Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

Introducing a director you almost certainly haven't heard of - but who is well worth getting to know. Lijo Jose Pellissery is one of the major artists of a new movement that has developed over the last decade in the Malayalam film industry - that is, the cinema made in Kerala, the region where India's Christians have lived for many centuries.

All of Pellissery's films are set within Indian Catholic or Orthodox communities. Indeed, while the director is clearly influenced by Western movies, much of his films' vitality comes from how regionally rooted they are, not just in Kerala but even in specific cities and villages.

Pellissery's films show a remarkable level of craft, artistry and experimentation considering their mainstream success in India - indeed, as James Majewski says by contrast with contemporary Hollywood, this seems to be what an "alive film culture" looks like. Within the Malayalam film industry, Pellissery is known as the "Master of Chaos", presumably due to the spontaneous feeling of his scenes, often featuring large, rambunctious crowds, and perhaps also the way situations in his stories tend to spiral out of control. His films keep you riveted in a way that is not manipulative, and they are unpredictable without being dependent on contrived twists.

James and Thomas feature three of Pellissery's films in this discussion, in order to explore his diversity of genre:

Jallikattu is an off-the-wall action movie about villagers trying to chase down an escaped bull - framed within quotations from the book of Revelation which seem to indicate that the bull represents Satan. Ee.Ma.Yau (which means "Jesus, Mary, Joseph")) is about a son struggling to provide a good funeral for his father, but constantly being frustrated by his own limits. Pellissery's most recent film, Like an Afternoon Dream, is a slow, surreal drama - arguably a ghost story - about a man who suddenly takes on another man's identity.

Here are links to view the films in their original Malayalam language with English subtitles:

Jallikattu https://www.amazon.com/Jallikattu-Antony-Varghese/dp/B07ZQMQ9TT

Ee.Ma.Yau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZNDgzLsPZ8&ab_channel=OPMRecords

Like an Afternoon Dream https://www.netflix.com/title/81676305

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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 Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

 

The Age of Innocence may come as a surprise to those who associate Martin Scorsese with movies about gangsters. Based on Edith Wharton's novel, it's a sumptuous period romance set in late-19th-century Manhattan high society. Intriguingly, Scorsese described it as his "most violent film", though not so much as a punch is thrown: the violence portrayed is interior and social, not physical, in this depiction of a romance thwarted by the constricting social norms of the upper class.

Scorsese faced the challenge of depicting a society in which, as the narrator puts it, "the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs" - and so the director cannot rely on characters stating things outright. His great accomplishment is that the film nonetheless reaches an operatic pitch of emotion, keeping the viewer on seat-edge. This is done not only through outstanding performances (Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder), but also by camera movements conveying repressed passion, by light and color, and by the gorgeous Elmer Bernstein score.

For all that, if the film merely depicted the cruelty of social norms and mores stifling forbidden love, it would be of limited interest. Yet as the story develops, it doesn't allow itself to be reduced to a critique of the past. Indeed, though not without ambiguity, it shows the value of strong social rules and institutions - because often, if we follow our passion, we destroy ourselves and others.

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Today it's taken for granted that we as Christians are called to "engage the culture" in order to evangelize. Often "engaging the culture" means paying an inordinate amount of attention to popular commercial entertainment in order to show unbelievers how hip we are, straining to find a "Christ-figure" in every comic book movie, and making worship music as repetitive, melodically banal, and emotionalistic as possible. Past a certain point, "cultural engagement" begins to seem like a noble-sounding excuse to enjoy mediocrity - and Christians, unfortunately, are as much in love with mediocre entertainment as anyone else.

The novel doctrine of "cultural engagement" is just one subject covered in Joshua Gibbs's challenging and entertaining new book, Love What Lasts: How to Save Your Soul from Mediocrity. Joshua joins Thomas Mirus for a wide-ranging conversation about how we choose to spend our free time and why it matters.

Topics include:

• The dangers of artistic mediocrity
• The importance of boredom
• Why streaming has been terrible for music
• The different kinds of Christian "cultural engagers"
• Uncommon and common good things and how both are threatened by the mediocre
• How the "special" apes the holy
• The meme-ification of art

Links

Gibbs, Love What Lasts: How to Save Your Soul from Mediocrity https://circeinstitute.org/product/love-what-lasts/

Gibbs, "Film As a Metaphysical Coup" https://circeinstitute.org/blog/film-metaphysical-coup/

Thomas's favorite episode of Gibbs's podcast, Proverbial https://shows.acast.com/proverbial/episodes/how-to-buy-a-bottle-of-wine

www.GibbsClassical.com

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Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is one of those works of art whose reputation has suffered from its circumstances. Its release in late 2006, two years after The Passion and six month after Gibson's infamous DUI, more or less coincided with the director's blacklisting from Hollywood. Thus Apocalypto tends to be overlooked by critics, despite having been hailed as a masterpiece by the likes of Scorsese, Tarantino, Edgar Wright, and Spike Lee.

Apocalypto has also been attacked for its portrayal of "first peoples". Set in Mesoamerica immediately before first contact with the Spanish, it features a protagonist from a small forest tribe who is captured by Mayans for the purpose of human sacrifice (depicted as the mass-scale brutality it was) and must try to escape back to his family. 

Gibson's depiction of Mesoamerican peoples is sensitive and sympathetic but not PC. Rather than sneering at how terrible a pre-Columbian civilization could be, in portraying the Mayans Gibson wanted to make us reflect on the decadence of the modern West and in particular the American Empire. The film is about a culture of death not unlike our own.

Filmed, like The Passion, in a language most people have never heard, Apocalypto is a stunningly ambitious recreation of a lost civilization, but also a thoroughly entertaining chase movie. Gibson is known for his singular approach to cinematic violence, and Apocalypto gives ample opportunity to discuss the specific artistic choices that are overlooked when we wave off all movie "blood and guts" as the same.

Links

Essay by the film's historical consultant https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288187016_Relativism_Revisionism_Aboriginalism_and_EmicEtic_Truth_The_Case_Study_of_Apocalypto

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0:00 The prosecution

39:15 The defense

With the release of his new film Asteroid City and with memes imitating his cinematic style going viral on social media, Wes Anderson is having a real moment in the zeitgeist almost thirty years into his career.

In Asteroid City, Anderson drives further into the immediately identifiable and somewhat polarizing style he has cultivated for the past decade, characterized by meticulous framing, camera moves and blocking, a certain color palette, and deadpan writing and acting. One is always aware of the director's hand tightly controlling a cute, harmonious little world of his own creation.

The Criteria hosts look at Anderson's career and try to figure out what he's trying to achieve by making his movies so aggressively, well, Anderson-y. James Majewski calls it downright decadent and pretentious, style for its own sake to the point of self-parody. Thomas Mirus is concerned that the increasingly airless and emotionally closed-down aesthetic may be a reflection of Anderson's belief that life has no discernible meaning, and so there is nothing much to do other than create aesthetic illusions (an idea explicitly alluded to in more than one of his films). Nathan Douglas defends Anderson's style as sincere, in service to something more than shallow visual pleasure.

But we all agree on one thing: Wes Anderson is in despair.

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Jim Caviezel’s latest project, The Sound of Freedom, is a harrowing but thrilling look at the fight against the global sex trafficking of children. Caviezel's intense but nuanced performance plays well into both the serious subject matter and the film's mainstream appeal. The film's spiritual relevance is increased by the choice to include not only protective fathers, but a repentant exploiter among its protagonists. 

Though the film isn't about Hollywood, one of its best scenes offers what may as well be a portrayal of how the entertainment and modeling industries sexualize children. The impact is all the more unsettling for how subtly and tastefully the scene is handled.

Though they praise the film, Thomas and James express some reservations about the “you must see this movie for the cause” style of promotion.

Since we started Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast in May 2020, we've been hosting in-depth discussions of movies from the Vatican's 1995 list of important films. Now, after three years, we've finished discussing all 45 films - and in this episode, together with Catholic filmmaker Nathan Douglas, we're taking a look back at the list as a whole.

After discussing how and why the Vatican film list (actually titled "Some Important Films") was made, and putting it in the context of several decades of concern from the highest levels of the Vatican about the social and moral influence of cinema, we talk about our favorite and least favorite films on the Vatican's list, as well as the movies we think should be added in a hypothetical future update of the list.

Ultimately, watching through the entire Vatican film list is not only an education in the classics of world cinema, but also gives  important perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of past cinematic engagement with religion, allowing us to see both the potential fruit that could be borne and the dead ends that should be avoided in the Catholic cinema of the future.

0:00 Introduction 11:31 History behind the Vatican film list 43:34 What films should be removed from the list? 1:24:10 Our favorite films on the list 1:55:30 What films should have been included that weren't? 2:34:09 What post-1995 films would we add? 3:00:19 The most Catholic/edifying films on the list

Links

Pope St. John Paul II's address on the 100th birthday of cinema https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1995/march/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19950317_plen-pccs.html

"100 Years of Cinema" document from the Pontifical Council of Social Communications with model curriculum https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_19960101_100-cinema_en.html

Below is the 1995 list by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, "Some Important Films" (with links to our episode on each film):

Religion

• Andrei Rublev, Andrei Tarkovsky (1969, USSR)
• The Mission, Roland Joffé (1986, UK)
• The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl T. Dreyer (1928, France)
• Vie et passion du Christ (Life and Passion of Christ), Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien Nonguet (1905, France)
• The Flowers of St. Francis, Roberto Rossellini (1950, Italy)
• The Gospel According to Matthew, Pier Paolo Pasolini (1964, France/Italy)
• Thérèse, Alain Cavalier (1986, France)
• Ordet (The Word), Carl T. Dreyer (1955, Denmark)
• The Sacrifice, Andrei Tarkowsky (1986, Sweden/UK/France)
• Francesco, Liliana Cavani (1989, Italy/Germany)
• Ben-Hur, William Wyler (1959, USA)
• Babette’s Feast, Gabriel Axel (1987, Denmark)
• Nazarín, Luis Buñuel (1958, Mexico)
• Monsieur Vincent, Maurice Cloche (1947, France)
• A Man for All Seasons, Fred Zinnemann (1966, UK)

Values

• Gandhi, Richard Attenborough (1982, UK/USA/India)
• Intolerance, D. W. Griffith (1916, USA)
• Dekalog (The Decalogue), Krzysztof Kieslowski (1987, Poland)
• Au Revoir, Les Enfants (Goodbye, Children), Louis Malle (1987, France)
• Dersu Uzala, Akira Kurosawa (1974, Japan)
• The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Ermanno Olmi (1978, Italy/France)
• Rome, Open City, Roberto Rossellini (1946, Italy)
• Wild Strawberries, Ingmar Bergman (1957, Sweden)
• The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman (1957, Sweden)
• Chariots of Fire, Hugh Hudson (1981, UK)
• Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio de Sica (1948, Italy)
• It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra (1946, USA)
• Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg (1993, USA)
• On the Waterfront, Elia Kazan (1954, USA)
• The Burmese Harp, Kon Ichikawa (1956, Japan)

Art

• 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick (1968, UK/USA)
• La Strada, Federico Fellini (1954, Italy)
• Citizen Kane, Orson Welles (1941, USA)
• Metropolis, Fritz Lang (1927, Germany)
• Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin (1936, USA)
• Napoléon, Abel Gance (1927, Italy)
• 8½, Federico Fellini (1963, Italy)
• La Grande Illusion, Jean Renoir (1937, France)
• Nosferatu, F. W. Murnau (1922, Germany)
• Stagecoach, John Ford (1939, USA)
• The Leopard, Luchino Visconti (1963, Italy/France)
• Fantasia (1940, USA)
• The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming (1939, USA)
• The Lavender Hill Mob, Charles Crichton (1951, UK)
• Little Women, George Cukor (1933, USA)

The new film Padre Pio, directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Shia LaBeouf, is ruined by a pornographic and sacrilegious scene involving abuse of a sacred image.

James Majewski and Thomas Mirus contend that conscientious Catholics must not see this movie. They explain the difference between portraying an act and committing that act, and how that line can be obliterated on a film set. They discuss the reality behind holy images, and the importance of making reparation for sacrilege.

First Saturdays devotion to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: https://www.bluearmy.com/first-saturday-devotion/

Thomas Mirus wrote a summary of the arguments in this podcast for the Dappled Things blog: https://www.dappledthings.org/deep-down-things/about-that-padre-pio-film

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In this livestream, James Majewski and Thomas Mirus we discussed errors artists can fall into in pushing back against a moralistic approach to art found within the Church. Rather than reacting away from rigidity to excessive openness, the mature Catholic artist has to get over himself and be a servant.

