Religious Film Fears 3

Religious Film Fears 3: Being Sacrilegious, Criticising or Devaluing the Faith
© Anton Karl Kozlovic

Quodlibet Journal: Volume 7 Number 2, April - June 2005

Abstract
Many believers are fearful of feature films for a variety of scriptural, moral and psychospiritual reasons. Despite the cinema being the artform of the 20^th century and the basis of a moving image culture that will dominate well into the 21^st century. Anton Karl Kozlovic (2003a) had previously explored the religious film fears associated with Satanic infusion, graven images and iconographic perversion, and then followed this by an exploration of the fear of cinematic sinfulness (Kozlovic, 2003b). However, even more varieties of religious film fears abound. Using textually-based, humanist film criticism as the analytical lens, the critical film and religion literature was reviewed and the additional fears of being sacrilegious, criticising or devaluing the faith was copiously explicated and documented herein. It was concluded that popular films are a worthwhile and exciting pedagogic tool, but they require constant monitoring, vigilance and control by faith communities for integrity, protection and quality assurance reasons. Biblically-based counter-proposals and other anti-film defences were proffered to address this tangible concern. Further research into the exciting interdisciplinary field of religion-and-film was recommended.

Religious films

Quodlibet Journal: Volume 5 Number 2-3, July 2003
http://www.Quodlibet.net
Religious Film Fears 1: Satanic Infusion, Graven Images and Iconographic Perversion
© Anton Karl Kozlovic

Sacred Cinema

Sacred cinema: exploring Christian sensibilities within popular Hollywood films

Anton Karl Kozlovic

Journal of Beliefs & Values, Volume 28, Issue 2 August 2007 , pages 195 - 208

Abstract

Numerous Christian sensibilities have permeated the popular cinema, but they are frequently undetected, unappreciated or unwanted by those fearful of the cinema's potentially corrupting effect. Yet, a postmodern religious education requires the embracement of this communication media, not its rejection, employing discernment not denial. A first step in this corrective process is to raise the profession's consciousness about the possibilities of sacred cinema, which is the primary purpose of this paper. Consequently, using textually based, humanist film criticism as the analytical lens, the critical film and religion literature was reviewed, the popular Hollywood cinema scanned and the following areas explicated herein, namely: (a) holy plotlines, (b) divine symbolism, and (c) sacred subtexts - the Christ-figure. All three categories were supplied with copious inter-genre exemplars to demonstrate their diversity and richness. It was concluded that the sacred cinema is a legitimate pop culture phenomenon and a living genre that has immense pedagogic utility for religious education aimed squarely at the proverbial children-of-the-media. As such, it should be proactively employed as a postmodern act of applied cinema that simultaneously values the audiovisual, education and enjoyment. Further research into this emerging and exciting interdisciplinary field was recommended.

Poland's Cinema of collision

Decalogue: Poland’s cinema of collision
Reni Celeste

Studies in European Cinema. Vol 1. Issue 3. November 2004.

This article argues that Kieslowski’s Decalogue, despite being produced during the fall of Communism, exemplifies the complex relation to the law that Polish cinema has developed in the post-war years. The relation between film, state, and spectator has forged a cinema that should be understood as tragic in its interpretation of justice as a double bind, rather than simply as an ideological or political cinema.

The cinema of

The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski ...
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Since his death in 1996, Krzysztof Kieslowski has remained the best-known contemporary Polish filmmaker and one of the most popular and respected European directors, internationally renowned for his ambitious "Decalogue" and "Three Colors" trilogy. In this new addition to the Directors'Cuts series, Marek Haltof provides a comprehensive study of Kieslowski's cinema, discussing industrial practices in Poland and stressing that the director did not fit the traditional image of a "great" East-Central European auteur. He draws a fascinating portrait of the stridently independent director's work, noting that Kieslowski was not afraid to express unpopular views in film or in life. Haltof also shows how the director's work remains unique in the context of Polish documentary and narrative cinema.

Article

Cunneen, Joseph

"Being Alive is a Gift": Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Decalogue
Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality - Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2001, pp. 79-85

Joseph Cunneen - "Being Alive is a Gift": Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Decalogue - Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 1:1 Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 1.1 (2001) 79-85 Perspective "Being Alive is a Gift": Krzysztof Kieslowski's The Decalogue Joseph Cunneen Like most art of spiritual depth, Krzysztof Kieslowski's "The Decalogue," his series of ten one-hour films on the Ten Commandments, was not brought into being for didactic or religious purposes. The Polish film director, who died in 1996, called himself an agnostic; it was Krzysztof Piesiewicz, a criminal lawyer in Warsaw (who refers to himself as "Christian rather than Catholic") who first suggested the project and ended up collaborating on the screenplay of "The Decalogue," which was first shown on Polish TV in 1989. "Our idea was very simple," Kieslowski said. "The Decalogue is one of the ethical foundations of our society. Everyone is more or less familiar with the Ten Commandments, and agrees with them, but no one really observes them." Hailed by critics as the greatest cinematic achievement of the last generation, "The Decalogue" was known in the United States only to film festival audiences until last year, when it was released in a handsome five-video edition. Kieslowski's experience as a documentary filmmaker underlies his determination to present an intense and complex view of...

Tien Geboden en de films...

Een opdracht binnen een cursus waarin de relatie tussen de films van Kieslowski en de tien geboden wordt geduid.


TEN COMMANDMENTS (22-852)
Dr. Ken Vaux
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Fall 2005