freedom from working and wanted to continue their liberation. It was during this time that femme fatales, the sultry women of film noir became popular. They represented the liberated women of the 1940s. The film industry saw an opportunity to use these women found …

New Roots: A Transracial Adoption Story, Scarlett Kuang

Capstones

This is a documentary on transracial adoption. Transracial adoption is becoming more and more common in America. In 2011, 4 out of 10 adopted children were raised by families of a different race or ethnicity. Daniel and Lisa Conklins have 11 children. After giving birth to 6, the couple adopted another 5 children from 5 different countries. They live in Castile, a farm town in upstate New York. The then 6-year-old Ezra needs to adapt to a totally new environment and embrace his new family. For Elaina who was adopted as a baby, the challenge is to survive in a …

Eternal Now: Recent Time Loop Movies And The Sanctity Of The Moment, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

I will examine three time-loop films—Source Code (2011), About Time (2013), and Before I Fall (2017)—to suggest that while they all look to this world as the place where meaning can be found, they do not entirely reject transcendence. The hero of Source Code actually transcends the cycle only when he accepts to exist in it fully, suggesting a view like Buddhism that one only finds transcendence when one stops looking for it. In About Time the hero learns that he must accept certain things that he cannot change, and that his ability to relive the past without changing …

Neo-Gnosticism At The Movies, Michael Kaler

Journal of Religion & Film

A number of American films released in the mid/late 1990s drew on, or have been discussed in the context of, gnosticism—a loose, imprecise umbrella term usually applied to a number of heterodox early Christian literary traditions. The Matrix is the most famous of this group of films, which also includes such films as Pleasantville, Dark City, The Truman Show, and Thirteenth Floor. This curious trend would not have been possible had it not been for the emergence of gnosticism in mainstream culture generally; as well, gnosticism’s emphasis on the spectacular, constructed and ultimately illusory nature of apparent reality became especially …

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

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 …

‘Love-Jihad’ And Bollywood: Constructing Muslims As ‘Other’, Nadira Khatun

Journal of Religion & Film

In the postcolonial nation state that is India, cinema has become an important tool for propagating the idea of nationalism. In recent times, one of the most controversial components of Hindu nationalism has been the hate campaign against what is termed as ‘love-jihad’, which is deployed as a weapon to mobilize, polarize, and communalize citizens. The Indian Hindi-language film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, has also become a controversial site. In this paper, I argue that if ‘Indian nationalism’ is to be represented as ‘Hindu nationalism’ and ‘Indian culture’ as ‘Hindu culture,’ it logically follows that this majoritarian construction needs …

Myth And Monstrosity: Teaching Indigenous Films, Ken Derry

Journal of Religion & Film

The past few times that I have taught my course on religion and film I have included a number of Indigenous movies. The response from students has been entirely positive, in part because most of them have rarely encountered Indigenous cultural products of any kind, especially contemporary ones. Students also respond well to the way in which many of these films use notions of the monstrous to explore, and explode, colonial myths. Goldstone, for example, by Kamilaroi filmmaker Ivan Sen, draws on noir tropes to peel back the smiling masks of the people responsible for the mining town’s success, …

Solidarity Beyond Obligation: Three Billboards Outside Of Ebbing, Missouri, Grace Chiou

Journal of Religion & Film

In his film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, writer-director Martin McDonagh creates a compelling parable regarding suffering, justice and solidarity. This unfiltered and witty, dark comedy examines the interlaced connections between humans and non-human agents during periods of anguish. Frequently, the ensuing communication includes abusive or belittling language and violent physical attacks. These extraordinary assaults are then contrasted with small gestures of kindness. While the film has faced various critiques, this piece of cinema creates a dynamic narrative to consider the human experience of grief and experiencing grace from one’s enemies. In doing so, Three Billboards paints an inclusive …

Telling The Good News, Allyson R. Escobar

Capstones

In light of recent clergy abuse scandals, cover-ups and leadership shake-downs, it is a divided time in the Catholic Church: but this isn’t the whole story. My final capstone project is a critical essay of how Catholicism (and religion overall) is represented in mainstream media--particularly in secular news publications and entertainment (horror films) in the United States. By examining the coverage and how conversations differ within members of the Catholic Church--from journalists and critics to active Catholics, religious men and women--this project calls for greater accountability, fairness, faith representation in all media, and the overall claim that there are Catholic …

Guardians Of Virtue, Tamsen Maloy, Tasia Jensen

Capstones

Guardians of Virtue is a short documentary following Tamsen Maloy as she explores how the church of her upbringing--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church)--handles sexual assault. It is quickly revealed that the church does not have adequate resources for sexual assault survivors. On the contrary, the culture and system of the church enables assault and encourages survivors to feel they are to blame.