Also discussed: The relation between order and surprise in beauty, morality and culture.

Note: the video begins abruptly in the middle of our introductory fundraising campaign pitch - because of some glitched-out audio, we cut the first 6 minutes or so.

We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matching grant, so any donation you make by May 24 will double in value! You can donate on our website or PayPal (tax-deductible). 

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After three years discussing the Vatican’s 1995 list of 45 important films, Thomas and James have finally reached the final movie! Made in 1927, it’s a five-and-a-half-hour long, epic, technically dazzling silent film about Napoleon.

Napoleon trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6504eRh5h6M

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

We'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box!

5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast)

5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic Culture Audiobooks, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast)

5/22, 8pm ET - Phil Lawler & Jeff Mirus (CatholicCulture.org writers)

You can use this link to connect to the Mike Aquilina livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNXvhOJuLZ8

The links to the other two livestreams will go up on the Catholic Culture YouTube channel a few days before each one.

The Miracle Maker, a little-known animated Gospel film with Ralph Fiennes as the voice of Jesus, deserves a place in any Christian family's Easter viewing. Its beautifully crafted mix of stop-motion and traditional 2D animation engages the imagination without dominating it in a way that live-action cinema can't.

It's also a masterful piece of adaptation, compressing the story of Christ into 88 minutes. It somehow retains the compactness of the Gospel accounts, yet feels fleshed out by subtle touches and connections within the existing material rather than overmuch invention.

For this discussion, Thomas and James are joined by Timothy Reckart (animator and director of the Oscar-nominated stop-motion short Head Over Heels, and of the feature-length Christmas movie The Star).

Watch Tim Reckart's short film Head Over Heels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96D-bRx5KuU

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Filmed in Rome just after its liberation from the Nazis, while the rest of Italy was still at war, Roberto Rossellini's Rome, Open City documents a unique moment in the history of the Eternal City. With its story of working-class Italians secretly resisting Nazi occupiers, Open City did much to dispose Americans more kindly toward a defeated Italy, and made the cinematic movement of Italian neo-realism internationally famous.

Art historian Elizabeth Lev joins the Criteria team to discuss this classic, included on the 1995 Vatican film list under the category of Values. 

Catholicism is central to the film, with Aldo Fabrizi playing one of the great heroic movie priests, almost an Italian counterpart to the one in On the Waterfront. But it's also interesting how the film manipulates recent history to serve as a kind of propaganda for Italian unity and the rehabilitation of Italy's global image in the post-fascist period - "art as diplomacy", as Lev calls it.

https://www.elizabeth-lev.com/

https://nwdouglas.com/about

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List - which was included on the Vatican's 1995 list of important films - is generally acclaimed as a masterpiece, yet some critics have called it a Hollywood falsification of its subject matter, either because it does not sufficiently show the brutality of the Holocaust, because the story  is told from the point of view of a German, because it has (in some respects) a happy ending, or because (according to the critique of Shoah director Claude Lanzmann) any fictional portrayal whatsoever of the Holocaust is necessarily a transgression.

It is true that while Schindler's List conveys not a little of the horror of the Holocaust, it is also the work of a master entertainer, Steven Spielberg. For a 3 hour, 15 minute drama about genocide, it is remarkably watchable; and indeed, compared with many other movies of the same length, it positively flies by. Shouldn't a film about the Holocaust be a bit more...unbearable?

In this discussion of the film, James and Thomas take these questions seriously, while ultimately vindicating Spielberg's work. While there are things a popular Hollywood drama is not going to accomplish, it is legitimate to portray terrible events in a way that is honest and yet does not actually traumatize the viewer. A film that exercises more restraint will perhaps be more successful in carrying on the memory of the dead to future generations than one which is such an unrelenting immersion in evil that few can bear to watch it.

Meanwhile, the film, while not being unwatchably brutal, offers a real spiritual challenge to the viewer, one which will especially resonate with those who study to imitate the lives of the saints. Those who object to telling the story from the perspective of a real-life German savior of eleven hundred Jews are missing the point.

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Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

It’s time for another lively discussion of the wildly popular Christian TV series The Chosen, following on the release of its third season, which stretches from the sermon on the mount to the feeding of the five thousand. Since the show is written by Evangelical Protestants, Thomas and James make a point of keeping an eye out for any doctrinal errors, and Br. Joshua Vargas joins to share his knowledge of Scripture and ancient Jewish and Christian culture and practices. The good news is that season three (unlike the 2021 Christmas special) is The Chosen’s least doctrinally problematic season yet.

By this time the show has hit its stride, having established a consistent set of strengths and weaknesses. The chief strength, as always, is Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie’s performance as Jesus. As Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees becomes more open, we get to see him in a more provocative and even stern mode than before The show’s portrayal of the spiritual value of suffering and the importance of Peter as head of the apostles both tend in a more Catholic direction as well. And its unashamed faith in the supernatural aspects of Jesus’ earthly ministry continues to edify, with the apostles themselves now being given authority to perform signs and wonders.

After somewhat holding back their non-doctrinal criticisms while The Chosen got off the ground in its first two seasons, James, Thomas, and Br. Joshua now critique the show’s aesthetic weaknesses, which may be as much a product of today’s pop storytelling as of Evangelical Protestantism. Often this takes the form of “telling” rather than “showing”. The least interesting moments are when character drama takes the form of bickering, in which we are expected to believe the stakes are high despite the apparent pettiness of the conflict.

In general, there is a lack of faith in subtext, so that while often the show’s expansion of the terse Gospel accounts is illuminating, at times it actually diminishes their impact, especially when extended fictional backstories are allowed to overwhelm real Gospel moments.

There are also moments when the show’s emotional tenor keeps it from portraying large-scale scenes such as the feeding of the five thousand in an appropriately awe-inspiring way. As Br. Joshua puts it, “The show excels much more at making intimate scenes feel epic than at making large scenes feel epic.”

Finally, the writing, while good in many ways, frequently resorts to jarringly anachronistic language, at times betraying a lack of sensitivity to how different ways of speaking reveal different ways of thinking. The writers seem to think that while people in the ancient world may have had different opinions from us, their basic emotional experience of reality was the same as ours. It was not. Certain quips put into these first-century characters’ mouths are self-aware and self-referential in a way unmistakably a product of the age of mass entertainment and social media.

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Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Earlier on this podcast was discussed Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc. Another of Dreyer's films was also included on the Vatican film list, this one from the sound era: Ordet (The Word), based on a play by the Lutheran priest Kaj Munk, who was later martyred by the Gestapo.

The film centers on the Borgen family, land-owning farmers in a small village in Denmark. The patriarch, Morton Borgen, is a religious man, but his oldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while his second son Johannes, while studying theology, has gone mad and believes he is Jesus Christ Himself.

Ordet can be viewed as a provocative critique of a modern Christianity that no longer believes in miracles. Its astonishing conclusion throws down the gauntlet, forcing us to consider what it really means to have faith.

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

The Leopard was one of the most popular Italian novels of the 20th century. An historical epic about a Sicilian prince who must navigate the social upheaval that came with Italy's unification in the mid-19th century, it was written by a man who was in a position to know about fading aristocracy - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa was a Sicilian aristocrat and the last Prince of Lampedusa, and his novel was inspired by his great-grandfather.

This novel, which paid tribute to the old order while taking a decidedly pessimistic view of liberalism's promise of a new dawn for mankind, was adapted into a classic film starring Burt Lancaster and directed by Luchino Visconti. Though Visconti was a Communist, he was also the descendant of Milanese nobility, and made a film which treats the old nobility with sympathy, yet without rose-colored glasses.

The Leopard (1963) was included on the Vatican's 1995 list of great films, under the category of Art. Joining the podcast to discuss this film is David Paul Baird, co-author of a book on the Vatican film list forthcoming from Word on Fire.

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, The Sacrifice, is a deeply personal work, made while the director was dying of cancer. It deals, in Tarkovsky’s words, with "the theme of harmony which is born only of sacrifice, the twofold dependence of love. It's not a question of mutual love: what nobody seems to understand is that love can only be one-sided, that no other love exists, that in any other form it is not love. If it involves less than total giving, it is not love." For this reason, perhaps, it was included in the 1995 Vatican film list, in the category of Religion.

To put it simply, the film’s protagonist, a middle-aged Swedish man, realizes that he must make a sacrifice to God in order to avert the onset of nuclear war. In its concrete plot, The Sacrifice is rather mysterious and surreal. Yet even if it doesn’t totally work as a literal story, its themes of love, faith, fatherhood, and the dire spiritual situation of modern man are handled economically and intelligibly. Still, guest host Nathan Douglas suggests that The Sacrifice should not be the first film you watch by Tarkovsky—perhaps it should even be saved for last.

Letterboxd review mentioned in discussion https://letterboxd.com/kilo_orange/film/the-sacrifice/

Behind-the-scenes footage from the house-burning scene (1:13:39-1:27:00)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Rd6PbSmHM

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Go to Catholic Culture's website for tons of written content, including news, articles, liturgical year info, and a vast library of documents: https://www.catholicculture.org

Animation director Timothy Reckart (The Star) joins Criteria to discuss his theory that the greatest action movie of recent years, Mad Max: Fury Road, is best viewed in light of Pope St. John Paul II's theology of the body.

Themes of the discussion include:

• The film's depiction of a society based on use of persons as objects
• How the story reverses the very mechanisms of that use and domination and transforms them into means of self-giving love
• Storytelling through action rather than dialogue
• How this apparently feminist film complicates an ideological reading
• Complementarity rather than enmity between the sexes

Note: This discussion contains adult themes.

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

 

The Tree of Wooden Clogs, by Catholic director Ermanno Olmi, depicts a year in the life of four peasant families living on a tenant farmhouse in late 19th century Lombardy. The actors are non-professionals, real local peasants speaking their Bergamasque dialect, recreating their normal life on camera (even if in the trappings of a century earlier).

The result is a stunning vision of a now-bygone culture that grew out of close contact with the land. Though the film is not nostalgic in longing for the good old days, Olmi (himself a son of Lombard peasants) did say, “I firmly believe that peasant culture in the world is, at this moment in the history of humanity, the only ‘culture’ worthy of that name.”

This film can be seen as a culmination of the neo-realist movement that had developed decades earlier with films like Bicycle Thieves and Rome, Open City; but Tree of Wooden Clogs is more neo-realist than the neo-realists, with an almost documentary quality and a purer commitment to depicting a way of life rather than a plot.

Olmi was not part of the elite, Marxist-dominated establishment of Italian cinema, and Wooden Clogs drew heavy criticism for depicting peasants who did not revolt against their economic situation. In fact, though the film does not shy away from showing that the peasants' relation with their landlord is marked by injustice, it also shows them quite indifferent to the revolutionary goings-on we glimpse at the margins of this film.

Olmi instead wanted to “tell history outside the official channels”, and find wisdom in a less "clamorous" history, by listening to the “whisper of the generations”. This "whisper of the generations" very much includes the simple Catholic faith of the peasants.

The great beauty amidst hardship is depicted in a most unassuming way, with Olmi allowing reality to unfold itself through contemplation rather than imposing a stylized structure on the film. He described his approach to filmmaking thus: "There is something in reality that is stronger than you. So what are the terms of the conflict? Am I the one who must tame reality? But it’s so good to be tamed by reality. Because it’s always surprising. This also happens with love."

The Tree of Wooden Clogs was included in the Vatican's 1995 list of important films under the category of Values. A little later, Ermanno Olmi and his film school were given a papal medal by St. John Paul II.

In discussing this film, James and Thomas are joined by film scholar Maria Elena de las Carreras and filmmaker/critic Nathan Douglas.

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For decades critics said Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane was the greatest film ever made. Unfortunately, that intimidating label sometimes keeps people from sitting down and watching the thing. It needn’t be so. Kane is eminently watchable and entertaining. It also definitely isn’t the greatest film of all time, but it’s one of the most technically impressive, especially considering it was directed, produced, co-written and starred in by a 25-year-old who’d never made a movie before.

The titular Charles Foster Kane is a character very recognizable to Americans, the larger-than-life business mogul-turned-celebrity who dabbles in politics. Many details of Kane’s private life are known to the general public, but the film tells us that there’s more to a person than what’s said in the newspapers – perhaps especially when that person was himself a newspaperman who took pride in controlling public perception.

