World view and world cinema

From 9:00 a.m. until midnight for 12 days this August and September, I was one of thousands of people watching movies at the Montreal World Film Festival. I was invited by Interfilm, the Interchurch International Film Organization, which is dedicated to bringing together individuals and institutions concerned with film and theology. One of Interfilm’s main tasks is to participate, with SIGNIS (the World Catholic Association for Communication), in the formation of Ecumenical Juries at about 30 international film festivals. The juries select films that stand out because of artistic quality, that show human attitudes or expressions of the gospel or prompt a discussion in conversation with the gospel, and that sensitize viewers to spiritual and social issues.

In a Mennonite Brethren church last winter, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the adults and youth raised their hands when I asked a class of about 75 people how many had seen a movie that weekend. We are watching more movies than ever before, yet there is little serious critical and creative conversation about film. That’s why I teach a university course in Film and Faith. And that’s why I spent 12 days serving on the Ecumenical Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival.

This year Montreal’s festival offered more than 450 films from 70 countries. Of those, I saw 56 films; 42 were feature films and 14 were short films. The Ecumenical Jury evaluated 19 feature films in “Official Competition” and awarded a prize and an honourable mention.

The Ecumenical Prize went to Gaz Bar Blues by Quebec filmmaker Louis Bélanger. The film, set in 1989, is a multi-layered story about a gas bar proprietor who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, his sons whom he wishes would take over the gas station, and the motley group of friends who spend most of their days hanging around. The Ecumenical Jury commented, “Gaz Bar Blues shows the extraordinary tolerance and love of an ordinary group of men, as they struggle to cope with change and dislocation in a world becoming increasingly globalized. With great economy and artistic skill, it quietly celebrates the community-creating power of loyalty and acceptance among family and friends.”

Scene from Gaz Bar Blues

The Jury gave an Honourable Mention to a Romanian film, Bless You, Prison by director Nicolae Mãrgineanu. Based on the memoir of Nicole Valéry-Grossu, this film is a convincing testimony of how she is overcome by faith in an extremely painful and hopeless situation. Arrested and tortured as a political prisoner in the early 1950s, Nicole stumbles upon the presence of God when she discovers a word of hope etched onto the wall of her cell. Nourished by memory of the Psalms memorized during childhood, she is transformed into an agent of grace in the midst of brutality and hopelessness.

In fact, Bless You, Prison illustrates well that the gospel can be communicated explicitly and with integrity in film. But the Jury choice suggests that explicit presentation of the gospel need not be the main criterion by which it might evaluate a movie. In fact, one of the reasons Bless You, Prison did not win the prize, in spite of being thematically and emotionally engaging, is the artistic challenge of transposing a memoir into film. The Jury awarded its main prize to an artistically more refined film about the spirituality of the ordinary, about people struggling to discover a meaningful existence in a complex world.

That concern dominated most of the films I was able to see. Three films dealt with what it means to be a man in contemporary society. Four were provocative interpretations of the recent crisis in the Balkans. And about a dozen were portraits of contemporary nomads, people whose lives were unsettled in one way or another by social, political and economic changes. Some people might ask, Why should I watch movies like that?

First, such movies allow us to feel the emotional impact of others’ struggles in a way that news broadcasts cannot. They allow us to become sensitive, even hospitable, to others. Second, such movies hold up a mirror, showing us that we are not that different from others. And third, since movies have the ability to affect us deeply, we may well be comforted or challenged by what we see. And affections, when directed well, move us to change our own behaviour or to take action for the well-being of others.

We do well to take movies seriously by treating them not only as entertainment, but also as windows into the human soul. We can become discerning viewers by reading movie reviews, by posting annotated recommendations on church bulletin boards, and by creating movie clubs that view and discuss high quality films. Good reviews by thoughtful writers can be found at the links on my Movie Theology web page. Also listed there are links to Ecumenical Prize winners on the INTERFILM or SIGNIS websites.

Gordon Matties is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies & Theology at Canadian Mennonite University. His article “Let’s Rent a Movie: Making Movie Nights Work” was published in Ideabank.