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Articles 601 - 630 of 696
Full-Text Articles in Film and Media Studies
Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle And Queer Style From The Silent Era To The Modern Day, Kent L. Brintnall
Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle And Queer Style From The Silent Era To The Modern Day, Kent L. Brintnall
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Richard Lindsay, Hollywood Biblical Epics: Camp Spectacle and Queer Style from the Silent Era to the Modern Day (Denver, CO: Praeger, 2015).
Films And Religion: An Analysis Of Aamir Khan’S Pk, Monisa Qadri, Sabeha Mufti
Films And Religion: An Analysis Of Aamir Khan’S Pk, Monisa Qadri, Sabeha Mufti
Journal of Religion & Film
Every year, the Indian film industry produces the highest number of films in the world and also figures at the top position for ticket sales, but that does not make the society completely tolerant of how different issues are represented in films. That is a question which PK (2014), the biggest Bollywood grosser of all times, raised. This satirical comedy is based on challenging the superstitions labelled as religious practices in Indian society. India, being home to multiple religions and a diverse cultural fabric, supports many layers of understanding about faith, religion, rituals, and beliefs, which form a sensitive issue. …
The Qur’Anic Epic In Iranian Cinema, Nacim Pak-Shiraz
The Qur’Anic Epic In Iranian Cinema, 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 ( …
"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 …
"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 …
Cloud Atlas’ Queer Tiki Kitsch: Polynesians, Settler Colonialism, And Sci-Fi Film, Gabriel S. Estrada
Cloud Atlas’ Queer Tiki Kitsch: Polynesians, Settler Colonialism, And Sci-Fi Film, Gabriel S. Estrada
Journal of Religion & Film
Polynesian theories of film reception, visual sovereignty, feminisms, and worldview offer critical insights into The Wachowskis' and Tykwer's 2012 film Cloud Atlas. From Indigenous and Native feminist film perspectives, Cloud Atlas offers a sci-fi future deeply entrenched in the queer tiki kitsch of settler colonialism as situated within a comparative context of other queer Indigenous film. As an example of heteropatriarchal settler colonialism, the Cloud Atlas plot supports the heterosexual triumphs of cross-racial couples and sublimates the possibilities of transgender reincarnation. Although Cloud Atlas attempts to critique Christian slavery and defend a secular abolitionist stance in the 1848 South Pacific, …
Faith, Doubt, And Chiasmus In Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue I, William Bartley
Faith, Doubt, And Chiasmus In Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue I, William Bartley
Journal of Religion & Film
This article proposes a reinterpretation of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s exploration of the first commandment in Decalogue I. It argues that the narrative structure of the story is chiastic—i.e., inversely parallel—which follows from recognizing for the first time the crucial role that Irena, the devoutly Catholic sister of Krzysztof, a professor and religious skeptic, plays in the story. The pattern of inverse parallelism (chiasmus) emerges as Krzysztof and Irena respond separately to the tragic death of Krzysztof’s son, Pawel: as Krzysztof’s skepticism gives way to a new faith in God, inversely and unexpectedly Irena’s faith retreats into doubt. This outcome, in …
The Wolf Of Wall Street, Daniel Ross Goodman
The Wolf Of Wall Street, Daniel Ross Goodman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), directed by Martin Scorsese.
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Gregory Chad Wilkes
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Gregory Chad Wilkes
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), directed by Peter Jackson.
Philomena, Chad Bolton
Philomena, Chad Bolton
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Philomena (2013), directed by Stephen Frears.
Transitional Violence In King Of New York, Soren G. Palmer
Transitional Violence In King Of New York, Soren G. Palmer
Journal of Religion & Film
Abel Ferrara’s violent and controversial film, King Of New York, follows the escalating violence and resulting trail of corpses between mobster Frank White (a psychotic sort of Robin Hood) and a group of detectives attempting to arrest him. The goal of this paper is to utilize Elizabeth Swanson Goldberg’s grammar of transition as a structural device to identify negative connections that highlight and foreshadow sources of violence in King of New York. However, simply noting the process of these transitions is insufficient to the paper’s broader purpose; if one is to investigate the causal elements of violence through …
The Virgin Mary On Screen: Mater Dei Or Just A Mother In Guido Chiesa’S Io Sono Con Te (I Am With You), Timothy J. Johnson, Barbara Ottaviani-Jones
The Virgin Mary On Screen: Mater Dei Or Just A Mother In Guido Chiesa’S Io Sono Con Te (I Am With You), Timothy J. Johnson, Barbara Ottaviani-Jones
Journal of Religion & Film
Guido Chiesa’s Io Sono con Te (I Am with You) offers a unique, albeit controversial take on Mary, the mother of Jesus. Filmed in Tunisia, and subject to criticism by Italian Catholic authorities and film critics alike, Io Sono con Te presents a rich anthropological-theological reflection on religion, culture, gender, and sacrifice. Not surprisingly, Chiesa draws on René Girard’s scapegoat theory throughout his film as he fashions Mary as the forceful protagonist in a familiar yet controversial story.
Preaching In The Darkness: The Night Of The Hunter’S Subversion Of Patriarchal Christianity And Classical Cinema, Carl Laamanen
Preaching In The Darkness: The Night Of The Hunter’S Subversion Of Patriarchal Christianity And Classical Cinema, Carl Laamanen
Journal of Religion & Film
Upon its release in 1955, The Night of the Hunter did not find favor among audiences or critics, who failed to appreciate Charles Laughton’s vision for the Davis Grubb’s bestselling novel of the same title. While poor marketing certainly played into the film’s colossal collapse at the box office, I believe there is a deeper reason behind the rejection of the film in the 1950s—its portrayal of women and the female voice. In The Night of the Hunter, Miz Cooper (Lillian Gish) ultimately defeats Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the corrupt Preacher, through the use of her voice, and by …
The Holy Fool In Late Tarkovsky, Robert O. Efird
The Holy Fool In Late Tarkovsky, Robert O. Efird
Journal of Religion & Film
This article analyzes the Russian cultural and religious phenomenon of holy foolishness (iurodstvo) in director Andrei Tarkovsky’s last two films, Nostalghia and Sacrifice. While traits of the holy fool appear in various characters throughout the director’s oeuvre, a marked change occurs in the films made outside the Soviet Union. Coincident with the films’ increasing disregard for spatiotemporal consistency and sharper eschatological focus, the character of the fool now appears to veer off into genuine insanity, albeit with a seemingly greater sensitivity to a visionary or virtual world of the spirit and explicit messianic task.