Kane’s complicated, puzzle-like story structure suggests that fully boring down into the mystery of a man’s life may be impossible, but also makes us feel that the effort to get beneath the façade is worthwhile.

Citizen Kane was included on the Vatican’s 1995 list of important films under the category of Art.

James and Thomas wrap up their series of episodes on film noir with a discussion of Billy Wilder's acerbic and vastly entertaining critique of Hollywood avarice and vanity, Sunset Boulevard.

The movie business from the beginning has created some sad and grotesque figures, and this film focuses on two in particular. One is the sad and deluded has-been celebrity. Sunset Boulevard gets "meta" in its reflection of the perils of star-worship, especially in the character of Norma Desmond, a former silent film idol played unforgettably by a real-life former silent film star, Gloria Swanson.

The other Hollywood type this film shows us is the ambitious loser. Film noir protagonists tend to be losers, and indeed the loser seems like a distinctly American archetype, the flip-side of the American dream with its expectation that one should always be advancing one's station in life. Perhaps no place generates losers like L.A., and in Sunset Boulevard we get our man in down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis, played by William Holden.

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There are two movies about St. Francis of Assisi on the Vatican's 1995 list of important films. The first, discussed in the previous episode, is Rossellini's well-known Flowers of St. Francis (1950). The second is quite obscure: Liliana Cavani's Francesco (1989), starring Mickey Rourke as St. Francis and Helena Bonham-Carter as St. Clare.

The best thing one can say about Francesco is that despite being directed by an atheist, it attempts to take its protagonist seriously as a saint; that it is somewhat faithful to the historical trajectory of his life; and that it does not embrace the usual reductive cliches about St. Francis.

Those qualities alone do not make for an interesting film, however, and Francesco would be a fairly rote biopic were it not for the casting of Mickey Rourke. But this casting choice is more of a curiosity than it is a strength of the film. For all the sincerity of Rourke's performance, the lovable personality of Francis as universally attested by early biographies is almost totally missing.

This may be a deliberate artistic choice to strip St. Francis of a "superficial" charisma, in order to draw our attention to a deeper mystery at his core. But how much of the historical personality of Francis can we afford to lose before the exercise becomes fruitless? And speaking of stripping, while it's true that a few famous incidents in St. Francis's life involved nudity, the way these are handled onscreen is far from edifying...

In this episode, James Majewski, Thomas Mirus and Nathan Douglas attempt to make sense of the most dubious selection on the Vatican film list.

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The great Italian director Roberto Rossellini made what is generally regarded as the best movie about St. Francis of Assisi. Its original Italian title is Francesco, giullare di Dio ("Francis, God's jester"), but in English it is known as The Flowers of St. Francis - the film being based on a 14th-century Italian novel with the same title.

As the Italian title suggests, Rossellini wanted to focus on the whimsical aspects of the saint's personality. He sought to capture “the merrier aspect of the Franciscan experience, on the playfulness, the ‘perfect delight,’ the freedom that the spirit finds in poverty, and in an absolute detachment from material things," all elements he had found in the book on which the film was based.

The film faithfully imitates the simple poignant and amusing charm of its source material, right down to its structure as a series of vignettes with no overarching plot. Like the book, it is about St. Francis's followers as much as the saint himself, and particularly focuses on the misadventures of Brother Juniper, as found in the Life of Brother Juniper, a text associated with The Little Flowers of St. Francis.

In keeping with Rossellini's prior work as one of the founders of Italian neo-realism, the film uses almost no professional actors: all the Franciscan characters are played by real Franciscan monks. This too contributes to the film's purity and simplicity - an appropriate tribute to St. Francis.

The film is one of two about St. Francis that were included on the Vatican's 1995 list of important films. The next episode will be about the other: Liliana Cavani's Francesco (1989).

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Continuing through the Vatican's 1995 list of important films, in the section of Art we find the universally beloved 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz.

The film is undeniably delightful and magical, but suffers from the attempt to provide a moral of dubious coherence. The film is about a band of characters seeking various virtues, but at the end we aren't quite sure where virtue comes from, and are left with a sense of disillusionment both within Oz (the Wizard being a phony) and with regard to the whole story (having been a dream).

Nearly half a century later, Wizard got a sequel in Walter Murch's Return to Oz (1985) - but a sequel in plot terms only, with a very different spirit and style.

For one thing, Return is more faithful to its source material in the stories of L. Frank Baum, who was inspired by Lewis Carroll's insistence that children stories don't need a lesson at the end. This approach too has its liabilities, because while a shoehorned theme is bad, so is realizing halfway through a movie that the series of events one has been watching, while charming and inventive, doesn't have much of a point.

Return is also significantly scarier than Wizard, as one of a number of whimsical but dark fantasy films made in the mid-80s (alongside Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal).

The films can also be contrasted in their visual concepts, each compelling in its own way. Where Wizard opts for overtly artificial yet delightful sets, Return offers a more fully realized world, appropriately since the film rejects the idea that Oz is a dream.

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Thomas Mirus, James Majewski, and Nathan Douglas discuss the new Amazon series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The show thus far is not so much offensive as it is bland in ways similar to much popular film and television today. This discussion attempts to understand why the show generally fails to move, focusing especially on its frequent small-mindedness or arbitrariness in characterization and writing, and on its habit of “telegraphing” or signalling emotion rather than genuinely conveying it.

(We apologize for the lip-syncing problems in this episode!)

Topics and timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

3:27 The “Game-of-Thronesification” of character motivation

9:34 Galadriel, Valinor, and the elves’ artistic motivations

18:01 A graceless Galadriel and small-minded writing

29:02 Contrasting performances: Galadriel vs. Elrond

35:21 Failure to trust that virtue is interesting

37:59 “IT’S A SNOW TROOOOOOLL!” The “John-Wickification” of action

41:00 Generic tough girl face; telegraphing emotion rather than living it

52:44 Arbitrary conflict and fussy dwarves

59:06 Starting at level 1: the “video-gamification” of character development

1:06:00 Too much harfoot-talk: cliché TV dialogue with a hobbity skin

1:15:09 The political conversation around the show

1:25:40 Shallow and arbitrary diversity is self-defeating

1:37:07 Erasing womanhood in the pursuit of “strong female characters”

Links

Read Nathan Douglas's film writing here https://vocationofcinema.substack.com

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Catholic art historian Elizabeth Lev returns to Criteria to discuss two films about Michelangelo.

The Agony and The Ecstasy (1965), directed by Carol Reed and starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II, is what Italians call an "Americanata" - an unapologetically bombastic, colorful Hollywood transformation of Italian or Roman history. It focuses on the conflict and collaboration between Michelangelo and his papal patron in the project of painting the Sistine Chapel.

Sin (2019), directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, gives us a gritty, filthy Renaissance Florence and Rome and a Michelangelo who is something like a lovable hobo, outstandingly performed by Alberto Testone. Sin takes place in the fallow period of Michelangelo's career immediately after he painted the Sistine ceiling, in which his work was stalled by the conflict between his two patrons, the Della Rovere and Medici families. Rather than showing Michelangelo making art, it shows his spiritual and economic struggles during this period.

As hesitant as the title Sin might make us, Elizabeth Lev praises it for correctly identifying avarice and pride as Michelangelo's sins, rather than focusing on the question of his sexuality as many do today. (Though the film is not free of sexual content involving other characters.)

Fifty years ago, Konchalovsky co-wrote the greatest film about an artist: Andrei Rublev (directed by Andrei Tarkovsky). He identifies Sin as a continuation of the themes of Rublev. Indeed, both of these films about Michelangelo share with Rublev the tension between artistic/religious integrity and working for patrons who may be commissioning religious works for worldly motives.

Links

https://www.elizabeth-lev.com

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In his book on film noir, Arts of Darkness, Catholic philosopher Thomas Hibbs writes: "Subverting the rationality of the pursuit of happiness, noir turns the American dream into a nightmare. Noir also undercuts the Enlightenment vision of the city as the locus of human bliss, wherein human autonomy and rational economics could combine to bring about the satisfaction of human desire."

Sweet Smell of Success is a sterling example of this theme in noir. "Success" is one of the great American idols, and the two acid-tongued protagonists of this film entertainingly embody the dark side of success in the seeking and the finding, as desperate publicity man Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) eats dirt instead of gravy from the train of ruthless gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster).

It's almost like Wormtongue and Saruman in Times Square, if Saruman's main goal were to stop his kid sister from marrying a jazz guitarist. But we don't want to spoil it for you...

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Bicycle Thieves, the most beloved classic of Italian neo-realist cinema, would be too easily explained as depicting the crushing pressures of poverty and societal dysfunction in Rome immediately following World War II. But the film transcends any sociological analysis: it has something spiritual to say about how those in poverty can respond to their situation. James Majewski argues that the film is about trust or the lack thereof. It shows how quickly things get worse when we act as though we are in control of our circumstances.

The film also defies any suspicion that something with the name “neo-realism”, which uses real locations and non-professional actors in order to better document social realities, will necessarily be drab, materialist and undramatic. Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini’s neo-realist slogan, “Life as it is”, is clarified by director Vittorio de Sica’s explanation of why he decided to make a film about the theft of a bicycle: “Uncovering the drama in everyday life, the wonderful in the daily news.”

Bicycle Thieves is included on the Vatican’s 1995 list of important films, in the category of Values.

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On the morning of January 15, 1944, Nazis raided a boarding school for boys in Avon, France. The Carmelite monks who ran the school had been hiding some Jewish boys there under false names. As a number of the children and teachers watched, three of their classmates were led away by the Nazis, along with the headmaster, Pere Jacques, who turned back to say only, "Au revoir, les enfants" ("Goodbye, children"). The three boys died in Auschwitz, and the priest went to Mauthausen, dying only a few weeks after the camp was liberated by US forces.

Among the children standing by on that unforgettable day was the future French film director Louis Malle. Decades later in 1987, he would memorialize the experience, the boys and the priest (whose cause for canonization was opened in 1990). The film is included on the Vatican's 1995 list of important movies under the category of Values.

But Au Revoir les Enfants is about much more than the Holocaust. The bulk of the film is a kind of slice-of-life experience of a French Catholic boarding school. The children in the story don't know what is going on behind the scenes, and Malle proves deft at developing the plot in an unemphatic and invisible manner until the end. It is a coming-of-age story, a Holocaust story, and the story of a heroic priest-martyr all in one.

Note: In this episode, we mistakenly referred to the main character as “Lucien”. His name, in fact, is Julien.

Article about Pere Jacques: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1781-au-revoir-les-enfants-p-re-jacques-and-the-petit-coll-ge-d-avon

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James and Thomas introduce one of the most influential genres of Hollywood’s golden age: film noir. Noir’s distinctively moody chiaroscuro look, suspense-laden plotting, and clever, “hard-boiled” dialogue deriving from popular crime fiction make it a most entertaining style. But why did a genre exploring the cynical, seedy and criminal side of American life thrive in the optimistic years of the late 1940s?

Here we explore the stylistic elements, as well as the strange morality and psychology, of film noir. James suggests that its popularity in the late 40s has to do with the breakdown of the relationship between men and women which was already taking place. A central aspect of noir is often the hero’s seduction and betrayal by a scheming femme fatale.

This episode focuses on an outstanding example of the genre from 1947: Out of the Past, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. Mitchum plays a former private eye who used to be involved in the seedy underworld of New York City, but has now retreated to a quiet life in rural California. As the title indicates, his past reaches out and threatens to pull him back in.

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James and Thomas attempt to discuss the 1933 film adaptation of Little Women, without the help of a female guest. The film, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo March, was included on the Vatican’s 1995 list of important films, in the category of Art.

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A mere eight years after the 1920 canonization of Joan of Arc, and in the midst of her great popularity as a French national hero, Danish director Carl Th. Dreyer made The Passion of Joan of Arc. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and is included on the Vatican film list.

Two aspects in particular put this film in the canon: first, Renee Maria Falconetti's transcendent performance as Joan, which some consider the greatest work ever done by a film actor. And second, the film's radical visual style, eschewing establishing shots and even a clear sense of place to focus entirely on the actors' faces, combining with fast-paced editing to put what Dreyer called the "close-quarter combat" between Joan and her judges front and center.

The film combines a historical approach - based almost entirely on the real transcripts of Joan's trial - with non-realistic acting and cinematography, to arrive at "the ecstatic truth" about St. Joan (to borrow a phrase from Werner Herzog). The Passion of Joan of Arc feels much less dated than many silent films, and would make a great introduction for those unfamiliar with this era of cinema.

