Several years ago, our parish office administrator, Sharon, was studying for a Theology degree at Liverpool Hope University. One of the modules had a section on the Jesus movies. This inspired us, in 2004, as an experiment, to run a Lenten Course entitled ‘Christ and Christianity through the Medium of the Cinema’ in the parish. We didn’t know what kind of take up there would be for this new venture, or how people would respond to the films and whether or not they would want to talk about them.

We invited David Torevell, who taught the “Jesus movie” module to come to the parish and to give us some background . He spoke about the development of the films and the methodology employed by the film-makers in their portrayal of Jesus. He pointed out for example how in the early Jesus films you did not even see the face of Christ, whereas in what is probably the best known Jesus film, Zefferelli’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, no-one can forget the piercing blue eyes of Robert Powell. In talking about the effect of the “Jesus” movies, David spoke of ‘reversed hermeneutics’- explaining how the experience of watching a film can take the viewer back to the original - to the scriptures themselves. This was an exciting insight.

Films for Lent

After David’s introductory talk, for the next four weeks, every tuesday evening, we ran a film for our parishioners in the parish centre. The films chosen were ‘The Mission’ (overtly Christian), ‘Babette’s feast’ (not so obviously Christian on first impressions), ‘Chocolat’ (with an obviously Christian theme), and ‘Pay it forward’ (which had no reference to Christ, Christianity or religion at all). Each week in the parish newsletter we gave a short synopsis of the film, without giving too much away! Despite the length of the films, each week the group who came had a discussion about the messages contained in the film, and the way in which Christianity was portrayed through this popular media. Each film evoked different reactions among the group: ‘The Mission’ provoked anger at the injustice portrayed in the film, ‘Chocolat’ was thought provoking about the meaning of being a Christian (especially during the season of Lent, which we were in, and the film was set in). Perhaps the most difficult film for people to relate to was ‘Babette’s feast’. The connections for many people were not so obvious. The fact that it is a foreign language film, and therefore needed subtitles, could be a consideration. However, some people did make the connection between the sumptuous meal and the Eucharist. The final film in the series, ‘Pay it forward’, apart from the tears at the end, challenged people to reflect upon the impact that ‘loving your neighbour as yourself’ could and should make in our world.

Films gave people a new way to talk about their faith

The use of films in the parish in this way began a whole new process of discussion, and a new way of allowing people to talk about their faith. The success of the first Lenten programme on films, led to the development of something in the parish we called ‘Movies with Meaning’ whereby, from time to time, we show a film in our Parish Centre for anyone who wishes to join us. People bring their own popcorn and sweets, and we provide tea and coffee, or a glass of wine and even a short interval during the film, (just like it used to be at the cinema!) for people to replenish their beverages. The films are carefully chosen to illustrate a certain aspect of faith. However, the films are not chosen necessarily because of their overtly religion themes. Recently we have shown the films, ‘Stolen Summer’, and ‘Shadowlands’. The evenings have been very successful in terms of the number of people who have attended, but more importantly in terms of the discussion and faith sharing that has ensued.

As a result of the success of the Lenten course and our on-going ‘Movies with Meaning’, we decided to have another series of films on Tuesday evenings during Lent 2009. Attendance has always hovered around the 50 to 60 mark – evidence that it is certainly something well worth doing. The discussion and reflection we have immediately after the film has changed over the years. A much deeper level of reflection takes place now, and people talk more openly about the impact of the film on them. It is also obvious that a greater amount of reflection takes place in the week after the film has been shown. Sometimes there is so much in a film that people need to simply go home and continue to think about it during the remainder of the week – and people do come back the following week and share some of their thoughts.

Movies with Meaning

During the 2009 Lenten series, simply entitled ‘More Movies with Meaning’ we showed the following films. ‘I am David’, ’Evan Almighty’, ‘Life is beautiful’, ’Remember the Titans’, ’The Kite Runner’. Without providing a detailed synopsis of each of these five films, I would simply sum up the whole series by saying that it opened up themes and discussion about trust, journeying, hope, salvation, unity, integrity, evil, community and determination.

My own experience of watching films is that they are a vehicle for transmitting ideas and ideals. One film that had a profound impact upon me, and others (at the same time) was ‘Schindler’s list’. I watched the film in a large cinema, in Leicester Square, London, very soon after it opened. Most of the audience were Jewish. When the film credits came up at the end of the film there was a stunned silence in the auditorium. I vividly remember that no one moved from their seat until the lights came up, and only then did they (and we) begin to move out slowly and silently. The group of people I was with hardly spoke as we made our way to the underground station. The whole experience could only be described as a religious experience. Let’s not forget that from the very beginning film has had a strong relationship with religion. Photographic film was invented by an Episcopal priest, Hannibal Goodwin, the first photographic film shown was the passion Play of Oberammergau (in 1898). within ten years of the first cinema opening in the United States, Cecil B. De Mille (in 1923) had produced his epic ‘The Ten Commandments’ (at the then unheard of cost of one and a half million dollars).

What do you need to organise such an evening?

Firstly, a good film (not all films are good and suitable), a projector (most schools have one that they would probably lend their parish) a DVD player, and some people interested in exploring various aspects of film in a new way.

It is essential that the person leading the evening has watched the chosen film through a couple of times before using it, and made some notes of the themes, the language, the visuals and the music etc that provoked a response in him/her. This will help in the discussion at the end of the film. There are also a lot of good books available that review and analyse different films, especially in the Christian context. There are also some excellent websites that can point you in the right direction regarding films. For starters take a look at the movies section of the U.S. Bishops Conference website at www.usccb.org/movies/ or visit: www.soulfoodcinema.com/ an English website edited by Mark Banks.

Don’t think that only overtly religious films are needed for people to talk abouth their faith. Many of the box-office blockbusters over these past few years are superb candidates for ‘movies with meaning’. Who would have thought that ‘The Matrix’ or the ‘Star Wars’ films could encourage people to think about faith, salvation, redemption and Christianity!

We have used film very successfully in the parish, in retreat work with both primary and secondary school children, and also in evangelisation work in the Diocese of Salford.

I believe that the medium of film is a vital and contemporary tool for evangelisation. Films and DVDs occupy a large proportion of the time and attention of young people (and not only young people) and therefore they are a decisive element in shaping the identity of the next generation. As a church we need to be aware of the impact and influence of film, and I feel that we have a great opportunity of engaging both with young people and culture through the use of film in our ministries.

Paul J Cannon is the parish priest of Guardian Angels Parish, Bury, and Episcopal Vicar for Evangelisation in Salford Diocese.