A FEARLESS DIALOGUE OF
FAITH AND CULTURE:

Savior on the Silver Screen is not only well written, it's filled with the kind of enthusiasm for cinema that is rarely articulated by people of faith: awe, wonder and respect for the medium. Add to that an approach to the delicate dance between faith and popular culture that is "fearless dialogue" and what you come up with is a magic formula for inspiration and learning.

Savior on the Silver Screen is a multi-purpose and interdisciplinary course in film, theology, Scripture, ecclesiology, and the arts for mindful filmgoers. The authors, Richard C. Stern, Clayton Jefford, Guerric DeBona, OSB , all professors of Scripture or Homiletics at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana, are obviously film lovers and it shows. Through film appreciation and movies about Jesus in particular, they have written a course that can help all who treasure faith and film to grow spiritually. They do this by leading us in a reflection on the "role that film and other media (including books!) have played in shaping our religious life and values" (from the very useful Introduction).

By examining nine movies about the life of Jesus from the silent King of Kings to Monty Python's Life of Brian, the reader/viewer/student is challenged to look at their image of Jesus, the image formed by reading the Gospels, life experience and religious instruction. Then, each film's use of characterization, color, parable, controversial elements, is examined. Next the reader is asked to examine the implications these films might have for their own faith development: "How did they 'work' in you? Did you gain any insights into the person and work of Jesus by watching and discussing these movies? What in the movies resonated positively or negatively with your sense of things?"

Besides using the book as a guide, we are encouraged to read the Gospels before viewing the film(s). And for the person leading the group, the advice is to read the Gospels twice. There are questions then, which follow each film's chapter designed to "help us become more analytical when viewing 'Jesus' films", but the good news is that the skills developed can be applied to all media consumption.

The Introduction is an invaluable resource for catechists, youth ministers, preachers and teachers who want to use film (and other media) in their ministries. The development of a "three lens" approach as the methodology for teaching/discussing Jesus films is especially helpful:

Lens One: How does the film compare to the historical record?

Here we are invited to look at films ranging from "characterized by absolute directness" to the more metaphoric approach.

Lens Two: How does the film's producer create and communicate the content of the film?

This 'lens' helps us develop visual literacy skills so that we can "try to interpret visual messages with the kind of openness that allows us first to develop the relevant knowledge base needed to make meaningful interpretations." It also presents the idea of "creative thinking to seek an alternative angle from which to view a problem or question. For example, if I were the director, how would I communicate my image of Jesus?" This section contains much excellent material for the minister/teacher seeking to increase their background in film studies.

Lens Three: As we interpret the film, the film interprets us. Thus, we are invited to look at the image of Jesus the filmmakers have portrayed, constructed and communicated in time, history and culture.

This "lens" is about questioning, about developing our critical sense about media: issues of race, gender, age, class, status and commercial interests. Moving from the level of film as a cultural product, we are asked to consider how we interpret film, and how it interprets us by what it evokes in us: the hermeneutic circle.

Through the development of the lens-like viewing skills advocated by the authors, Savior on the Silver Screen is a book that will make the reader think, the teacher communicate, the believer grow and the viewer observe in ways that add meaning to the cinematic media experience.

Since the authors advocate a lens approach to viewing film, I must admit to my own lenses for viewing the many strengths of this book and also for detecting what I think are its few shortcomings. For example, as a film and media studies teacher, the first thing I looked for after reading the presentation pages was to flip to the back for the index, a most helpful feature for books such as this. However, Savior on the Silver Screen is missing an index, and one can only hope that the next edition will include one.

Then, teachers and ministers who promote the development of critical thinking skills in front of the media (that is, media education), may be disappointed at the rather narrow view of media literacy presented here, confining it to analyzing advertisements or commercials.

In the same vein, the use of the term "discussion" does not seem appropriate in the way the authors use it and explain its function in the text. By far what they mean is "dialogue" and I hope in future editions they will address the use of this term "dialogue" instead of "discussion" because "dialogue" commands a completely different pedagogy than mere "discussion." Dialogue is inherent to media education and the kind of mindful viewing I think the authors intend. I wonder at times if media education might be advanced in the United States especially if these terms were well defined and used not interchangeably, but as they are understood in their essential meaning.

If I were a part-time youth minister seeking to use films about Jesus with groups, I believe I would find the dense and long paragraphs of type a bit discouraging. Teaching outlines on each film/chapter would enhance the book's value even more. However, the detailed Bible references and allusions for each film treated are listed in the appendix and offer study material integral to the course that will benefit the thoughtful viewer and film student. Most chapters also have black and white photos from the films being considered.

While it is clear from the outset that Savior on the Silver Screen is about how movie directors have translated their "images" of the Scriptural Jesus into film, I am sorry that the authors did not include Babette's Feast for our consideration. For Babette's character and story are eminently those of Christ-figure, and becomes a consummate metaphoric representation of Jesus. Fans of Babette's Feast can find developed treatments in at least two other books referenced by the authors, New Image of Religious Film by John R. May and Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ-Figures in Film by Lloyd Baugh ( both Sheed & Ward, Kansas City, 1997). Another insightful book, though difficult to find, is the excellent Movie Christs and Anti Christs by Peter Malone (Crossroads, 1990).

One last note: the authors know that some viewers/readers/students will have problems with some of the representations in these movies. They ask us to reflect and to discuss them openly. But really they invite us to dialogue fearlessly about what we can glean from using the "three lens" approach to studying these nine films.

If we are willing to engage in this cognitive and experiential dialogic exercise, Stern, Jefford and De Bona are willing to bet that we will grow closer to Jesus, and our understanding of his life, message and role in our personal lives, the Church and the world today. And so would I.

Films Featured in Savior on the Silver Screen:

King of Kings (1927)
Kings of Kings (1961)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
Jesus Christ Super Star (1973)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Jesus of Montreal (1989)
 

Savior on the Silver Screen

Paulist Press
paperback
384 pages; B/W photographs
Publication Date: May 1999
ISBN 0809138557
$22.95

Available from Pauline Book & Media Stores