Christianity and Film

By Peter Malone and Rose Pacatte.
Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2002. 3 volumes.
This unique 3-volume set matches appropriate films to each of the readings in the Lectionary’s 3-year cycle. Each chapter follows a basic format: Synopsis, Commentary, Dialogue with the Gospel, Key Scenes and Themes, For Reflection and Conversation, and a brief closing prayer by the authors. Ideal for faith and film groups.

Edited by Mary Lea Bandy and Antonio Monda.
New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2003.
Shorter (3-4 page) essays on fifty films with representations of the divine. Mostly written by non-religious critics and scholars with film choices ranging from predictable (Groundhog Day, Babette’s Feast, Ordet) to delightfully unexpected (Love Affair, Utamarro and His Women).

This issue of the online journal Reverse Shot features sixteen essays on films “reflective of a spiritual tendency in cinema – through the medium’s very form, within or without of the narrative, or where the work reproduces the spiritual within the writers themselves”. Thoughtful and lively meditations on an eclectic set of films – similar to The Hidden God.