Like many silent films, it has existed in various versions and states of disrepair over the decades - but Joan's history is more remarkable than most. After the original negative was destroyed in a studio fire the year after it was shot, Dreyer reconstructed it shot-for-shot using alternate takes. The second version of the film was then destroyed in a different studio fire. In 1981 a print of the original film was discovered in the janitor's closet of a Norway mental institution, providing the fairly pristine version we can view today.

But we still have various frame rates and soundtracks to choose from, which gives rise to a broader discussion about what constitutes, and who decides, the "definitive" version of a work of art.

Links

Read Nathan Douglas at The Vocation of Cinema https://vocationofcinema.substack.com/

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Novelist and critic Trevor Cribben Merrill joins the podcast to discuss one of his favorite recent films, the Coen brothers' Hail, Caesar!

This is one of the Coens' most warm-hearted films, and certainly their most Catholic one. It deals with the problem of vocation and the spiritual value of art, although intriguingly, from the point of view of a non-artist: movie producer Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who must often serve as a "fixer" getting his stars out of personal scrapes and scandals.

Hail, Caesar! is set in a production studio during the Golden Age of Hollywood, giving the Coens a chance to reproduce many classic genres of the period, from the western to the water ballet.

The film's detailed portrayal of the old Hollywood studio system in the time of the Catholic Legion of Decency and the Hayes Production Code also provides an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of the scandal-averse culture of Hollywood in the 30s-50s. How much of it was real concern for morality vs. fear for the studios' bottom line?

Links

T. C. Merrill's novel Minor Indignities https://tcmerrill.com/minor-indignities

Catholic Culture Podcast interview with T. C. Merrill https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/122-minor-indignities-tc-merrill/

T. C. Merrill is presenting in a Collegium Institute seminar on Bernanos's Diary of a Country Priest on June 20. More info here: https://www.collegiuminstitute.org/calendar/all-is-grace-global-catholic-literature-2022

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The Vatican film list includes a few different World War II-related films, and Kon Ichikawa's 1956 classic The Burmese Harp may be one of the most unusual, as the story is told from the perspective of a Japanese troop in Burma in the days after the end of the war.

Mizushima, the protagonist, serves in a company whose musically trained captain teaches them to sing together to keep their spirits up. Mizushima himself plays the harp, not only to accompany the choir but to send signals as the company's lookout. Traumatic encounters with death immediately after the company's surrender set him apart first physically, then psychologically and spiritually, from his troop, and he ends up wandering the countryside disguised as a Buddhist monk.

This is an anti-war film, and a film about piety toward the dead, but it's also about vocation and how it relates to membership in a community. Mizushima experiences a special calling which sets him apart from his fellows, yet in order to serve them.

Music, and specifically communal singing, is often important in films about either of the world wars, but this film takes that concept to a whole new level, with music (both the protagonist's harp and his company's choral singing) serving a crucial function of communication throughout the entire film, especially at moments when words seem impossible.

Watch The Burmese Harp on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8lTqY9H-sA

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James and Thomas continue their discussion of the Vatican film list with Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece Modern Times, included on the list in the category of Art.

Released in 1936, Modern Times is both Chaplin's last silent film and his first talkie - his character, the Little Tramp, is silent and the only time we hear people talking is when their voices are mediated through technology, such as on the radio or through an intercom system. This depersonalized and one-way approach to the human voice on film reflects not only a commentary on modern communications but also Chaplin's personal aversion to the sound era.

The film is not just filled with hilarious gags, but contains intelligent social commentary as the Tramp tries and fails to fit into the world of industrialized labor, and really any other part of the modern social order.

Chaplin not only wrote, directed and starred in this film, he composed the musical score and made the sound effects.

CatholicCulture.org is in the middle of its Easter 2022 fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered us a $60,000 matching challenge grant. If you donate between now and Pentecost Sunday, your donation will be doubled! Please help us keep our apostolate going. If you use this link your donation will be earmarked for podcast production: http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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The new film Father Stu is based on the true story of Stuart Long, a rough-around-the-edges boxer-turned-priest who died in 2014. Mark Wahlberg plays Fr. Stu in an Oscar-worthy performance, and Mel Gibson makes another entry in long list of broken father roles he has played in recent years.

James and Thomas review the film, discussing the pros and cons of the film's gritty humor, and the depiction of Stu's growth in spiritual maturity through suffering. 

Father Stu is in theaters starting April 13.

Read about the real Fr. Stuart Long, a truly saintly man, at The Pillar: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/meet-fr-stu-the-real-priest-and-true?s=w

Poet, translator and cultural commentator Anthony Esolen joins James and Thomas to discuss one of his favorite filmmakers in the genre of "screwball comedy", Preston Sturges.

Sturges wrote and directed eight films between 1940 and 1945, seven of which are regarded as classics. This episode focuses on two of those films: Sullivan's Travels (1941) and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944).

Sullivan's Travels is about a director of cheap comedies who decides to go on the road as a hobo so he can make a film of true social significance, making a fool of himself in the process. It displays Sturges's ability to write and direct dialogue that is fast, sharp and snappy, but never flippant or glib.

Sturges is virtuosic in navigating dark material with a light touch, and able to switch seamlessly between pathos and humor, ending up in a place of warmth and graciousness without sappy sentimentality.

This is also true of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. In an age in which even married pregnancy could not be depicted on film, Morgan's Creek pushed boundaries by depicting unwed pregnancy. It ends up being a very pro-life film as well as something of a time capsule, showing how a social stigma against unwed motherhood was not incompatible with compassion and support for such mothers and their babies. Like Sullivan's Travels, it has an outrageous, hilarious and utterly unpredictable ending.

These films prompt a reflection from Esolen on how "The moral law makes mirth possible," and how the sexual revolution killed romance - two reasons great screwball comedies cannot not be made today.

Other movies reccomended by Anthony Esolen: Penny Serenade, People Will Talk, and also The Lady Eve, Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing Up Baby, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, You Can’t Take It With You, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (TV series), “Walking Distance” (Twilight Zone episode)

Other movies mentioned by Thomas Mirus: Hail the Conquering Hero, Unfaithfully Yours, The Awful Truth, It Happened One Night

Links

Joel McCrea discusses his faith https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/movies-and-tv/guideposts-classics-joel-mccrea-on-gods-guidance

Podcast about Betty Hutton’s conversion to Catholicism https://americancatholichistory.org/betty-hutton/

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts https://magdalen.edu/

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James and Thomas interview Yelena Popovic, writer and director of the new film Man of God, about the Greek Orthodox saint Nektarios of Aegina. Man of God will be in select theaters in the U.S. on March 21 and 28.

At 17, Yelena left Belgrade, Yugoslavia to escape civil war. She went to Italy and then the US, working as a model in New York City, and then to L.A., where she gained experience and training as an actress, writer and director.

Parallel to this artistic journey was a spiritual one stemming from her lifelong sense of connection with God despite lack of religious education, which ultimately led her to make a film about St. Nektarios.

In this interview Yelena tells her personal story, the story of St. Nektarios, and the extraordinary story of how this film was made - with an outstanding cast and composer secured for her with the help of the monks of Mt. Athos! 

Links

Find a showing of Man of God near you http://www.fathomevents.com

Interview with Mickey Rourke about his faith and working on Man of God https://orthochristian.com/133984.html

Our previous review of Man of God https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/review-man-god/

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A poor, half-witted girl is sold by her mother to be the assistant of a brutal traveling circus strongman in La Strada ("the road"). Federico Fellini's 1954 masterpiece, included on the Vatican film list in the category of Values, attests to the seeds that can be planted by selfless love, even in the face of abuse and rejection. 

Condemned by Marxist critics in 1950s Italy for its spiritual view of suffering, the film found a better initial reception in the United States, where viewers saw Giulietta Masina's unforgettable protagonist as a "cross between St. Rita and Mickey Mouse".

From the beginning, Catholic viewers have found found much to appreciate - Pope Francis, who was 17 when the film was released, calls it one of his favorites.

Links

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston https://www.stthom.edu/Academics/School-of-Arts-and-Sciences/Division-of-Liberal-Studies/Graduate/Master-of-Fine-Arts-in-Creative-Writing/Index.aqf?Aquifer_Source_URL=%2FMFA&PNF_Check=1

James Matthew Wilson https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/

Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/about

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James and Thomas review a new film about the popular Greek Orthodox saint Nektarios, Man of God. Nektarios was slandered and mistreated by his fellow clergy and his patriarch, but bore it all with great meekness. (Mickey Rourke plays a paralytic healed by the saint.)

Man of God will be shown in US theaters on March 21 and March 28. Find showings here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Man-of-God

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

One of the boldest inclusions on the 1995 Vatican film list comes from an atheist director well known for his anti-clerical films, Luis Buñuel.

His 1959 film Nazarin does not seek to discredit the Church by portraying an obviously hypocritical, venal or sensual priest. Rather, protagonist Fr. Nazario is a Quixote figure, unable to make any difference in this miserable world no matter how strictly he follows his religious code.

Film scholar Maria Elena de las Carreras returns to the podcast to talk about Buñuel as an artist unable to escape his post-Tridentine Spanish Catholic upbringing. His vision replaces the supernatural with humanism, yet he does not believe even this can save us. For Buñuel, whatever moments of human kindness we may encounter along the way cannot change the fact that life is hell.

It is interesting to compare Nazarin with many other priest films, including Monsieur Vincent; Diary of a Country Priest; Silence; The Fugitive; and Leon Morin, Priest.

Links

Watch Nazarin with English subtitles here – far better quality than the version on Amazon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdr04mntPG4

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A married couple divorces over mutual suspicion of infidelity - but the two can't seem to leave each other alone, hilariously interfering with one another's attempts to find someone else. This is the plot of The Awful Truth, a classic "comedy of remarriage" by Catholic director Leo McCarey (The Bells of St. Mary's, Duck Soup), featuring brilliant improvisational performances by Cary Grant and Irene Dunne (also Catholic).

Thematically, the film shows (in a lighthearted way) the maturation of a marriage. It is also notable for its joyously frank yet appropriately veiled treatment of marital eros - an artistic triumph spurred by the salutary censorship of Hollywood's Production Code.

The Awful Truth is an outstanding example of screwball comedy, a highly entertaining genre that flourished in Hollywood from the mid-1930s to the early 40s, usually featuring super-fast and witty dialogue, absurd scenarios, and a battle of the sexes. 

Guest host Nathan Douglas joins to discuss the film.

Links

Irene Dunne on her faith https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/movies-and-tv/guideposts-classics-irene-dunne-on-her-faith-journey

Essay about Leo McCarey https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/mccarey/

Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/about

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Elia Kazan's 1954 film On the Waterfront is included on the Vatican's film list in the Values section. The film broke ground in its gritty, realistic production and acting style, particularly manifested in Marlo Brando's unforgettable performance as low-down dockworker Terry Malloy. It offers a striking vision of how we can be transformed by attending to the demands of conscience, articulated in fully Christian terms in a classic monologue by one of the greatest movie priests in Hollywood history.

In discussing the film, James and Thomas touch on the pros and cons of method acting, and learn about the real-life priest whose testimony inspired the screenplay. The film's political context is also interesting, as it was arguably director Kazan and writer Schulberg's cinematic defense of their decision to name names of Hollywood Communists in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee.

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James improvises an impassioned dramatic monologue about the inadequacies of Joel Coen's new adaptation of The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. Orson Welles's 1948 version, he argues, is aesthetically similar but far superior. Thomas sits and listens. Watch the Orson Welles Macbeth: https://archive.org/details/macbeth.-1948.-orson.-welles.-103-min

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

In the 50th episode of Criteria, James and Thomas finally conclude their look at Dekalog, the series of short films inspired by the Ten Commandments which Krzysztof Kieslowski made for Polish television in the late 1980s.

Kieslowski concludes his notoriously bleak series on a (slightly) lighter note, the Tenth Commandment against coveting thy neighbor's goods providing plenty of opportunities to poke fun at human silliness. The absurdity is compounded when the thing being coveted is a stamp collection.

Though Dekalog: Ten begins with one of its main characters singing a song that encourages the breaking of all 10 commandments, with the refrain "everything is yours", in this episode the protagonists are less the chief transgressors against the tenth commandment than they are stuck in a world shaped by the covetousness of those around them.

These two brothers inherit a valuable stamp collection from their father, who neglected them in order to pursue his obsession. Along with the stamps they inherit, for a dangerous moment, his vice of covetousness, and in doing so, come to understand that that he craved was not so much the stamps as the escape from all problems and responsibilities provided by this juvenile quest.

