No documentaries, just fiction.
1. Priest (Seen by some as anti-religious, but it’s really a defense of faith)
2. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring (Korean movie about Buddhism – unlike anything you’ve seen)
3. The Mission (from the 1980s, about Jesuit support for the Guanari uprising 18th century – arguably the birth of liberation theology)
4. The Quarrel (My Dinner with Andre type debate between Judaic secularism and orthodoxy)
5. Mass Appeal (About the tension between complacency and dogmatism)
6. The Seventh Seal (some say it’s the best movie of all time – don’t know about that, but it belongs on this list)
7. The Chosen (about the tension between nonsecular Judaic liberalism and orthodoxy)
8. It’s a Wonderful Life (a fav of traditional value conservatives, but actually a very liberal movie)
9. Agnes of God (About the tension between Catholic secularism and othodoxy)
10. Two Mules for Sister Sarah (Oh, it’s not a religious movie really, but I just threw it in because I think the scene where she runs away nude and comes back in a habit is, well, what it is).
This is off the top of my head. I’m sure my list will evolve with suggestions.
13 comments
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July 31, 2009 at 4:28 pm
kaivalya
I really like Priest.
But I think my #1 would be The Life of Brian.
July 31, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Carson Park Ranger
Ushpizin is a great film about ultra-orthodox Israelis. It’s humane, touching, and a good yarn.
It’s a Wonderful Life bankrupted the studio.
July 31, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Eric Kirk
Two great choices! They belong on my list. Knock off sister sarah and Agnes.
July 31, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Baptist
The Apostle was a good film — for Hollywood anyway.
July 31, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Eric Kirk
The Apostle was excellent. Belongs somewhere in the top 20 if not the top 10.
At dinner tonight my friends came up with good suggestions: Babette’s Feast, The Name of the Rose, Jesus of Montreal, Amadeus.
I don’t like any of the films about Jesus very much, except maybe Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, but they’re not particularly deep. After all the build up, the Last Temptation of Christ almost put me to sleep.
I wasn’t impressed with Dogma or the Davinci Code.
Phenomenon was an interesting suggestion. Also the old San Francisco with Clark Gable.
And Man Facing Southeast, an Argentinian movie not yet on DVD which KPAX was based upon.
August 1, 2009 at 5:37 am
Baptist
What, you didn’t like “the Passion?”
I must have eaten three tubs of popcorn.
August 1, 2009 at 9:16 am
Eric Kirk
Haven’t seen it. I’ll probably check out the DVD, and fastforward through all the torture scenes.
August 1, 2009 at 10:02 am
Anonymous
What about The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Ten Commandments?
Also deserving of mention is Barrabas with Anthony Quinn.
August 1, 2009 at 7:38 pm
ecumenik
You cannot make an informed decision about religious movies until you’ve watched: “The Island” a Russian movie about a remote monastery near the arctic circle.
Take it from Moviedad; if you’re not willing to put up with subtitles, you don’t know what a good film really is.
August 1, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Eric Kirk
Can’t believe I left out Saved. For Christians, if you give it a chance and make it to the end, you’ll find that it’s really not an attack on Christianity.
August 2, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Unk John
Where are you going, Eric? Where are you going?
When I was young and Catholic, I saw a movie I liked a lot. I suspect though that my liking of it may have had more to do with the sex and violence than with the religious aspect of it. Of course, my favorite scene is the saving of Lygia by Ursus, the giant. He was an ass-kicker.
The name of the movie? “Quo Vadis”, of course.
August 3, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Eric Kirk
Haven’t seen that one. Sounds more interesting than Brother Sun, Sister Moon.
January 17, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Michael
OSTROV (THE ISLAND), a 2006 Russian-made film, is without question the very BEST spiritual film of all time. May be the best film, period!