Religion and film : an introduction / Melanie J. Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, Melanie Jane, 1970-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

vi, 244 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris ; New York : Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

From silent films to contemporary blockbusters, religion has always proved a popular theme for the cinema. However, all too often religion and film are discussed from narrowly confessional perspectives, with the result that the field has long been dominated by the question of a film's fidelity to a religious text or worldview, or its value as a tool in ministry and mission. Religion and Film: An Introduction seeks to redress this balance, and argues for a new, holistic approach to the subject that draws on work from cultural studies, religious studies and film studies alike. Wright argues that the 'meanings' of a film are not encoded by its textual organisation, but are bound up with its interpretation by viewers in specific contexts. Focusing on religiously diverse films like The Ten Commandments, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc, Lagaan, My Son the Fanatic, Keeping the Faith, The Wicker Man and Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ, the author looks at varied screen representations of religion; at films shaped by strong convictions about the place of religion in society; and at the roles that audiences play as consumers of film. The book will have strong appeal to students as well as general readers interested in all aspects of the inter-relationship of religion and the cinema.

Contents:

II Some Trends in Religious Film Analysis 11

Opening Shots 11

Motivations to Religious Film Analysis 12

On Dialogue 15

Film Selection 16

Methods of Study 20

A Proposal 22

III La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc / Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928 33

The Remarkable Story of La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc 33

Film Narrative 35

Film Style 40

Cultural and Religious Context 46

Reception 49

IV The Ten Commandments / Cecil B. DeMille, 1956 55

Moses at the 'Movies' 55

Screening the Scriptures 60

Why the Slaves Don't Cross the Red Sea 64

Trailing The Ten Commandments 67

Reception 71

V The Wicker Man / Robin Hardy, 1973 79

To See or Not to See? The Importance of Distribution 79

Christianity as Tomorrow's Paganism? 82

Scotland the Movie 90

English Horror(s) 94

Reception and the Cult of Fandom 100

VI My Son the Fanatic / Udayan Prasad, 1997 107

Cinema and Diaspora 107

Filming Fundamentalism 110

It's Different for Girls 117

Hit the North 119

The Burden of Representation 123

VII Keeping the Faith / Edward Norton, 2000 129

Reception: Once More, With Feeling 129

A Priest Walks Into a Bar... 130

Jewish/Christian Romance at the Cinema 135

A 'Women's Picture'? 138

VIII Lagaan / Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001 143

Hooray for Bollywood 143

Seeing and Believing 148

Unity and Diversity 153

It's Not the Taking Part, It's the Winning That Counts 157

Reception 161

Film Index 235.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [205]-234) and indexes.

ISBN:

1850437599

1850438862

OCLC:

70128558