Film and Faith

During the seminar, Fr Peter Malone, MSC traced the development of Christian spirituality and imagery exhibited in various Jesus films, starting with the early theatrical depictions of Jesus in such silent movies as Cecil B. de Mille's "King of Kings" in 1927 up to the recent portrayal of the intensely suffering Jesus in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ". It was quite a revelation for participants when Fr Malone pointed out that after the 1927 "King of Kings", there was an absence of the face of Jesus in the movies for almost 35 years. It was the 1961 version of "King of Kings", starring Jeffrey Hunter, which again gave Jesus a face on celluloid. In the interim period, films such as "The Robe" or "Ben Hur" did not show the face of Jesus -- just his feet, or hands or a distant back view.

One interesting workshop exercise was the analysis and discussion of different film depictions of the scene where the adulterous woman is about to be stoned. Another workshop discussion was on the symbols and significance of the more recent movie "The Phone Booth", which participants were also asked to rate. The diversity of participants' backgrounds and sensibilities made the discussions fresh and stimulating.

Category:

Film & Animation

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• film
• faith
• philippines
• cfa
• communication
• foundaiton
• for
• asia

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