Movies With Christian Themes (Thread From 2005)

[scardella]

What about [i]Life is Beautiful[/i]? Or would they not go for a film entirely in Italian?

Also, (w/ caveats) what about [i]Play It Forward[/i]? I watched that last night and it's got a good theme to it. Becuase of the life situation of the people portrayed, I wouldn't recommend it for an immature audience < 14 or so.

[Laudate_Dominum]

"The Passion of the Christ", for teaching about the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass. (can be worked into everything really)

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Sep 17 2005, 01:02 PM']Really?!  I want to see that! :
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Oh, yeah... It's awesome. A woman comes to the door to request that Mrs. Gilbreth (the matriarch and noted public speaker) assist in the founding of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood. She is asked to speak on... the importance of birth control. I won't spoil it for you, but it's really funny... A great movie and a true story.

[Maria]

The way it happens in the book is that someone refers Mrs. Mebane (the representative of national birth control organization) to Mrs. Bruce, Mother's best friend and mother of the second largest family in Montclair (8 children), as someone who might be interested in starting a local chapter. Mrs. Bruce states that she has several children and so it wouldn't be appropriate for her to head a local chapter, but refers Mrs. Mebane to Mother as "civic minded, career woman, and – most important of all – a large house", and even an organizer.
When Mrs. Mebane goes to the GIlbreth house and Mother learns that Mrs. Bruce recommended her, she mentions, somewhat astonished, that Mrs. Bruce already has 8 children. Mrs. Mebane goes into shock,
(“My God” she said. “Not really.”
Mother nodded.
“How perfectly frightful. She impressed me as quite normal. Not at all like an eight-child woman.”) but then rallies at the thought of the desperate need for their work this was evidence of (“Think of it, living right here within eighteen miles of our national birth control headquarters in New York City, and her having eight children. Yes, there’s work to be done, Mrs. Gilbreth, and that’s why I’m here.”). She then asks Mother to spearhead a local chapter, and Mother decides that Dad would never forgive her if she didn't call him in. As she brought him to her she briefed him, and he greeted her with an “It’s a pleasure to meet a woman in such a noble cause” , which rather surprised her because most men weren't that into it. Then as she started getting into a schpeel on how birth control is so needed because children are horrible for women, Dad whistled Assembly (i.e., all the children have to assemble as quickly as possible), and Mrs. Mebane almost had a heart attack when she realized that they were all theirs, not an orphanage, and they had, let me see, twelve children?
As Dad said, "How revolting. And within eighteen miles of national headquarters, too."

Edited September 18, 2005 by Maria

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Maria' date='Sep 17 2005, 07:47 PM']The way it happens in the book.... [right][snapback]727774[/snapback][/right]
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yep, movie too.

[Maria]

As for movies, I can't stand The Scarlet and the Black anymore because of the way it portrays Puis, and I can't stand Quo Vadis for the sickly sweet version of Christianity it portrays. I found Lilies of the Field fun (esp. the way they communicated to each other using scripture verses). I like La Vita è bella, but I don't see that it's really a religious movie. I'm all for TPOC. I didn't know there was a movie of The Cardinal, but I really liked the book. I don't remember A Man For All Seasons and Song of Bernadette well enough to say anything about them.
Well, I guess I'm just hard to please.

[AlterDominicus]

Movies? how about the really well related ones:

The Sound of Music
Bells of Saint Mary's
The Singing Nun
Therese
Saint Bernadette of Lourds
Agnes of God
The Nun's Story
Sister Act I & 2
Flying Nun
The Nun
Nun
Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows
The Passion of Christ
Joan of Ark
*AND MANY MORE*

And the worst most offensive movie I have ever heard of and review "The Killer Nun" I dispise it, therefore will never watch it.

[kateri05]

some of these suggestions are great , thanks song of berndaette is a great one, i love that movie. i'm gonan look into lilies of the field. sound of music, although a movie i love, i don't think would work because i want to show the girls embracing the vocation of religious life and maria ends up married. even tho its portrayed totally positively, i don't want to give them more reasons to think being a nun isn't for them. as for the passion, too intense, they aren't ready for it yet (my girls anyways)

what are the scarlet and the black about?

any other suggestions for sacraments?

thanks pham! :

[Old_Joe]

Scarlet and the Black is about an Irish Priest (Gregory Peck) at the Vatican during WWII. He and several other people set up and underground railroad of sorts to house Allied soldiers who have been caught behind enemy lines. Officially, the Vatican cannot do anything to help the soldiers. At the same time, the head of the SS (Christopher Plummer) makes several attempts to track down these soldiers and the people involved in hiding them. All the while, war rages on and the SS officer's guilty conscience weighs him down. I won't give away the powerful ending, but it's really good.

Also, I'd recommend the Trouble with Angels.