Thus the final Dekalog film continues the series' continual examination of the sins of fathers, and through this subject matter, Kieslowski's preoccupation with the terrible responsibility of human freedom and the stark consequences our actions have in the lives of others. For nobody has more responsibility than a father.

In this case, the sons find some degree of reconciliation with the dead father who wounded them - or at least, they arrive at understanding through solidarity in weakness. The film's rueful observation is that we often understand and compassionate our parents only after falling into their same vices.

Watch this discussion on YouTube:

Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com—the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion. https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog

Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Jean-Louis, 34-year-old Catholic engineer, lives a quiet life studying mathematics and reading Pascal. One day, he sees a beautiful girl, Francoise, at Mass and decides he will marry her. But this pursuit is interrupted when he spends the night before Christmas at the apartment of a seductive divorcee, the atheist Maud, who tests his moral code.

First Things senior editor Matthew Schmitz joins the podcast to discuss Catholic director Eric Rohmer's highly influential 1969 breakout film. My Night at Maud's is the fourth entry in Rohmer's series Six Moral Tales.

Extensive moral dialogues have never been so masterfully directed and acted; the film is fully entertaining though packed with ideas. Is Catholicism just a moral code or something more? Is sainthood for everyone? How do we recognize God's grace in the chance happenings of life? What is true conversion?

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mAeBRM5ky7U

Links

Matthew Schmitz on Rohmer, "The Anti-Romantic" https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/10/the-anti-romantic

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

If you haven't seen Chariots of Fire, the classic movie about a Christian and a Jew competing in the 1924 Olympics, you've heard its iconic and much-parodied musical theme. The film offers quite a bit to chew on not just in its primary themes of conscience and using one's gifts for God's glory, but also regarding the importance of the amateur spirit, how sport can be properly integrated into education and life as a whole, and how a great civilization must value the achievements of those who came before.

Chariots of Fire is included on the Vatican's film list under the category of Values.

Thomas and James discuss the film with actor, director and producer Peter Atkinson. Peter is the director of the Merry Beggars, Relevant Radio's new entertainment division, which is launching with a 25-day "Advent calendar" production of A Christmas Carol.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vSXDOqRvFd8

Links

The Merry Beggars https://themerrybeggars.com/

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A knight returning home from the Crusades gets into a chess match with Death. Ingmar Bergman's most famous film, The Seventh Seal, is a searing meditation on death, faith, and the silence of God. But it's far more colorful and entertaining than you might expect from that description.

James and Thomas are joined by Irish journalist Ruadhan Jones as they try to figure out whether The Seventh Seal is basically nihilistic, and why it might have been included on the Vatican film list under the category of "Values". Ruadhan offers some thoughts on the Marian dimension he believes is missing from Bergman's approach to faith.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RoM6B0Vaz50

Links

Ruadhan Jones https://twitter.com/ruadhanj

The Catholic Index https://thecatholicindex.wordpress.com/home/

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

After being diagnosed with permanent impotence, a husband begins to suspect his wife is having an affair. This is the ninth installment of Kieslowski's Dekalog, a Polish film series inspired by the Ten Commandments.

The writers of this series yet again return to the theme of weak husbands and fathers failing to claim their rights and therefore to fulfil their duties - in this case, a husband who does not protect the exclusive fidelity of the marriage bond.

But central to the episode is the question of whether love and sex can be separated in marriage - as well as sex and procreation. It suggests that when a married couple chooses not to have children, the door is opened to other kinds of selfishness as well.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S8tuHErUFeQ

Links

Dekalog 50% off at Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-dekalog/35930490?ean=0715515185615

Pius XI, Casti Connubii audiobook https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pope-pius-xi-casti-connubii-on-christian-marriage-pt-1/

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Fr. Brendon Laroche joins Thomas to review Denis Villeneuve's film Dune: Part One. Fr. Brendon, who knows the original novel by Frank Herbert well, gives his thoughts on how the film fares as an adaptation, and on what Catholics ought to make of the religious elements of Herbert's novel.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8wB7-jPIHPM

Links

Discussion of Catholic sci-fi author Gene Wolfe with Fr. Brendon https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-77-gene-wolfe-catholic-sci-fi-legend-sandra-miesel-fr-brendon-laroche/

Fr. Brendon on Twitter https://twitter.com/padrebrendon

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of world cinema and arguably gave birth to Hollywood on an economic level. A technical masterpiece said to have established the grammar of cinema, it is also an astonishingly racist film (and was considered so even in 1915), portraying black people as subhuman and the Ku Klux Klan as civilization-saving heroes.

Griffith’s follow-up, Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Through the Ages, was even more ambitious, telling four stories in four different time periods: the fall of Babylon, the life and passion of Christ, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and a modern love story. While the film condemns intolerance, it is not Griffith’s apology for Birth of a Nation, but rather his self-defense against his critics.

In this episode James and Thomas discuss both films, trying to understand what sort of artist Griffith was and what his Founding Father status in Hollywood history might tell us about cinema as a medium of entertainment and emotional manipulation.

The Birth of a Nation is an exceedingly well-crafted but fundamentally immoral work which offers some food for thought about the power of cinematic rhetoric. Intolerance is included in the Values category of the Vatican film list, but James and Thomas find it to be an incoherent, empty spectacle whose attempt to attribute all of human tragedy to the single vice of “intolerance” falls laughably flat. (And it also has its immoral side, if less fundamentally.)

We hate to say it, but the earlier film is the superior one on the level of storytelling craft. If you don’t want to choose between racist and incoherent, though, watch Griffith’s later melodrama Broken Blossoms, which unlike Intolerance, actually does contradict the racism of his most famous film.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JawFbn-b7B0

Links

The Birth of a Nation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN_o3zeD81g

Intolerance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIMpKXR83pg

Broken Blossoms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQXb89LXuJo

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Oratorian brother and visual artist Joshua Vargas joins Thomas and James to discuss Season 2 of The Chosen. The series continues to set a high imaginative standard in its portrayal of the Twelve Apostles, each of whom has a distinctive personality and several of whom have beautifully fleshed-out backstories (the calling of Nathanael being one of the standout episodes of this season). Jonathan Roumie continues to shine in his performance as Jesus, and we also find the filmmakers stretching their cinematic chops and experimenting with various methods of storytelling.

The Protestant-written show also ventured into more problematic theological territory this season, so a review would be incomplete without an evaluation of its controversial treatment of the Virgin Mary and of Jesus' human knowledge. While falling short of a Catholic view, these allow for some nuance; but the portrayal of John the Baptist is purely disappointing.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iREGf8C6_tM

Links

The Chosen, Season 1 discussion https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/chosen-education-in-meditation/

Thomas’s interview with Jonathan Roumie on the Catholic Culture Podcast https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-76-playing-jesus-on-chosen-jonathan-roumie/

Buy Brother Joshua’s work on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtbyJoshuaVargas

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

In 1943 Warsaw, a little Jewish girl is brought to the home of a Catholic woman who has offered to provide her a fake baptismal certificate so she could be safely settled with a Catholic family. Upon her arrival, though, the woman turns her away, saying it is against the principles of her religion to lie.

This scenario sets up the events of Kieslowski's 1988 film Dekalog: Eight, in which decades later, that little girl, who had escaped to America and survived, returns to Warsaw to confront the woman in order to make sense of what happened to her. What ensues is an exploration of what it really means to bear false witness.

We see a variety of ways in which Polish people learned to cope with the trauma of the years of Nazi occupation and Communist rule, and to reconcile with themselves and others after making various moral and psychological compromises to survive.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8aFQcgmUvzo

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Film critic and deacon Steven Greydanus joins the show to discuss one of the best movies about a saint ever made, Monsieur Vincent. The film depicts St. Vincent de Paul's invention of the organized charity we take for granted today, and his struggle to stay personally close to the poor despite the practical need to court the favor of the rich to support his work.

This isn't a film about a man conflicted about his basic identity or goal in life, nor is does it culminate in the beginning of a conversion—rather, it shows the continual deepening and conversion characteristic of the life of holiness. That is a very rare thing: a compelling drama about a soul already advanced in the spiritual life.

This outstanding piece of narrative filmmaking won the Oscar 1948 for best foreign film, yet it is underappreciated, underseen and underdiscussed; this is the only discussion of the film in English you’ll find on YouTube.

Greydanus suggests that Monsieur Vincent, of all the films on the Vatican’s list, may do the best job of uniting truth, goodness and beauty, and thus in a sense belongs in each of the list’s three categories: Religion, Values, and Art.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5SrmmqNQgkc

Links

Steven Greydanus's writing at www.DecentFilms.com

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This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James and Thomas, with the help of filmmaker and critic Nathan Douglas, tackle Alain Cavalier's 1986 film Thérèse, an unconventional portrait of the beloved French saint known as the Little Flower. It gives them a chance to ask the question: What makes for a great saint movie?

One of the great strengths of the film is actress Catherine Mouchet's amazing physical resemblance to Thérèse, but also the way in which she seems to inhabit her from the inside, shining forth a visible beatitude unique in cinematic portrayals of saints. She does this without ever falling into the "plaster saint" sentimentality one might fear.

But it's also a highly unconventional movie, seemingly set on eliminating extraneous elements that would normally be attractive in a film. in order to get to something more essential. This is manifested in the austerity of the sets, to the point where we do not actually ever see a room in the strict sense, much less an outdoor setting, and more mysteriously in the camera's singular focus on certain physical objects.

Though the lead actress seems to get at her character from the inside, the attitude of the film itself is somewhat more inscrutable and distanced, particularly in its ambiguous portrayal of asceticism.

The discussion concludes with a killer monologue by Nathan Douglas on how one might get the most honest and complete results in making a film about a saint, as well as the observation that Eucharistic devotion is almost completely absent from the majority of even the best saint movies that have yet been made.

Thérèse is not available for streaming anywhere, and cannot be bought on disc for a reasonable price. The easiest way to see the film is to contact [email protected] and ask for help.

Links

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UsW2Vo6HKN0

Nathan's newsletter, The Vocation of Cinema https://vocationofcinema.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-vocation-of-cinema-10b

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Follow this link to join the Online Great Books VIP waiting list and get 25% off your first 3 months: https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

It's remarkable that as recently as 1986, we had a hit movie, with A-list stars (Jeremy Irons, Robert De Niro) and an A-list composer (Ennio Morricone), that takes a nuanced look at a controversial historical subject, European Christian missionary activity. The Mission could not be made today. 

The Mission was written by Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and directed by Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields, There Be Dragons). 

Gerald Russello, editor of the University Bookman, joins James and Thomas to discuss the film's moral complexity in dealing with sin, repentance, and issues of obedience; as well as the relevant historical subjects, such as the South American Jesuit missions and how Catholic Europe worked out issues of human rights in theory and practice during the colonial era.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S-MruaPfJV4

Links

The University Bookman https://kirkcenter.org/bookman/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

The podcast returns to yet another episode from Dekalog, the series of Polish short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. Part seven, based on the commandment "Thou shalt not steal", is about a young woman who kidnaps her own daughter. It asks the question: can you steal something that belongs to you? But it also asks: what happens when motherhood is stolen from you?

Part seven also returns to some of the parental themes raised in part four. There, we saw the disastrous consequences of a father abdicating his God-given authority. Here we focus on an overbearing grandmother and mother who force a small child to fill their psychological needs, but we can't help but notice the weak fathers lurking in the background, failing to step in and set proper boundaries.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CFqUmEi9yHU

Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com—the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog

Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

A Quiet Place Part II is a more straightforward horror film than its predecessor, with less emotional weight, but it delivers on well-executed suspense and action while faithfully carrying forward the first film's themes of themes of family and self-sacrifice.

Thomas and James discuss the series' remarkable use of silence to enhance the dramatic weight of even the slightest sound. James points to the film's unashamed embrace of the traditional role of the man as protector of the family, which nonetheless leaves room for a non-competitive collaboration of the sexes in facing danger.

