I actually meant to mention that.
To those who don’t know, it’s a bizarre tale of a promiscuous woman turned devout Christian who becomes Rapture-obsessed due to a family tragedy & that leads to more tragedy & a twist ending. Stars Mimi Rogers & David Duchovny.
WHEW! That was a tough movie! I’d love to get a slightly edited copy (MR’s boobs) so I could show it to people at church. (Yeah, I know.)
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Mean Streets. The crux of the film has Harvey Keitel trying to rebuild the sacrament of penance to be relevant to his life.
I only saw it once 10 years ago, but I thought Amistad had a lot of very strong Christian themes including someone coming to faith. It struck me as peculiar because it was in the middle of a Spielberg film.
I think Weeds is a good example of this kind of redemption. Maybe Chattahoocee, too. How about TLTC, It’s the most advertent Christ Story that is inadvertently Christian.
Never saw the first two (I thought the WEEDS you referenced was gonna be the pot-dealing Mom one).
TLTC doesn’t count- it’s an unconventional Bible movie, to be sure, but a Bible movie nonetheless, and perhaps not the most orthodox Christian, but still stays in the ballpark.
nix
Btw, I mean that it didn’t count by the rule I set up in the OP- no Bible films. The Last Temptation is however a Christian movie that is not a “Christian movie”.
I thought Gran Torino was pretty explicit in it’s presentation of christian themes - the Good Samaritan, “who is my neighbour” theme comes through strongly, and laying down your life. The final shot of Walt lying in a crucifixion pose is the most explicit reveal (and just a bit less than subtle, a small jarring note), but the whole film has built up to that point. I thought it was a pretty restrained but intense study, and increased my admiration of Clint Eastwood as a director.
Si
Ooh, ooh, I got one!
The Omega Man – Charleton Heston is Jesus with a machinegun. That last scene has unmistakeable crucifiction imagery.
A Midnight Clear is another version of that story.
A friend of mine was denigrating one of my favorite movies from last year, Bella, because it has one of the dove logos on it, the stamp of approval of some Christian group. I hadn’t noticed this at first, but I watched the movie again with that context in mind. It didn’t make any difference. Even though, in the movie, a woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant chooses not to get an abortion,this is not presented, in the movie, as an agenda: it succeeds as a drama about choices. Despite my crotchety atheism, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Spielberg’s movies are almost always about a Christ figure. I hooted at the end of Amistad when the slaves (I think it was the slaves) are solemnly paraded by us on the screen, with the extremely unsubtle backdrop of a Calvary of cruciform ships’ masts.
O Brother Where Art Thou is full of Christian imagery. And the Coens know when to turn down their trademark snark.
We see a big baptismal service, with simple country folk singing “Down To The River To Play.” They come across as dignified & sincere; of course, the music is beautiful. (Alison Krauss actually sang lead.)
Toward the end, as Our Heroes face death by hanging, George Clooney’s cynical wiseass prays most movingly to live–so he can see his family again. Later, he claims they were just saved by the big flood, part of rural electrification. It sure looked like a miracle to me.
In contrast, John Goodman’s violent Bible salesman is the worst kind of hypocrite, using religion to fleece the gullible. Really worst–as he later shows up at a Klan rally.
I happened to read a review at one of the sites that “grades” shows on their suitability for Christian families. The reviewer cautioned about some profane language–but really loved the film.
(But the whole thing is based on the pagan Odyssey! Yeah, right.)
Yes, right. It clearly states as such in the opening credits.
Passion of the Christ is not very Christian. It’s basically SAW or Hostel except with a raging Christian in the lead role. It’s a torture porn horror flick every bit as bad as the other two.
The Bishop’s Wife, starring Carey Grant. It doesn’t beat you over the head with theology. If you are willing to suspend disbelief about the premise, I think even an atheist could enjoy it. The Christian message is basically, “Practice what you preach, and be nice to people.”
I haven’t seen the remake, The Preacher’s Wife, starring Denzel Washington.
In The Station Agent, the character Joe is a Christian. He insists on saying grace before meals (to the surprise and slight consternation of the other characters). He takes care of his sick father (who we never see) and tends to his father’s business in his father’s absence. (Cinematic Christ figure?) With his big-hearted gregariousness, he manages to bring happiness and some measure of redemption into the broken-hearted lives of the other two main characters. Joe is profane and foul-mouthed, but if you get past that, he is living his life according to Christian principles, with good results.
In the movie In Bruges, Brendan Gleeson is a hit man who is nevertheless in his own way a devout Christian. (He gets very excited about the prospect of touching a holy relic – a vial supposedly containing Jesus’s blood.) He is a Christ figure in the movie, who brings redemption to his partner (played by Colin Ferrell).
Bless the Beasts and Children. I will admit that I have not seen the movie, but I have read the book several times. There’s a lot of Christian symbolism ex: John Cotton = Jesus Christ, the Box Canyon Boy’s Camp being referenced as the Before Christs.
Oh, c’mon, this is a non-christian movie??? With a bishop and an angel as the two main characters?
Right.