I just saw Constantine, and I wondered: Do non-Christian countries produce religious-themed movies? I don’t mean cinematic adaptations of a religion’s scriptures or history – I know those exist, I’ve seen the Mahabarata. No, I mean movies like Constantine, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Exorcist, the Omen, The Omega Code, Oh God!, Dogma, Left Behind – original stories, in a contemporary setting, which (1) are based on the assumption that a traditional religion’s teachings are wholly or partly true (with maybe some embellishment in exercise of creative license), and (2) involve the divine forces playing an important part in the protagonists’ lives. Do Chinese, Japanese or Thai film directors ever make a film about a Buddhist having a crisis of faith (or dharma, whatever)? Does Bollywood make movies where Hindu gods intervene in human lives? Do Muslim directors ever make movies about the Islamic version of the Apocalypse? Do Israeli directors ever treat the story of the Messiah’s arrival?
Bollywood does, in fact, features stories with Hindu gods making appearances, yes. I don’t know about other religions offhand, but I suspect most of them feature entertainment based upon those beliefs, much like the Greek plays had gods appear on stage (deus ex machina and all that).
I believe that there was a movie made in the middle east about Muhammad, which wouldn’t be so strange except that apparently it’s considering Idoltary to show him, so he isn’t actually in the movie, nor is most of his family(same reason). Apparently the entire movie is narrated by a great-greatCousin of Muhammad, but they can’t actually show anything except as shadows.
Unfortunatly, I can never for the life of me remember the name of the movie.
Well, I don’t think this is exactly what you’re looking for, but there’s plenty of anime with Shinto nature spirits (kami) making appearances (the river in Spirited Away comes to mind). Also the sort of thing where one goes to a shrine and ties a wish to a tree and it comes true. But that’s not the sort of monotheist “big God” thing you’re talking about.
BTW: For purposes of this thread we want only movies based on living religions that still have lots of believers and exist as an active force in society. I exclude from consideration movies based on ancient Greek myths, e.g. Ray Harryhausen epics.
No, I think those count . . . provided the gods in question are not just Harryhausen-style “movie monsters,” but are in the story in order to relate directly to the personal spiritual lives of audience members – in the sense that the angels/demons in Constantine or It’s a Wonderful Life or even Dogma are in the story to touch a nerve, one way or another, with an audience whose members are predominantly Christian, or at least products of a culture shaped by Christianity.
I’m not sure that a “crisis of faith” would make sense in a movie from a Buddhist country. If you stray from the tenets of Buddhism it’s not considered a crisis of faith, at least not in the sense of say a priest tempted by an attractive woman. In Thailand I think a movie showing a monk falling to temptation might not sell, but more importantly it’s not the Lord Buddha somehow failing the monk, it’s just a human being human. So perhaps it’s not percieved as dramatic. Or maybe their Cinema is just simpler, but I never saw a Thai movie that didn’t have Buddhist influence, since it’s so pervasive in their society, nor one which I would regard as having a central Buddhist theme. Anyway most Thai movies are a) action thrillers b) comedies c) ghost stories (which harkens back to pre-Buddhist superstitions). Psychodrama or morality play doesn’t really compute. Maybe in Japanese or Chinese films?
Well, I suspect the plays were written by people who believed in such gods.
Of course, but I’m asking about movies because they have relevance to contemporary audiences. Hollywood is often accused of being “liberal,” “leftist,” “atheistic,” yet it often comes out with films that are based on and reinforce the Christian world-view. I’m curious as to whether the same is true of Hollywood’s equivalents in the non-Christian world.
Slightly off-topic…
Evangelion: Neon Genesis, a series of Anime cartoons, used lots of Christian iconography with about the same level of reverence that, say, Marvel’s Thor comics gave to Norse paganism. I’m not saying that it’s wrong, just that it’s interesting to see how a non-Christian culture handles these matters.
I recall in the 1980s, there was an India-produced movie of the Life of Christ, written & directed & produced by a man who really admired Jesus but wasn’t a Christian.
I’ll see if I can find any info.
Aargh. Sometimes I just want to go and smack people, not meanly, but in a friendly sort of way.
Of course Bollywood does. Remember, however,
[ul]
[li]that Hinduism is probably more broken up than Christianity in the ways we worship,[/li][li] that Hinduism can be taught, learned, and practiced, all without mention of a god,[/li][li] That Hindusim is worlds different from Christianity.[/li][/ul]
That being said, we have *tons * of movies regarding karma, dharma, ahimsa (non-violence), our duty to family, country, and each other, all of which is listed in our religion.
The theme of straying from and returning to a spiritually-centered (rather than secular) life is not uncommon at all in Buddhist-related movies. Why Did Bodhi-Dharma Leave for the East? and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring are two notable examples (both from South Korea).
I personally have never seen a mainstream Bollywood entertainment movie that featured actual divine intervention or depiction of Hindu deities. Maybe it has happened, but I don’t think it’s popular. As you say there are plenty of productions depicting stories from Hindu mythology – that in fact was the start of the Indian movie industry.
The only movie that comes to mind is the 1991 film “Masala,” an English movie which was produced in Canada by the Indian-Canadian director Srinivas Krishna. In that movie, the god Krishna (played by Saeed Jaffrey) appears in the form of a recording on a videocassette to the main character’s grandmother (played by Zohra Sehgal).
Nope, we don’t have many actual intervention with deities because everyone worships a different deity and some none at all. Our religious movies focus more on religios meanings.
However, Krishna has had LOTS of movies made about his life, as Krishna seems to be one of those gods everyone loves, in different forms.
The director of Spring, Summer, etc., Ki-Duk Kim, often includes Buddhist themes in his movies, though not often as blatantly as in that one. Samaria, 3-Iron and The Isle are all films that, while not primarily concerned with religion, feature Buddhist and sometimes Hindu themes. Curiously, Mr. Kim is very much Christian.
You will probably be very interested in the Thai film Mekhong Full Moon Party. Here’s my full-length review on Aint-it-Cool. It’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but thematically I think it’s almost exactly what you’re looking for.
Not to mention all those Hercules movies with Steve Reeves. :smack: