Explorations in Theology and Film An Introduction

by Marsh, Clive; Ortiz, Gaye

• ISBN13: 9780631203568
• ISBN10: 0631203567
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-12-08
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Explorations in Theology and Film brings together theologians, biblical scholars, film and media specialists, and experts in language and literature to consider the potential of film to contribute to contemporary theological discussion. The focus of the book is on the creative conversation between film and theology in the contemporary West, and it raises crucial questions about the interaction between theology and culture. Explorations in Theology and Film will be an invaluable resource to students and those researching in the areas of theology, religion as well as media and cultural studies. The first part considers introductory questions covering methodological and theoretical issues. The next and most substantive part of the book is devoted to an evaluation of particular films, including Dead Poets Society, the Terminator films, Awakenings, The Piano and the films of Martin Scorsese. In the third part the importance, as well as the pitfalls of the exercise are subject to critical scrutiny. The book also contains an extensive bibliography and annotated resource section.

Author Biography

Clive Marsh lectures in theology, religious and cultural studies at the University College of Ripon and York St. John, England, and in the Biblical Studies Department of the University of Sheffield. His interests include the history of quests of the historical Jesus, and modern and contemporary systematic theology. He is currently working on a book on Christology, using art and film as resource material.

Gaye Ortiz lectures in theology, religious and cultural studies at the University College of Ripon and York St. John, England, and is a media writer and broadcaster, specializing in theology and the media. She is a member of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and a founder member of the Leeds Diocesan Media Commission. As a member of ICOC (the International Catholic Organisation for Cinema) she has served on international film festival juries, twice as jury president. Together with Stephen Brown she has co-ordinated Faith and Film for the Leeds International Film Festival.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

List of Plates

Introduction

Film, Movies, and Meanings

Film and Theologies of Culture

The Uses of Film in Theology

From Domination to Mutuality in The Piano and in the Gospel of Mark

The Drama of Salvatin in George Stevens's Shane

Edward Scissorhands: Christology from a Suburban Fairy-tale

Redeeming Violence in the Films of Martin Scorsese

Liberation in Awakenings

Jesus Christ Movie Star: The Depiction of Jesus in the Cinema

The Terminator Movies: Hi-Tech Holiness and the Human Condition

Stuck in Time: Kairos, Chromos, ad the Flesh in Groundhog Day

Moral Ambiguity and Contradiction in Dead Poets Society

Between Eden and Armageddon: Institutions, Individuals, and Identification the the Mission, the Name of the Rose, and Priest

The Spirituality of Shirley Valentine

Did You Say "Grace"?: Eating in Community in babette's Feast

Optimism, Hope, and Feelgood Movies: The Capra Connection

On Systematizing the unsystematic?: A response

Theology Beyond the Modern and the Postmodern: A Future Agenda for theology and Film

Annotated bibliography

Index of Biblical references

Film Index

General Index

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