Link to capstone: https://tantproductions.wordpress.com/

A Culture Of Loyalty And Secrecy: Spotlight And The Power Of Organized Religion In America, Sara E. Juarez

Cinesthesia

The paper utilizes the imagery and story of Tom McCarthy's 2015 film Spotlight to create reveal how deeply rooted Christian values are in American society. The paper also challenges this dominant ideology by highlighting the corrupt institutional efforts to maintain a pure image of the Church.

Reason (Vivek), J. Barton Scott

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Reason (Vivek) (2018), directed by Anand Patwardhan.

Ad Vitam, J. Barton Scott

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Ad Vitam (2018), directed by Thomas Calley.

A Star Is Born, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of A Star is Born (2018), directed by Bradley Cooper.

Myth And Ritual In Moonrise Kingdom, Sarah F. Haynes

Journal of Religion & Film

This essay examines religious themes in Wes Anderson's film Moonrise Kingdom. An analysis of the film reveals the characters utilize ritual and myth as a means of creating knowledge and as the catalyst for a transformation of self. This essay argues that Anderson’s characters construct and interpret their reality, of self and world, by engaging with ritual, myth, and community.

Terrence Malick Beyond Nature And Grace: Song To Song And The Experience Of Forgiveness, Elisa Zocchi

Journal of Religion & Film

In The Tree of Life Terrence Malick poses the question of the relation between the order of grace and the order of nature in the cosmos and in human existence, a question presented through the relation of mother and father in the O'Brien family. The aim of this article is to analyze this issue and to present the role of glory in The Tree of Life as the transfiguration of nature operated by grace. Specifically, the example of forgiveness as one strand of this glory seems to be an helpful tool to understand the movie. Forgiveness, already present in The …

An Old Film In A New Light: Lighting As The Key To Johannine Identity In "Ordet", Richard V. Goodwin

Journal of Religion & Film

In his essay on Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, P. Adams Sitney draws a parallel between the protagonist, Johannes, and John the Evangelist, author of the fourth gospel. He suggests that the delusional Johannes’s sanity returns upon the recovery of his own name, turning on the invocation of his biblical namesake, John the Evangelist. Compelling as Sitney’s is, however, I argue that we arrive at a more helpful interpretation by attending to an aspect that has been largely overlooked in critical discussion of the film: lighting. Careful analysis of the lighting yields a perspective in which Johannes is understood to …

Is Slumdog Millionaire A Retelling Of The Ramayana? (Hindi), William L. Blizek, Michele M. Desmarais

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a Hindi translation of the article that appears in English in this same issue.

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 the Ramayana. 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 the Ramayana. We also acknowledge …

Sacred Time In The Work Of Makoto Shinkai, Kassandra I. Schreiber

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis looks at two works of anime director, writer, and producer Makoto Shinkai and examines how they create sacred experiences through the visual and narratological construction of time. Mircea Elaide’s concept of eternal return is joined with Gilles Deleuze’s film theory of Time-Images and time crystals to analyze the creation of sacred moments: moments of rejuvenation and reorientation. Not only are the two films, 5 Centimeters per Second and Your Name, read through the lens of these theories but these movies also illustrate how anime is unique art form that is well suited for the manipulation of time and …

First Reformed, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of First Reformed (2018), directed by Paul Schrader.

Pedestrian Dharma: Slowness And Seeing In Tsai Ming-Liang’S Walker, Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper studies the ways that Walker, a short film by the Malaysian-Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-Liang, visualizes the relationship between Buddhism and modernity. Via detailed film analysis as well as attention to sources in premodern Buddhist traditions, this paper argues that its filmic performance of Zen walking meditation serves two functions: To present slowness and simplicity as prophetic counterpoints against the dizzying excesses of the contemporary metropolis; and to offer contemplative attentiveness as a therapeutic resource for life in the modern world. By instantiating and cultivating critical shifts in viewerly perspective in the manner of Buddhist ritual practice, Walker invites …

The Qur'anic Epic In Iranian Cinema (Farsi), Nacim Pak-Shiraz

Journal of Religion & Film

The representation of religious figures in Islam has become particularly controversial in recent years. The creation of religious films has, therefore, turned into a highly sensitive undertaking. Iranian cinema is one of the very few in the Muslim world to have employed this new medium in imagining and narrating stories of revered religious figures. In this article I examine the complex socio-political context of Iran to study the relatively late emergence of the epic genre in Iranian cinema. I then study the recent creation and development of ‘Qur’anic Films’ within Iranian cinema with specific reference to Kingdom of Solomon (Mulk-i …

Lumumba’S Iconography As Interstice Between Art And History, Matthias De Groof

Artl@s Bulletin

How does Congolese art and artistic representations of Lumumba “mediate past, present and future”? How do they relate to historical narratives and to the dialogues within the Global South? This contribution proposes Lumumba’s iconography as a case in point of the interstice between art and history. It positions the image of Lumumba as mediating between past, present and future for both the Congo and the Global South more broadly.