A Quiet Place Part II is currently in theaters, streaming on Paramount+, and available for purchase on VOD.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/R78xZ97932Y

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

James and Thomas interview Sixtine Leon-Dufour, writer of the new Lourdes documentary, one of the best religious films in recent years. She discusses:

• Her background caring for the sick at Lourdes
• How she convinced the Lourdes authorities to give secular filmmakers unprecedented shooting access to this holy place
• How a documentary about a Marian pilgrimage got the support of a large French secular film studio and became a big success
• Depicting the wide range of people at Lourdes
• How the filmmakers found sick people who would let them film intimate and painful parts of their life
• The role of the writer of a documentary
• Why people come to Lourdes even if they are not hoping for a miracle

Watch this interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Bywww0alMqw

Links

Watch our review of Lourdes: https://youtu.be/hEsxNbajQ_s

Check here to find out where Lourdes is playing (including upcoming virtual screenings): https://www.distribfilmsus.com/portfolio/lourdes/

Want to bring LOURDES to your town? Contact Distrib Films (in Brooklyn). The contact is François Scippa- Kohn, who can be reached by email at [email protected]. www.distribfilmsus.com

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tGC8lQOZuw

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

A new documentary on Lourdes, originally released in France in 2019, is now in theaters in the US. It is intensely moving and one of the best religious films in recent years. Written by a Catholic who used to care for the sick at Lourdes, it is an inside look at the spiritual but also deeply human needs and aspirations that lead people to this place of miracles.

The film follows a a small selection of infirm individuals and their families making their way to Lourdes in hope of physical healing or spiritual consolation. These individuals are prompted to say their private prayers out loud, making visible their poverty and wounds, but also their hope in the power of the Lady who appeared to St. Bernadette in the grotto.

Particularly moving is the father of two very sick children, one of whom he brings to Lourdes with him. We see father and mother guiding their little boy in the ways of suffering and, even more, of intercessory prayer.

This film was James and Thomas's first return to a movie theater after the pandemic, so they take some time to discuss how the theatrical experience differs from watching a movie at home. They also remark on the difference between documentary as a cinematic art form and documentary as a way of delivering information. Lourdes is definitely the former.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hEsxNbajQ_s

Links

Watch our interview with Lourdes writer Sixtine Leon-Dufour: https://youtu.be/Bywww0alMqw

Check here to find out where Lourdes is playing (including upcoming virtual screenings): https://www.distribfilmsus.com/portfolio/lourdes/

Want to bring LOURDES to your town? Contact Distrib Films (in Brooklyn). The contact is François Scippa- Kohn, who can be reached by email at [email protected]. www.distribfilmsus.com

Check here to find out where Lourdes is playing (including upcoming virtual screenings): https://www.distribfilmsus.com/portfolio/lourdes/

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tGC8lQOZuw

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

In this episode from the Catholic Culture Podcast, Thomas is joined by Catholic filmmaker Nathan Douglas to discuss Walker Percy's first novel, The Moviegoer. They examine the malaise-ridden protagonist Binx Bolling's "search" for meaning, which he ultimately finds through responsibility: not the responsibility urged by respectable "values", but that urged by love.

They also look at how Binx searches for a deeper connection with reality through his moviegoing habits. Percy has some interesting descriptions of his characters finding moments of transcendent beauty in film, given that this novel was written just before the notion of "cinephilia" developed by French critics made its way to the United States.

Watch episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yvW59H3tAHw

Links

Nathan Douglas's short films www.nwdouglas.com

Nathan's film writing www.vocationofcinema.substack.com

Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast www.catholicculture.org/criteria

Follow this link to join the Online Great Books VIP waiting list and get 25% off your first 3 months: https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

There are a few films on the Vatican film list James and Thomas haven't been looking forward to watching. Among them is Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, and our dread was due to the suspicion that this film, certainly negligible in its historical importance as a work of cinema, was included mainly because Vatican bureaucrats of a certain age are apt to confuse Mohandas K. Gandhi with a Catholic saint. (Though to be fair, the film was included under the heading of Values, not Religion.)

The reasons for its inclusion aside, our suspicion was confirmed at least in that this enjoyable and well-crafted biopic in no way deserves a place on the Vatican's list of 45 important films.

Gandhi, driven by Ben Kingsley's outstanding performance as the title character, is in many ways an inspiring picture of nonviolent resistance. However, it has been pointed out that this film presents a Gandhi sanitized (and we mean that quite literally) for Western consumption, leaving out his essential Hinduism, as well as his many inconsistencies, eccentricities and flaws. It is a work of boomer hagiography, from a secularized Western Christian perspective.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/R-FbOXEuJ0s

Next on Criteria, we are watching the seventh installment of Dekalog, the classic Polish series of short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com—the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion.  https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog

Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 is widely considered to be the best film ever made about filmmaking, but it's about much more than that. Ingenious cinematography and surreal images convey the experience of a man who is increasingly lost in his own memory and fantasy, and so finds himself unable to have real relationships with the people in his life or to bear fruit as an artist.

Not all uses of imagination are equal to the artist. There is a contemplative, receptive use and a possessive, self-indulgent use, and this latter form is antithetical to true art. The protagonist of 8 1/2 may find that his artistic and personal problems, which find him ever more slave to fantasy, may have one and the same solution: fidelity to his wife.

We might ask whether there is really such a thing as "writer's block" for a true artist, or whether such blocks are due to vice getting in the way of docility and receptivity.

Katy Carl, novelist and editor-in-chief of Dappled Things, joins the show to discuss this film.

8 1/2 can be viewed with a subscription to Criterion Channel or HBO Max, and rented on many other platforms.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/I91TFlJe2e8

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

In honor of Pope St. John Paul the Great's birthday, James and Thomas discuss the 2005 film about his life starring Cary Elwes as the young Karol Wojtyla and Jon Voight as Pope John Paul II. One of the strengths of the film, made within a few months of the saint's death, is its portrayal of John Paul II's Polishness and how it influenced him as a world leader. Other aspects of the film are outdated in light of what we know today, such as its portrayal of the Vatican and the Curia as a group of men working together in harmony for the good of souls.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zpuwtPBcKqk

Links

Pope John Paul II can be viewed on FORMED. https://watch.formed.org/pope-john-paul-ii-1

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

The sixth episode of Kieslowski's Dekalog series inspired by the Ten Commandments, included in the Vatican's 1995 list of great films, deals with a characteristically modern form of adultery: voyeurism. The film begins from the perspective of a peeping tom, but gradually we start to see things through the eyes of the promiscuous woman he spies on, as the conscience of each begins to awaken.

Circumspection is required in discussing such a film, and in viewing it - while there is no nudity in the film, it crosses some moral lines. It has been said that it's impossible to make an anti-war film because the medium can't help but make war exciting; likewise it could be said that making an anti-voyeurism film presents challenges because certain things simply must not be displayed regardless of whether the intent is to titillate or critique. Notably, intent is not mentioned in the Catechism's definition of pornography!

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b3MWB6mPRsk

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

A good priest is threatened with death for the sins of an evil one. He has one week to prepare. That is the simple premise of John Michael McDonagh's 2014 film Calvary, starring Brendan Gleeson. This portrait of a heroic but very human priest illuminates the crucifixions, mundane or dramatic, faced by good parish priests everywhere, but especially in post-Catholic cultures such as Ireland, in which the film is set.

Fr. James Searby (whose preaching and teaching can be heard on his podcast, Holiness for the Working Day) joins Criteria to discuss Calvary and how it resonates with his everyday experience as a priest.

Watch discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/v9A7oOfpxEQ

Links

Holiness for the Working Day http://www.holiness.work/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

In 1962, inspired by Pope St. John XXIII's outreach to non-Christian artists, a gay communist picked up the Gospels and ended up making a film about Jesus. Nervous yet? But one thing you can't fault Pier Paolo Pasolini for is taking liberties with his source material - the dialogue in The Gospel According to Matthew is drawn entirely from that book of the Bible.

The Vatican's newspaper once called this the best film ever made about Jesus. It certainly is one of the most unique adaptations, in the austerity of its approach (almost willful in its refusal to elaborate on Scripture), in its counterintuitive casting, in its portrayal of Our Lord's fierce urgency in delivering His message. There are many interesting moments to discuss, but the core question for Thomas and James is: Does the minimalism of the Gospel account translate well to the screen without embellishment, or does what leaves room for imagination on the page become barren in a visual medium?

Memoirist and columnist Heather King (you may have read her work in Magnificat or Angelus) joins the show to discuss this, one of her favorite films.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F7tKdAjc2JI

Next on Criteria: The 2014 film Calvary, starring Brendan Gleeson as a heroic priest.

LINKS

https://www.heather-king.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

In anticipation of Season 2 of The Chosen, the popular TV series based on the Gospels, Thomas and James take a look back at Season 1 and what made it so remarkable. They are joined by Brother Joshua Vargas, a filmmaker, artist, and novice at the Oratory in Philadelphia.

The show’s two greatest strengths are its writing, which James calls “an education in meditation on the Gospels”, and Jonathan Roumie’s outstanding, childlike yet masculine performance as Jesus, which Br. Joshua considers “equally as compelling” as Jim Caviezel’s in The Passion of the Christ. (Thomas previously interviewed Jonathan on the Catholic Culture Podcast - link below.)

The show’s writers have done an excellent job fleshing out the terse Gospel stories without losing their essence. They seamlessly interweave direct quotes from the New Testament, original writing, and Old Testament references, and pick up on minor details and references from the Gospels, sometimes building them into larger subplots or just using them as minor character details (such as Peter being a slow runner). They cleverly use traditional TV episode structure to incorporate biblical foreshadowing and parallelism. And they make the world of Jews in first-century Palestine come alive.

Any artistic rendering of a perfect human being, let alone a Divine Person, inevitably falls short in certain ways, or makes sacrifices in choosing to emphasize certain aspects of Christ. Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew portrays Jesus’s stern side. Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ focuses on His physical sufferings. The Chosen, with the luxury of multiple seasons ahead, opts for a more well-rounded portrayal, yet also makes a point of making Jesus more accessible to a modern American audience.

This is a laudable goal, and yet a certain amount of the Son of God’s majesty and mystery is lost in adaptation; however, this may be something which is developed in future seasons. Thankfully, the first season does not ring false on a theological level, with one significant exception.

Season 2 of The Chosen premieres on Easter Sunday.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3RQ7SxPlUNY

Links

Thomas's interview with Jonathan Roumie on the Catholic Culture Podcast https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-76-playing-jesus-on-chosen-jonathan-roumie/

The Chosen on Apple App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-chosen/id1473663873

The Chosen on Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vidangel.thechosen&hl=en_US&gl=US

Follow Art by Joshua Vargas on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MiserereNobisDomine/

Buy Brother Joshua’s work on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtbyJoshuaVargas?fbclid=IwAR3lzPMOPSfTfZphhB5Z02ctqGmVebQpKzXR4ubtWGXeiK0SLAncUu6l_L4

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

"The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good." Andrei Tarkovsky

Could Andrei Rublev be the best film on the Vatican film list? Andrei Tarkovsky is widely regarded as one of the greatest spiritual filmmakers of all time, and his 1966 masterpiece Andrei Rublev lives up to that reputation.

In this deeply moving and at times confounding work of art, we enter into the spiritual and artistic trials of Russia's greatest icon painter, the monk Andrei Rublev, who works in the midst of the immense suffering of the Russian people in the 15th century. It is both a deeply contemplative interior work and an historical epic.

Catholic filmmaker Nathan Douglas joins the show to discuss his favorite film with us. After an introduction to the techniques and philosophy of Soviet montage theory, the discussion touches on many of the issues dealt with in the film:

How does one avoid burying one's talents, whether from envy, vanity or more complicated motives? How can an artist, and a man, mature through suffering? Can the significance of great works of religious art be reduced to the perhaps impure motives of the powerful and wealthy people who commission them? Is there even a point to making beautiful things in a world filled with brutality and suffering?

The film also provides an occasion to discuss the morality of nudity and the treatment of animals in a cinematic context.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fJXZ19-LhGA

The best way to view Andrei Rublev is with a free trial subscription to the Criterion Channel streaming service. https://www.criterionchannel.com/andrei-rublev

It can also be viewed on YouTube, but the subtitle translation is poor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEnNDr6YfA

Fair warning: this film contains some nudity and violence.

Next up on Criteria: Contrary to what was said in this episode, due to a scheduling mishap, the next discussion will be about season 1 of The Chosen, in anticipation of the launch of season 2 on Easter Sunday. The originally planned discussion of Calvary will come out in April instead. 

Links

Explanation of Soviet montage theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtnTs90knro

Nathan Douglas https://nwdouglas.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Based on a memoir by famous Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev, Dersu Uzala (1975) is a heartwarming adventure tale about the unlikely friendship between a man of civilization and a man of the wilderness. On a mission to map the Russian Far East, Arseniev encounters Dersu Uzala, a hunter and member of the Goldi people, from whom he learns much about the strange courtesies of life in the wild, based on a respect for all beings. But while this heartfelt friendship is not defeated by profound cultural differences, neither can it fully overcome them.

