After a bit of a break, we are back with our penultimate choices for the “Most Spiritually Significant Films of all time.”
(The reason for the break? Holy Week and Easter of course. A bit of illness. Baseball – for more on that from Chris’ perspective, see his essay on baseball, superstition, providence and Aquinas.)
Our choices?
Me: Robert Duvall’s (in every sense) The Apostle
Chris: The Coen brothers’ A Serious Man.
A bit more on The Apostle – I offer background in the podcast, but here are a few links that might interest you.
You can read Duvall’s script here. It’s pretty close to what made it onscreen.
There are many good interviews with Duvall on the film – here’s one.
Duvall (who is still alive, btw) made another spiritually significant film, which I did consider for my list – Tender Mercies. I wrote about it here, and yes, you should watch it. Watch them both!
As I mention in the podcast, my backgrounder on The Apostle was much simpler than it had been for my previous choice, On The Waterfront, which had to take in Elia Kazan, Budd Schulberg, Marlon Brando, the Actors’ Studio and the priest on which Karl Malden’s character was based, Father John Corridan. This time it was just Duvall, who conceived the project, nurtured it over decades, wrote the script, directed and starred in it. But you should still go back and learn about Fr. Corridan at least – here’s my blog post on that.
Amy’s List to Date (go to Chris’ blog to see his choices).
I’m going to add notes here to other occasions I’ve written about these films, as well as my son’s takes, when applicable.
(20) The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
I thought – in fact, I would have sworn – that I had written about this somewhere, but I don’t see it. Anyway, here is Movie Guy Son’s take, with the very apt description of “noted plank of wood Dana Andrews.”
(19) The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
(18) The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
(17) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2000)
(16) Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995)
(15) Joe Versus the Volcano (John Patrick Shanley, 1990)
(14) Amadeus (Miloš Forman, 1984)
Me – a quick mention in the context of the latest David Copperfield adaptation. Another recent post mentioning the film. Movie Guy Son.
(13) Lilies of the Field (Ralph Nelson, 1963)
My look at the book and the differences between it and the film.
(12) The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
(11) Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)
(10) Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
(9) Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997)
(8) Ikiru (Japanese: 生きる, Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
Me on the recent sequel, Living.
(7) A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966)
(6) The Road (Italian: La strada, Federico Fellini, 1954)
(5) The Passion of Joan of Arc
What will #1 be????
I am thankful because I’ve long felt my appreciation of “The Apostle” was a guilty pleasure which I would have trouble justifying to someone who’d never seen it. Now I am better equipped to explain my affection for the movie and even the lead character.
I was a real cinephile when I was a younger practicing Catholic, but the idea of the spiritually significant film eludes me…unlike some of my bright church friends. Good directors create their own mythos. In theory, that should not preclude spiritual significance. Film is such a massive collaborative effort, we are lucky if the director’s vision is realised. This is different from a novel; you have the novelist and hopefully, at least, an editor. The creator’s stamp on his work is immediate. But with film, so much technique, fakery and those unreliable actors. If you have ever been on a film set, the techs are impressive…like watching an ER team.