[kateri05]

both of those look really good.... now i'm just desperate for sacramental movies

[phatcatholic]

"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" has baptismal themes, along with some actual baptisms in the movie.

[scardella]

Lets see....
baptism, check.
marriage, check.
Holy Orders, check.
Eucharist, check?

so, we've got left
confession
confirmation
sacrament of the sick....

hrm...
- I'm not so sure you're going to find something good for confirmation... best I can think of is some sort of "coming of age" movie?
- for confession, I know there's a scene in Godfather III, but I don't think it'd be appropriate. I'm sure there has to be some sort of "dying man makes peace w/ God or family" type movie.

[homeschoolmom]

How about this one:
[url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000D0YWI/103-5945461-0094253?v=glance"]Miracle at Moreaux[/url]

It's about nuns running a school during WW2 and they help some Jewish children excape the Nazis. It's a family movie-- ie not violent. It's short (not even an hour) because it was produced for television.

[AlterDominicus]

[quote name='kateri05' date='Sep 17 2005, 11:17 PM']both of those look really good.... now i'm just desperate for sacramental movies
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My sister-in-law works as a manager of a video store, I am getting two of the ones I want.

The Singing Nun (Mostly because I PROMISED before I became a Dominican, I promised myself that I would learn that song on my guitar = "Dominique" : )

And the Bells of Sain Mary's (I love that movie)

By the way, thanks for bringing up the Song of Bernadette. I've been dying to see that, it was one TV the other night a long time ago, but I stopped watching it in the beginning since I had to go somewhere.

[homeschoolmom]

Then there's [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003CXBH/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-5945461-0094253?v=glance"]The Mission[/url]

[Old_Joe]

I Confess. It's about a priest who hears the the confession of a murder of a man who had some dirt on the priest that might've caused him to be kicked out of the priesthood.

[Fides_et_Ratio]

[quote name='Maria' date='Sep 17 2005, 08:59 PM']As for movies, I can't stand The Scarlet and the Black anymore because of the way it portrays Puis, and I can't stand Quo Vadis for the sickly sweet version of Christianity it portrays. I found Lilies of the Field fun (esp. the way they communicated to each other using scripture verses). I like La Vita è bella, but I don't see that it's really a religious movie. I'm all for TPOC. I didn't know there was a movie of The Cardinal, but I really liked the book. I don't remember A Man For All Seasons and Song of Bernadette well enough to say anything about them.
Well, I guess I'm just hard to please.
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It doesn't portray Pope Pius in a bad light... only on the surface. He was a man with a TON of responsibility. He makes good points as to why he cannot do what Monsignor O'Flaherty does to help out-- He cannot compromise the Vatican!

... if you could only imagine the horrible loss (even to O'Flaherty's ministry!) if the Vatican was taken over and invaded by the Nazis. Monsignor would've been executed right off the bat, as well as anyone around him. It would've been the end of him.

Pius' actions, though seemingly cold and harsh were in actuality very tactful and smooth. He did what he needed to do, and in his doing that, he did a wealth of good for those under attack by the Nazis.

[Old_Joe]

[quote name='Maria' date='Sep 17 2005, 07:59 PM']As for movies, I can't stand The Scarlet and the Black anymore because of the way it portrays Puis, and I can't stand Quo Vadis for the sickly sweet version of Christianity it portrays. I found Lilies of the Field fun (esp. the way they communicated to each other using scripture verses). I like La Vita è bella, but I don't see that it's really a religious movie. I'm all for TPOC. I didn't know there was a movie of The Cardinal, but I really liked the book. I don't remember A Man For All Seasons and Song of Bernadette well enough to say anything about them.
Well, I guess I'm just hard to please.
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Well, a lot of the sickly sweet stuff in Quo Vadis was due to the fact that it is also a romance story. If you read the book there's a lot about trusting in God, forgiveness, and giving of self.

Officially, Pius XII couldn't do a whole lot anyway. There were some bishops that condemned the Nazis early on, but they were immediately arrested and put into concentration camps by the Nazis. Also, an uneasy truce had been between the Vatican and the Nazi's in Rome that they wouldn't step inside of the Vatican.

[StColette]

[quote name='jgirl' date='Sep 17 2005, 07:18 AM']The Trouble with Angels isn't bad either (especially because it's funny and portrays religious life in a positive life).
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Oooooooooh I love that movie!

[Maria]

The reason I can't stand the way it portrays Puis is because it shows him as a coward who didn't do anything (for good reasons, admittedly), whereas in reality he was anything but a coward, diplomatically slighted the Nazis every chance he got, publicly spoke out against war crimes, privately encouraged people like Msrg. O'Flaherty to hide Jews and help them escape, etc. Basically he was much more courageous than the movie makes out. In the movie his character seems spineless.