With Passover beginning on Saturday evening (April 12) and ending on Sunday, April 20, the day that both Western and Eastern churches will be celebrating Easter to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, I thought this was as a good a time as any to publish a new series of essays that explore “Sacred Cinema” — those Biblical epics that have made an impact on my life since the earliest days of my childhood.
This four-part essay series begins today on Medium. The installments are written not from the perspective of a film historian or a cinema studies specialist, but from the perspective of a fan. There are lots of autobiographical details included here, which help explain the very personal impact these films have had on me. Though I place many of these films within the context of the times in which they were released, I also examine their dramatization of universal themes. As I write: “The elegant ‘simplicity’ of Sacred Cinema — those Biblical epics brought to the big screen — reveals a level of depth and complexity that has fueled the souls of believers and non-believers alike. Whether they depict the brutal realism of the arena or the enduring spiritual strength of the oppressed, these films speak to universal themes: the quest for human freedom; the exalted power of love; the pain of betrayal, the corrosive quality of hate, the requirements of forgiveness, and the need for redemption.”
Part I, “Fueling the Soul,” can be found at this link.
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