Best Christian Films

[anonymous1980]

After reading Ed Gonzalez's (a.k.a. The Apostle) review of The Son (Le Fils), I would have to add that film as some of the best Christian films.



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[Reza]

Interesting that none of the Biblical spectacles from the 1950s made your lists.



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[Big Magilla]

In chronological order:

Boys Town
One Foot in Heaven
The Song of Bernadette
The Keys of the Kingdom
The Bells of St. Mary's
Black Narcissus
The Nun's Story
A Man for All Seasons
Andrei Rublev



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[anonymous1980]

I happen to consider Schindler's List as much a Christian film as it is a Jewish film. After all, the title character was a Christian and he did what every Christian SHOULD be doing.



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[Pamela-Marie]

I saw the first Left Behind film and I still can't figure out why I did. I usually avoid heavily spiritual films like the plague if I can help it. If you are tolerant of different religious beliefs and are not freaked out by weird spiritual ideals and theories, it is actually not a horrible film IMO. But getting past the hurdle of the spirituality of the film I think is a major hurdle that I wouldn't expect many to get past. It polarized viewers and critics severely and I think the religious undertones is the reason why.



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[Eric]

I'm all for an open interpretation of what constitutes Christianity or Christian commentary in a film, but isn't Schindler's List more a Judaic film? (I suppose Christianity as an evil force in the world has to be considered as well.) Can't wait for some of the responses in this thread.

I haven't yet seen any of Pasolini's or Bresson's films, so there's that big hole to deal with, and I'ma try to stick with films dealing rather explicitly with Christianity and the church here (otherwise, film's with a very distinct Christian subtext -- I'm thinking Sunrise or Stalker -- would be worth mentioning)...

The Devils (Ken Russell)... what a spectacular choice!
Simon of the Desert & Viridiana (Luis Bunuel)
Open City (Roberto Rossellini)
The Church (Michele Soavi)... better than The Exorcist, that's for sure.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Dreyer)
The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese)

Hmmm... I think I have to think harder about this one. The dumbest Christian movie I've seen recently was The Basket. I have not seen any of the Left Behind movies, but I'm sure I'd find them as worthless.



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[Precious Doll]

It's funny I'd never thought of Night of the Hunter as a film about Christianity. There's some food for thought there.

Some of my favorites include:

The Devils (Ken Russell)
The Nun (Jacques Rivette)
The Gospel According to St Matthew (P P Pasolini)
Behind Convent Walls (Walerian Borowcyzk)
The Magdalene Sisters (Peter Mullen)
Diary of a Country Priest (Robert Bresson)
Black Narcissus (Michael Powell & Emeric PRessburger)
The Boys of St Vincents (John N Smith)
Nasty Habits (Michael Lindsay-Hogg)
Joan of Arc (Jacques Rivette, Carl Dreyer & Victor Fleming versions)



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[anonymous1980]

In response to the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's The Passion, I'd like to ask the board what they think are the best Christian or Christian-themed films in cinema (not necessarily movies dealing directly with Christianity or with Jesus Christ but also movies that touched upon Christian themes or characters)? Here are my picks:

01. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg)*
02. The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese)
03. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
04. Au Revoir Les Enfants (Louis Malle)
05. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Pier Paolo Pasolini)
06. Monty Python's Life of Brian (Terry Gilliam/Terry Jones)
07. Nazarin (Luis Bunuel)
08. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara)
09. The King of Kings (Nicholas Ray)
10. Jesus Christ Superstar (Norman Jewison)



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