© Copyright 2002 Stan Williams
Dr. Stan Williams is Executive Producer and Managing Director for SWC Films, an independent feature film development company seeking investment partners. His website is www.StanWilliams.com and he can be reached at Stan@StanWilliams.com.
Personal Affect and Global Reach
The Bible, in fact, is actually one grand story told through the flawless layering of hundreds of subplots each of which convey a preeminent truth about the personal stories that make up our lives.
I have also long held that the modern narrative motion picture is not a device that man was allowed to create for his own aggrandizement and avaricious entertainment, but rather a medium that demands his utmost talent to create works of art that communicate truth. As a device in the history of storytelling and the conveyance of moral messages, motion pictures are impossible to beat for their personal affect and their global reach.
While there have been numerous attempts to bring the Bible and motion pictures together in meaningful ways through devotional and discussion guides, I have never seen anything quite so compelling or complete as Peter Malone's, MSC, and Rose Pacatte's, FSP, book LIGHTS, CAMERA…FAITH! A Movie Lover's Guide to Scripture and A Movie Lectionary—Cycle A.
Homiletic Illustrations of the Gospel
The book's Forward points out the obvious — that we live in a culture imbued with movies available through a grand variety of media and channels. But then it quoted these words from a surprising source:
In the words of one playwright and movie-watcher, several of whose plays have been turned into movies:
“People created in the image and likeness of God are naturally called to peace and harmony with God, with others, with ourselves, and with all creation. The cinema can become an interpreter of this natural propensity and strive to be a place of reflection, a call to values, an invitation to dialogue and communion….
“The cinema enjoys a wealth of languages, a multiplicity of styles, and a truly great variety of narrative forms: from realism to fairy tales, from history to science fiction, from adventure to tragedy, from comedy to news, from cartoons to documentaries…. It can contribute to bringing people closer, to reconciling enemies, to favoring an ever more respectful dialogue between diverse cultures.” [John Paul II, Address to the Festival for the Third Millennium, December 1999]
With that challenge Malone and Pacatte nominate recent popular films as homiletic illustrations for each Sunday's Gospel for Cycle A of the Church's liturgical year. There are 72 chapters in all covering the Sundays and feasts during Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week/Triduum, Easter, Ordinary Time, as well as additional celebrations.
Each chapter includes a Synopsis of the film, a short Commentary with items of interest about the filmmaking, Dialogue with the Gospel that focuses on the Gospel story and explains how the themes of the film and the Gospel mesh, Key Scenes and Themes that points to the scenes that best illustrate the themes, For Reflection and Conversation that offers thought-provoking comments and questions, and finally Prayer that provides a concluding and personal reflection.
As a tease, here are some of the more interesting pairings of feasts with films: Mary, Mother of God with Terminator 2: Judgment Day; Christmas Day with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial; Thanksgiving Day with Pay It Forward, Ascension with Mission to Mars, and my favorite for the weeks of Ordinary Time, Forrest Gump. This short list of pairings may appear to make a superfluous connection between Scripture and contemporary movies. But, Malone and Pacatte's analyses are challenging and insightful. With our culture's deep interest in motion picture entertainment, LIGHTS, CAMERA…FAITH! is not just a practical devotional guide, but a strategic cultural tool that rightly assigns the purpose of stories to the inculturation of moral values.
Enthusiastic Reception
LIGHTS, CAMERA…FAITH! is a book that can be used by individuals, homilists, young adult groups, parish study and discussion groups, and professors and students. The authors selected films that could readily be rented on DVD or VHS tape. Before using the movie or an excerpt they recommend the movie or clip be previewed. “The nature of some movies may suggest working with a film clip, since not every movie is suitable for wide audiences.” A table in the appendices provides each film's rating by four different boards including the Motion Picture Association of America and the United States Catholic Conference.
LIGHTS, CAMERA,…FAITH!: A Movie Lectionary—Cycle A is 393 pages, with a good index and helpful appendices. Sister Rose says that the reception has been enthusiastic and the book is in reprint. Volumes 2 & 3 with Cycles B and C readings are due out August 2002, and 2003 respectfully. The book is available on-line through Pauline Books & Media or by writing Mary Ann at 50 Saint Paul Ave., Boston, MA, 02130-3491.
Peter Malone, MSC, is a Sacred Heart Father whom in November 2001, was elected the first president of SIGNIS, the new international Vatican-approved Catholic organization for information and entertainment communications. Rose Pacatte, FSP, is a Daughter of St. Paul and Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Boston and moderator of cineandmedia — an active YaHoo! discussion group about media and Christianity.