Though Akira Kurosawa is better known for his samurai films, this late-career work of his was picked for the Vatican film list under the heading of Values. Dersu UZala is distinct from his other films not only in its subject matter but because it is his only non-Japanese-language film (as a collaboration with the Soviet production company Mosfilm), and his only film shot in 70mm.

Dersu Uzala is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and (in somewhat video quality, with out-of-sync subtitles) on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EWdAnJsfdc

The next Vatican film list selection we are discussing is Andrei Rublev (1966), the deeply spiritual 15th-century historical epic about Russia's greatest icon painter. You can watch it with a 14-day free subscription to the Criterion Channel streaming service. (Contains some nudity.)

LINKS

Watch this episode on YouTube https://youtu.be/F5yDufeIgYo

Akira Kurosawa: Composing Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doaQC-S8de8

Films compared with Dersu Uzala:

Werner Herzog, Happy People: A Year in the Taiga and Aguirre, The Wrath of God

Terrence Malick, The New World

Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PrsVkxtBgyo

There is only one American film in the "Religion" section of the Vatican film list: William Wyler's 1959 epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Its epic scale and its astonishing set pieces such as the sea battle and the chariot race make the small, understated moments when Jesus enters the story all the more striking. Thomas and James are joined by Catholic art historian and Rome tour guide Elizabeth Lev to discuss the film.

Next on Criteria: On the "Values" section of the Vatican film list, Akira Kurosawa's 1975 Dersu Uzala, based on the memoir of famed Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev. It's a heartwarming tale of friendship between a man of civilization and a man of the wilderness.

Dersu Uzala can be streamed on the Criterion Channel. It is also on YouTube, though with lesser video quality and the subtitles somewhat out of sync. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EWdAnJsfdc

Links

Elizabeth Lev, How Catholic Art Saved the Faith https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/how-catholic-art-saved-the-faith

Catholic Culture Podcast w/ Liz on the Temptation of St. Anthony in art history https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/90-temptation-st-anthony-elizabeth-lev/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back," used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-R68p8Lkxgw

We enjoy The Mandalorian more than any other recent Star Wars productions. But its second season sometimes doesn’t trust us to suspend our disbelief in certain respects (a misguided literalism in its use of CGI for a major human character), while elsewhere expecting us to accept, on ideological grounds, things that are unbelievable even in its fantasy setting (a disproportionate number of tiny women somehow able to throw around men much bigger than they). This prompts a discussion of the difference between the suspension of disbelief and unreality in a fantasy setting.

After discussing Star Wars (the recent films and the dangers of indiscriminate “fandom”) and things we appreciate about The Mandalorian’s production (its soundtrack, its use of virtual sets), our discussion of Season 2 begins about 17 minutes in.

Links

The Marvel Symphonic Universe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/thor-ragnarok-composer-acknowledges-marvel-scores-sound-same-1054503

Rear Projection: How It Works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwe4Fan41Is

The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian, Season One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

Alexi Sargent, “The Undeath of Cinema” https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-undeath-of-cinema

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uYdtpAoLjo8

This film makes us confront on a visceral level the horror of taking a human life, even the life of someone we might find despicable. It is the fifth installment of Dekalog, the famous Polish TV series inspired by the Ten Commandments.

Dekalog: Five, which was expanded into the feature-length A Short Film About Killing, coincided with an intense debate over capital punishment in Poland, and in the year of its release (1988) the nation finally suspended use of the death penalty.

Catholic film scholar Maria Elena de las Carreras often uses Dekalog: Five to teach her students at Cal State Northridge about the value of life. She brings a lively energy to the discussion along with a deep knowledge of Polish cinema and, in general, the work of filmmakers living in totalitarian regimes.

Thomas tracked Maria Elena down because of an article on Kieslowski she wrote for Crisis magazine twenty years ago—which, she tells us, she sent to Pope John Paul II, and received a letter from his secretary saying it had been read “with great interest”.

Next in our discussion of the Vatican film list: William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur (1959), starring Charlton Heston.

Links

Watch A Short Film About Killing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqmukHCGUQ

Maria Elena de las Carreras article on Kieslowski https://www.crisismagazine.com/2000/filming-the-10-commandments-kieslowski-as-a-catholic-director

Her writings on film at Crisis Magazine https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/kuntz

More writings https://csun.academia.edu/MariaElenadelasCarreras

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Join the Facebook group to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Mel Gibson playing Santa fending off an assassin sent by a spoiled brat who got coal for Christmas is a premise as absurd as it is entertaining. Fatman, the latest in a series of thematically similar roles for Gibson, delivers on both the entertainment and the absurdity while also taking itself more seriously than we might expect.

We live in what has been described as a "therapeutic culture" in which all evil is psychologized away in terms of childhood trauma. In Gibson's countercultural Chris Cringle we have a father figure who understands and compassionates the childhood wounds of his adversaries, yet insists that wicked deeds require retribution both for justice's and for the evildoer's own sake.

Watch this discussion on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CEBbIUBD-hs

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhLMHBBirC0

It’s time for Criteria’s Christmas episode—time to watch the classic tale of a man who, through divine intervention, overcomes regret, jealousy and despair to realize how precious and magical is the life he already has. James and Thomas discuss Catholic director Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life with popular podcaster and writer Patrick Coffin.

Patrick is uniquely qualified to discuss this film (which he believes to be the best ever made), having even interviewed a member of the cast!

It’s a Wonderful Life is included on the Vatican film list under the category “Values”.

Next on Criteria: Another installment of Dekalog, the Polish miniseries inspired by the Ten Commandments. We will be discussing episode five and its full-length film adaptation, A Short Film About Killing. This film can be viewed on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ZkD_tyBAY

LINKS

Patrick Coffin’s interview with Mary Owen (Donna Reed’s daughter) and Karolyn Grimes (who played little Zuzu in the film) https://www.patrickcoffin.media/its-a-wonderful-movie-2/

Patrick’s National Review article on the film https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/12/its-wonderful-life-little-story-did-patrick-coffin/

Patrick’s article on Capra’s other Christmas classic, Meet John Doe https://www.patrickcoffin.media/frank-capras-forgotten-christmas-classic/

Coffin Nation https://www.coffinnation.com/

Wikipedia article on the fascinating Frank Capra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Capra

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cCpqMLBg0Ro

Almost one hundred years ago, the great German director Fritz Lang offered us a beautiful yet nightmarish vision of a world strangely similar to our present. Society is unimaginably prosperous yet produces mass misery. There is a sense of an end coming for Babel.

Amidst growing class resentment, the Whore of Babylon appears in the form of a machine invented by society’s elites. This wonder of technology parodies and destroys womanhood, manipulating men’s lust and anger, tempting them away from compassion for their fellow man and the patient expectation of a redeemer.

Scott Hambrick and Karl Schudt from OnlineGreatBooks.com join the show for an entertaining, thought-provoking discussion of the one work of sci-fi on the Vatican film list—not only of its Biblical, political and technological themes, but also its unforgettable imagery and evocative aesthetic, a combination of Art Deco with German expressionism.

Next on Criteria is a Christmas episode on It’s a Wonderful Life, with special guest Patrick Coffin.

Links

Watch Metropolis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvtWDIZtrAE

Online Great Books’s latest enrollment period has just begun. Use discount code “catholicculture” or use this referral link for 25% off your first three months! https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

Catholic Culture Podcast Episode 27 with Scott Hambrick https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-27-always-wanted-to-study-great-books-heres-how-youll-actually-follow-through-scott-hambrick/

https://onlinegreatbooks.com/

Online Great Books Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/online-great-books-podcast/id1375330490

Music and Ideas https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/music-and-ideas/id1500358614

Barbell Logic https://barbell-logic.com/

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Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zUBvgrpvqa0   Krzysztof Kieślowski's DEKALOG (1988) is a series of 10 short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. With this episode we discuss the fourth film in the series, which deals with the fourth commandment: "Honor thy father and mother."   In this fraught installment, a father is challenged to definitively embrace his paternal role as authority and protector, lest his already ambiguous relationship with daughter be perverted into something truly monstrous.   Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com — the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog   Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.   Next up on Criteria: Fritz Lang's science fiction classic Metropolis (1927), found easily on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvtWDIZtrAE   Links

Donate at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/  

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vMy1YU1bczE   James and Thomas discuss an animated classic, Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940), with Oscar-nominated animator and director Timothy Reckart ("Head Over Heels", The Star). Included in the conversation are some remarks touching upon Fantasia 2000 (1999). Both films are available for streaming on Disney+. Speaking about the film, Walt Disney said, “Fantasia is timeless. It may run ten, twenty, thirty years. Fantasia is an idea in itself. I can never build another. I can improve. I can elaborate. That is all." In this episode we discuss Fantasia's timelessness, investigating its groundbreaking developments in animation and sound, and its thematic concerns of hierarchy and social organization, as well as its occasional imperfections and pandering. Tim Reckart also reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of animation: What does it offer that live action doesn't?   Next on Criteria: the fourth installment of Dekalog, the 10-part miniseries directed by Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski.   Links

Tim Reckart's "Head Over Heels" (Academy Award Nominee, Best Animated Short) http://www.headoverheels.tv/ 

Walt Disney explains the multiplane camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHTlUGN1zw

Oscar Fischinger – An Optical Poem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xc4g00FFLk

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio    Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cuwya3spE4   In a special Halloween episode, James and Thomas discuss the function of horror movies and the need for a conscientious and duly serious approach when dealing with the occult in a work of fiction. Then they discuss the only horror film on the Vatican film list, F.W. Murnau's silent Dracula adaptation Nosferatu (1922), along with Werner Herzog's amazing modern adaptation of Murnau, Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979).   The best versions of these films are streaming on the Criterion Channel. There you will find Murnau's version with its original orchestral score, and Herzog's version in its German language version (it was shot simultaneously in both German and English, and Herzog considered the German to be definitive). But perfectly fine versions are on YouTube:   F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7p3ct5hcks   Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOTLurSgkYU   Next on Criteria: from the Vatican film list, the classic Disney symphonic feature Fantasia (1940). You can view it on Disney+.   Links

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Find all our shows in podcast form here: https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/   SOCIAL https://twitter.com/CatholicPods http://www.instagram.com/FormTheCulture https://www.facebook.com/catholicculture   Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nKZ61DojBQY   Krzysztof Kieślowski's DEKALOG (1988) is a series of 10 short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. With this episode we discuss the third film in the series, which deals with the third commandment: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

When a former mistress arrives at his doorstep on Christmas Eve, seeking help to find her missing husband, Janusz must decide whether to remain at home with his wife and children or else to assist his erstwhile lover in her desperate search. What results is a mystery tale that unfolds almost as a Dickensian odyssey, unearthing layers of discovery that force the two to grapple with ghosts of their past.

Filmmaker Nathan Douglas joins the show once more to discuss this thought-provoking film.

Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com — the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog   Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.   Next up on Criteria: F.W. Murnau’s Dracula adaptation Nosferatu (1922), found easily on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7p3ct5hcks   We are also discussing Werner Herzog’s 1979 adaptation, Nosferatu the Vampyre, which was shot both in German and in English. The German version is on Criterion Channel and the English version is on YouTube with ads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOTLurSgkYU   Links

Donate at http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Join our Facebook group if you wish to discuss these films with us! http://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

The Lavender Hill Mob stars Alec Guinness as Henry Holland, an unambitious London bank clerk — and unlikely bank robber. When he meets the eccentric artist Alfred Pendlebury (played by famous comic/character actor Stanley Holloway), the two together hatch a plot to smuggle gold bullion out of the country in the form of miniature Eiffel towers. What unfolds is a heist-comedy that stands apart as perhaps the most purely entertaining film included on the Vatican Film List.

Are heist films morally problematic? Are British criminals cooler than Italian criminals? What is cockney? Thomas and James are joined by author, actor, screenwriter, and mutual friend Paul Laudiero to discuss these and other questions surrounding the film.

Next on Criteria, filmmaker Nathan Douglas returns to the show to discuss Dekalog 3.

Links

CatholicCulture.org Podcast Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods

Register at CatholicCulture.org: http://www.catholicculture.org/getaudio

Donate: http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Theme music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Vie et Passion du Christ (Life and Passion of the Christ) is one of the earliest feature-length narrative films, produced and released in 1903. The film portrays the events of the Gospels - from the Annunciation to the Ascension - employing only visual language (it is a silent film, with inter-titles used only to introduce the traditional title of individual scenes).

