Comments on: Some Guest Invitations http://www.vafilm.com/press/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/ Presented by the University of Virginia Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:17:53 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Richard Herskowitz http://www.vafilm.com/press/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/comment-page-1/#comment-155 Richard Herskowitz Mon, 01 May 2006 20:13:00 +0000 http://www.vafilm.com/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/#comment-155 (I always get great suggestions from museum curator Stephen Margulies, and so, with his okay, I'm planting his latest email here)<br/><br/>Richard, hi hi<br/><br/>Just for fun, I thought I'd mention a couple of movies about religion that I like.Pasolini's movie about Jesus, The Gospel According to St. Mathew. Great film. Ray's Devi...great and human.<br/><br/> Have there been any decent films about the Greek gods?....maybe by Michael Cacoyannis. The Trojan<br/>Women...any Greek tragedy is intensely related to the ancient Greek religion. Funny stuff with Steve Reeves as Hercules or Jason and the Argonauts..<br/><br/>"Bedazzled" is a movie i love and definitely religious in a highly satirical way...god and<br/>the devil even talk together.<br/><br/>And then there are Christian horror films such as the Omen films ..<br/>Rosemary's Baby! Of course, how could I not mention the daddy of them all, The Exorcist, in which a priest gives his soul to the devil to save a child... In fact, exorcism is a religious genre in Christianity, Buddhism and , yes, Judaism. Lots of possession in IB Singer and in art produced by eastern european jews...the most famous being the play The Dybbuk which has certainly been filmed. Hoi-chi the earless, a<br/>segment of Kwaidan, is about Buddhist exorcism as much as anything. And in Rashomon, a shamaness deliberately allows her body to be possessed by the<br/>ghost of a murdered woman to get at the truth of a crime.<br/><br/>And then there are movies like Elmer<br/>Gantry or The Apostle which are about preachers. The Apostle? How about The Night of the Hunter? I also remember that the great Flannery O"Connor's powerful novel<br/>Wise Blood was made into a movie. I don't know if other Flannery O'Connor stories have done so. She was an intense catholic but both funny and terrifying, as is Wise Blood itself.<br/><br/>And of course The Last Temptation of Christ, which was picketed in <br/>Charlottesville years ago. Also, Little Buddha by Bertolucci.<br/><br/>The fine movie The Man who Would be King is about Afghanis worshipping a <br/>Westerner who is a Mason. Kipling was a Mason and thought Masonry to be a kind of original universal<br/>religion.<br/><br/>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.all best, sm (I always get great suggestions from museum curator Stephen Margulies, and so, with his okay, I’m planting his latest email here)

Richard, hi hi

Just for fun, I thought I’d mention a couple of movies about religion that I like.Pasolini’s movie about Jesus, The Gospel According to St. Mathew. Great film. Ray’s Devi…great and human.

Have there been any decent films about the Greek gods?….maybe by Michael Cacoyannis. The Trojan
Women…any Greek tragedy is intensely related to the ancient Greek religion. Funny stuff with Steve Reeves as Hercules or Jason and the Argonauts..

“Bedazzled” is a movie i love and definitely religious in a highly satirical way…god and
the devil even talk together.

And then there are Christian horror films such as the Omen films ..
Rosemary’s Baby! Of course, how could I not mention the daddy of them all, The Exorcist, in which a priest gives his soul to the devil to save a child… In fact, exorcism is a religious genre in Christianity, Buddhism and , yes, Judaism. Lots of possession in IB Singer and in art produced by eastern european jews…the most famous being the play The Dybbuk which has certainly been filmed. Hoi-chi the earless, a
segment of Kwaidan, is about Buddhist exorcism as much as anything. And in Rashomon, a shamaness deliberately allows her body to be possessed by the
ghost of a murdered woman to get at the truth of a crime.

And then there are movies like Elmer
Gantry or The Apostle which are about preachers. The Apostle? How about The Night of the Hunter? I also remember that the great Flannery O”Connor’s powerful novel
Wise Blood was made into a movie. I don’t know if other Flannery O’Connor stories have done so. She was an intense catholic but both funny and terrifying, as is Wise Blood itself.

And of course The Last Temptation of Christ, which was picketed in
Charlottesville years ago. Also, Little Buddha by Bertolucci.

The fine movie The Man who Would be King is about Afghanis worshipping a
Westerner who is a Mason. Kipling was a Mason and thought Masonry to be a kind of original universal
religion.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.all best, sm

]]> By: Marc Lipson http://www.vafilm.com/press/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/comment-page-1/#comment-154 Marc Lipson Mon, 01 May 2006 00:55:00 +0000 http://www.vafilm.com/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/#comment-154 Richard,<br/>One of my all time favorites is a great fit: Babette's Feast. In particular, at the feast, many of the characters have a revelation of sorts, from the modest to the sublime. The strong religeous sensibility and the overwhelming faith of the two daughters is touching and beautiful.<br/>Also, for stretching the theme a little, Woddy Allen's salvation upon seeing Duck Soup in Hannah and Her Sisters is sort of a revelation. Richard,
One of my all time favorites is a great fit: Babette’s Feast. In particular, at the feast, many of the characters have a revelation of sorts, from the modest to the sublime. The strong religeous sensibility and the overwhelming faith of the two daughters is touching and beautiful.
Also, for stretching the theme a little, Woddy Allen’s salvation upon seeing Duck Soup in Hannah and Her Sisters is sort of a revelation.

]]> By: Faust http://www.vafilm.com/press/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/comment-page-1/#comment-153 Faust Thu, 27 Apr 2006 23:35:00 +0000 http://www.vafilm.com/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/#comment-153 Another film to consider: "The Rapture" (1991) Another film to consider: “The Rapture” (1991)

]]> By: helen http://www.vafilm.com/press/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/comment-page-1/#comment-152 helen Thu, 27 Apr 2006 15:06:00 +0000 http://www.vafilm.com/2006/04/24/some-guest-invitations/#comment-152 This is shaping up to be a great event.<br/><br/>Many of the films suggested thus far have been "about" God/spirituality, and others offer a spiritual experience in one way or another.<br/><br/>But what about movies that examine the moviemaker as God? The one that leaps to my mind is a demented Peter O'Toole in The Stuntman. (And of course, O'Toole played Jesus in The Ruling Class!)<br/><br/>Interesting that Morgan Freeman has been in so many films concerned with redemption (or its lack): Shawshank Redemption and Unforgiven, to name two. This is shaping up to be a great event.

Many of the films suggested thus far have been “about” God/spirituality, and others offer a spiritual experience in one way or another.

But what about movies that examine the moviemaker as God? The one that leaps to my mind is a demented Peter O’Toole in The Stuntman. (And of course, O’Toole played Jesus in The Ruling Class!)

Interesting that Morgan Freeman has been in so many films concerned with redemption (or its lack): Shawshank Redemption and Unforgiven, to name two.

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