Thomas and James are joined by painter and mutual friend Matt Kirby to discuss the film, a work that bridges contemporary cinematic depictions of the Gospels with those found throughout the classical painting tradition.

Links

Full film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5VPWPgkT8A

Matt Kirby artwork & essays: http://www.mkkirby.com/

Theme music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Krzysztof Kieślowski's DEKALOG (1988) is a series of 10 short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. With this episode we discuss the second film in the series, which deals with the second commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."   Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com — the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog   Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.   Next up on Criteria: La Passion de Notre Seigneur Jesus-Christ, found easily on YouTube. Links   Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Our first responses to the new feature film based on the events surrounding Our Lady of Fatima's appearance to Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and Servant of God Sister Maria Lúcia in 1917.

Official Fatima film website: https://www.fatimathemovie.com/

Notes

CatholicCulture.org Podcast Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Theme music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

When asked what two films he would take with him "on the ark", Orson Welles simply responded, "La Grande Illusion... and something else!"

A classic of prison escape movies, The Grand Illusion (1937) was hugely influential on films that followed, including The Great Escape. Variously banned by both German and French authorities, the film — which deals with themes of class, prejudice, and war — was not without controversy.

Film critic Roger Ebert called it "a meditation on the collapse of the old order of European civilization," and critics and film historians alike regard the film not only a masterpiece of French cinema, but also one of the greatest films of all time. The Grand Illusion, in fact, was restored and released as the inaugural DVD of The Criterion Collection.

James and Thomas discuss this seminal work by director Jean Renoir, son of the famous French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Next up on Criteria, we'll be viewing and discussing the second installment of Dekalog, the 10-part series of films directed by Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski.

Notes

Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí https://www.slam.org/exhibitions/millet-and-modern-art/

The Flight Into Egypt, by Jean Millet https://www.artic.edu/artworks/145832/the-flight-into-egypt

CatholicCulture.org Podcast Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Theme music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Considered to be one of Ingmar Bergman's greatest and most affecting films, Wild Strawberries (1957) is a moving depiction of a cantankerous-yet-charming old man (famed Swedish filmmaker & actor Victor Sjöström) as he nears the end of his life. Through reveries, dreams, and a series of unlikely encounters, Bergman crafts a visually arresting, tonally varied, and deeply human tale of failure, forgiveness, and hope. We discuss this richly poetic and philosophical work with poet and philosopher James Matthew Wilson.

Next up on Criteria, we will be viewing the 1937 French film Le Grande Illusion directed by Jean Renoir (son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir)! Join the discussion at http://www.facebook.com/groups/catholicpods Notes

James Matthew Wilson: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/

Quarantine Notebook: https://dappledthings.org/16751/quarantine-notebook-part-15/

Catholic Culture Podcast Ep.  57 - River of the Immaculate Conception - James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-57-river-immaculate-conception-james-matthew-wilson/

Catholic Culture Podcast Ep.  61 - Liberal Anti-Culture vs.  the Western Vision of the Soul https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-61-liberal-anti-culture-vs-western-vision-soul-pt-i-james-matthew-wilson/

Theme music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Krzysztof Kieślowski's DEKALOG (1988) is a series of 10 short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. Describing the dictum that he set for himself and his co-writer, Kieślowski determined that the episodes “should be influenced by the individual Commandments to the same degree that the Commandments influence our daily lives.” We're discussing the films one at a time, beginning with No. 1 in today's episode—but we will continue watching and discussing other films besides, so we'll be taking our time to get through all ten!   Dekalog can be difficult to find. It can be streamed online with a (relatively cheap and surprisingly legal) subscription to https://easterneuropeanmovies.com — the best viewing experience, however, will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog   Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere, and you may have luck borrowing Dekalog from your local library.   Next up on Criteria, we will be discussing the 1957 Swedish drama Wild Strawberries with special guest James Matthew Wilson! Notes   Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Described in a recent LA Times op-ed by '12 Years a Slave' screenwriter John Ridley as "a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of color," Gone with the Wind is, nevertheless, one of the most enduringly popular and culturally significant films of all time.

In this episode, James and Thomas take a momentary departure from the Vatican Film List to consider instead this classic and controversial film, in conversation with American historian Stephen M. Klugewicz, Director of Academic Affairs of the Free Enterprise Institute and Editor of The Imaginative Conservative.

Next time, we return to the Vatican Film List to discuss the first installment of Dekalog, the 10-part series of films directed by Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski. (See below for info on how to watch these films.) Join the discussion in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Links

The Imaginative Conservative: https://theimaginativeconservative.org/

TCM Host and film scholar Jacqueline Stewart's introduction to Gone with the Wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DF2FKRToiQ&feature=emb_title

Essay contrasting the film with the novel https://newcriterion.com/issues/2020/9/knights-their-ladies-fair

North Against South: The American Iliad, 1848-1877 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136520.North_Against_South

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

In this bonus episode of Criteria, Thomas asks attorney and scholar Louis Karlin whether Robert Bolt’s play and film A Man for All Seasons accurately depict St. Thomas More’s views on the rights of conscience, and his motives for martyrdom.

More’s involvement in the prosecution of heretics is also examined: even if More was a martyr of conscience, is it accurate to call him a champion of religious freedom? One thing is certain: the portrayal by Hilary Mantel and others of More as a torturer of heretics is false.

Next on the Vatican film list is the first installment of Dekalog, a 10-part series of short films inspired by the Ten Commandments. See below for information on where to watch it.

Links

The Center for Thomas More Studies https://thomasmorestudies.org/

Lecture by Richard Rex critiquing the historical fiction of Hilary Mantel, “More the villain and Cromwell the hero?” https://ionainstitute.ie/thomas-more-thomas-cromwell-and-wolf-hall/

William Marshner, “Dignitatis Humanae and Traditional Teaching on Church and State” https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8778

Thomas Pink, “Conscience and Coercion” https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/conscience-and-coercion

Louis W. Karlin and David R. Oakley, Inside the Mind of Thomas More: The Witness of His Writings https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Mind-Thomas-More-Writings/dp/1594173133

Karlin, Wegemer and Kelly, Thomas More’s Trial by Jury: A Procedural Legal Review with a Collection of Documents https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Mores-Trial-Jury-Procedural/dp/1843838737/

Stephen Smith (ed.), For All Seasons: Selected Letters of Thomas More https://www.amazon.com/All-Seasons-Selected-Letters-Thomas/dp/1594171637

Wegemer and Smith (ed.), The Essential Works of Thomas More https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Works-Thomas-More/dp/0300223374/

St. Thomas More, The Sadness of Christ https://www.amazon.com/Sadness-Christ-Thomas-More/dp/1849020558

The Yale Edition of the Complete Works of St. Thomas More, Vol. 14, De Tristitia Christi https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Thomas-Tristitia-Christi/dp/0300017936

Other podcasts on St. Thomas More

Criteria film discussion https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/man-for-all-seasons-1966/

Audiobook of More's Dialogue on Conscience https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-thomas-more-dialogue-on-conscience/

Dekalog

Of all the films on the Vatican list, Dekalog is one of the two most difficult to find. The only place it can be streamed online is with a subscription on https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/ (which is, surprisingly, legal).

The best viewing experience will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion (https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog), but it's pricey. Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere. But for many people, the most convenient way of seeing Dekalog may be to borrow it from your local library.

Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission.

The film adaptation of Robert Bolt's award-winning play about St. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons, swept the floor at the Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design the year it was considered.

In honor of St. Thomas More's upcoming feast day, June 22nd, James and Thomas discuss the film and the problem of adaptation with friend and filmmaker, Nathan Douglas.

Next time, we discuss the first installment of Dekalog, the 10-part series of films directed by Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieślowski. (See below for info on how to watch these films.) Join the discussion in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Links

Nathan Douglas, Motet Films https://nwdouglas.com/

Interview with More scholar Louis Karlin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/robert-bolts-man-for-all-seasons-christian-saint-or-hero-selfhood/

Audiobook of More's Dialogue on Conscience https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-thomas-more-dialogue-on-conscience/

Other films discussed Lawrence of Arabia – so many horses! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChJz2DSpsE

Mad Max: Fury Road – practical effects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD8jK7qyC9w Richard III (Olivier) – scene mentioned as example of conveying theatrical experience “subjectively" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxnXgYPnKg

Richard III (McKellen) – used as example of “cinematic” adaptation of a play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJEXkbeL-o

A Hidden Life – prison scene with wife, as compared to More’s prison scene with family https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAubpnKP3CU

1964 Russian adaptation of Hamlet (full movie with subtitles) https://vimeo.com/337079580

Dekalog

Of all the films on the Vatican list, Dekalog is one of the two most difficult to find. The only place it can be streamed online is with a subscription on https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/ (which is, surprisingly, legal).

The best viewing experience will be the recent restored edition on Blu-Ray/DVD from Criterion (https://www.criterion.com/films/28661-dekalog), but it's pricey. Older editions on Blu-Ray and DVD are available for considerably cheaper on Amazon and elsewhere. But for many people, the most convenient way of seeing Dekalog may be to borrow it from your local library.

Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

John Ford's Stagecoach is a classic of the American Western that both elevated the genre and catapulted the career of its breakout star, John Wayne.

Well-known Catholic writer and cultural commentator, Anthony Esolen, joins James and Thomas this week to discuss the film against the backdrop of the civil unrest incited by the death of George Floyd.

Of Ford, Tony observes: "He makes movies about the way people come together to form a real society with their common good in mind, and he shows how that can fall apart because of human stupidity or selfishness — their pride, their avarice, their hardheartedness.”

Next time, we discuss A Man for All Seasons, the film adaptation of Robert Bolt's play about St. Thomas More. Join the discussion in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Links

Tag Gallagher on Stagecoach: https://vimeo.com/40092986

Anthony Esolen interview on The Catholic Culture Podcast: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-55-hundredfold-anthony-esolen/

Jonathan Roumie interview on The Catholic Culture Podcast: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-76-playing-jesus-on-chosen-jonathan-roumie/

Sex and the Unreal City: https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Unreal-City-Demolition-Western/dp/1621643069/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=the+Unreal+city&qid=1591137583&s=books&sr=1-4&fbclid=IwAR3uI9d9Mdu_o9lMVSsqy_9QJsFJIWLdCaqP3YgROTiDG8MeqkJ5llescx4&pldnSite=1

The Hundredfold: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Hundredfold-P3358.aspx

Music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

James and Thomas discuss 2001: A Space Odyssey, the classic science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick.

While Thomas thinks the film is a masterpiece and also very dumb, James embarrasses himself by suggesting that the monolith is sacramental. The film also brings out James' deep-seated rage at his car's seat belt indicator. 

Next time, we discuss the 1939 film Stagecoach, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. Watch it, then join the discussion in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Links

Scene we discuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wJQ5UrAsIY

Match Cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2hjlA1rEfM&feature=youtu.be

Music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

James and Thomas discuss Babette's Feast, an Oscar-winning religious classic directed by Gabriel Axel. (This is apparently Pope Francis's favorite film.)

Two elderly sisters in a small Danish village have spent their lives praying, caring for the poor, and tending to the small, quasi-Puritan sect founded by their late father. When their French cook, Babette, asks if she can make a feast in honor of their father's centenary, their faith is challenged and their souls are enlivened by the revelation that beauty too is a means by which God draws us closer to Him.

Next time, we will be discussing Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey. Go watch it, then join in the discussion in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

Links

Painting mentioned, Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog

Music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/

Introducing Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast!

This is a show dedicated to exploring films of significant artistic merit and Catholic interest, starting with the Vatican’s 1995 list of "Some Important Films".

Your hosts are Thomas V. Mirus (The Catholic Culture Podcast) and actor James T. Majewski (Catholic Culture Audiobooks). In this introductory episode we explain what we hope to accomplish with this show, discuss the Vatican film list, and explain how you can participate in the discussion.

St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Links

Join our Facebook group to participate in the film discussions! https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatholicPods/

“Some Important Films” (i.e., the Vatican film list) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican%27s_list_of_films

Address of His Holiness John Paul II to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1995/march/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19950317_plen-pccs.html

“The Ideal Film”: Apostolic Exhortations of His Holiness Pius XII to Representatives of the Cinema World http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-xii_exh_25101955_ideal-film.html

James’s audiobook of Pope St. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/st-john-paul-ii-letter-to-artists/

Steven Greydanus, “The Vatican Film List” http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/vaticanfilmlist

Criterion Channel https://www.criterionchannel.com/

Music: The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com/