Time Out of Joint:

Ordet: Cinema as Theology, Theology as Cinema Pt. 2

Here is the second, and final, part of my review on Carl Theodore Dryer's masterpiece . . . "Ordet"

THEOLOGY AS CINEMA:

The beauty of Ordet --and in general Dryer's cinema-- is that it is not simply a film that deals with theological issues but it is theology taking the form of film. Theology as Cinema and Image is birthed from the theology of parable and metaphor found in the early theological work of Sallie McFague. “In the parabolic tradition people are not asked to be ‘religious’ or taken out of this world; rather the transcendent comes to ordinary reality and disrupts it . . . here we see the distinctive way the transcendent touches the worldly –only in and through and under ordinary life.”(8) The parable is an extended metaphor which embodies meaning and truth in language generating new meaning “by making words mean more than they ordinarily do.”(9) This new context, created in parable, which shapes the way we see creation, is similar to the new context disclosed in Theology as Cinema/Image. Images which disclose the truth of creation as revealed in the incarnation become parabolic in meaning in the same way words do.

Ordet could have been a film that denies the very idea’s which give the story life. The style of the film affects the manner in which we receive its message.

Ordet: Cinema as Theology, Theology as Cinema Pt. 1

Feeling better but still no pics of the great bike disaster of '05. 

As promised here is the first in a series of monthly/bi-monthly posts highlighting the films listed in my "Flickography" list. No standard "film reviews" or general post on cinema . . . these post belong in the new category "Flickography".

CINEMA AS THEOLOGY:

Ordet is the 1955 film adaptation of a 1932 play directed by Danish auteur Carl Theodore Dryer. Originally written by yet another Dane –the play was written by theologian and poet Kaj Munk, an outspoken parish priest who “used his pulpit to voice national resistance to the Nazis”, who was murdered by the Gestapo in 1944.(1) In his life, Munk was concerned with the theological dilemma which divided his country since the mid-nineteenth century: reconciling the strife between the Lutheran state Church and sectarian fundamentalism. Informed heavily by Lutheran and Kierkegaardian theology, Ordet is not a simple allegory, which is left to the scavenger that is the Christian imagination, but is a parable –an extended metaphor.(2) “It is neither secular nor religious but both at once.”(3) In this way, like the parables of Jesus, Ordet is a story set in the real world and infused with meaning but whose story elements do not exhaust its meaning.

Ordet is saturated with Lutheran and Kierkegaardian theology. At its heart, the film deals with faith and the lack thereof. Through events of unaccountable reason, “Dryer shows us a world where God is incarnate in the ordinary and where spiritual transcendence occurs in the face of oppressive religiosity.” (4)Like Kierkegaard’s knight of faith the film is an examination of faith materialized in this world. In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard speaks of Abraham as a pivotal figure of faith. “You should not talk about faith, he would say, unless you are prepared to stand, like Abraham, with the knife raised over your child’s body.”(5) Like Johannes in the film, Kierkegaard says that a person like this would “be executed or sent to the lunatic asylum.”(6) In the film, the new pastor of the parish asks Mikkel what happened to Johannes:

Priest: Was it –love?
Mikkel: No, no, it was Soren Kierkegaard.

Johannes, a theology student gone mad, is estranged from his environment and community because of the radical strength of his faith. “Like Kierkegaard, he embodies a ‘true’ religion in contrast to the half-hearted versions of those around him.”(7) In a reference to Luther’s call to turn from the condemnation of the law to the loving arms of grace and/or Kierkegaard’s call to leap beyond reason Johannes says, in his encounter with the new Lutheran state pastor:

Johannes: "I am a bricklayer. I build houses, but nobody lives in them. People prefer to build their own, even though they do not know how. Some of them inhabit half-finished huts, others live in ruins, and most wander homeless. Are you one of those in need of a home?"

To Luther, Christ was the only worker in building the house of salvation. “Here it is to be noted that these three things are joined together: faith, Christ, and acceptance or imputation. Faith takes hold of Christ and has Him present, enclosing Him as the ring encloses the gem. And whoever is found having this faith in the Christ who is grasped in the heart, him God accounts as righteous.”(!)

****
Works Cited:

1)Cawkwell, Tim, The raising of Inger, Theology, 104 no 817 Ja-F2001, p 36
2) “A parable is not an allegory, where the meaning is extrinsic to the story, nor is it an example story where, as in the story of the Good Samaritan, the total meaning is within the story. Rather, as an extended metaphor, the meaning is found only within the story itself although it is not exhausted by that story” (McFauge, Sallie, Speaking in Parables, p 13)
3)McFauge, Sallie, Speaking in Parables, p 6
4)Beltzer, Thomas, The Incarnate Transcendence of Ordet, http://www.senseofcinema.com/contents/03/28/cteq/ordet.html
5)Owens, Virginia Stem, A faith that trembles and dances, Christianity Today 33 jl 14 1989, p 21
6)ibid. p 21
7)Cawkwell, Tim, The raising of Inger, Theology, 104 no 817 Ja-F2001, p 37
!) Luther, Martin, Lectures on Galatians, p 132 (emphasis mine)

Exposing the Demons of the Crime Genre: Revolver (2005)

Just saw the new Guy Ritchie flick "Revolver" last night. Mind bender of the first order.

Let me first say this . . . there are perhaps four people in the world who are pushing the image envelope when it comes to cinema: Wong Kar Wai, Takashi Miike, Guy Madden and Guy Ritchie. If you haven't seen anyone of these directors, do it now. Respectively, check out Chungking Express, The Audition (careful this is ultra gory), Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The problem is that the depth of these films (with the exception of Madden) rarely dive beyond the surface of their own hip camera movement and brilliant cinematography.

Ritchie's "Revolver" has moments of brilliance --pushing the envelope of what cinema can accomplish-- and dares to betray expectation by disrupting audience passivity with multiple layers of reality . . .

The basic premise of the film is that Jake Green (Jason Statham) gets out of Prison and takes on Macha (Ray Liota) in a series of con's and chess like tactical maneuvers. Aided by two mysterious figures Avi and Zach (Andre 3000 and Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore) Mr. Green takes on a more powerful crime lord and rids himself of personal demons.

Revolver is essentially a British crime drama --with a twist. The Scots call it "Tartan Noir" . . . Most recently films like "Trainspotting", "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", "Snatch" and "Layer Cake" have been quite popular in the States. The brilliance of "Revolver", though, is the way Ritchie reveals the underbelly of the classic British crime noir to be a Machiavellian battle of wits haunted and consumed by demons.

Real Sex: "9 Songs" (2004)

Sex is a comical activity simply because it involves the human body. C.S. Lewis believed the human body to be the sign that God has a sense of humor and was far more concerned with sins of action than sins of the body – that’s why he says"…a cold self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute" (p. 95) While I agree with C.S. Lewis (see Mere Christianity) that the diabolical sin is far greater than the sexual sin I think one of the greatest sin’s to consume the first world is the Hyper-Real glamorization of sex.

We live in an oversexed world. A world where the banality of the sexual act bores and the culture of hyper-real sex (pornography) is becoming accepted as mainstream. Comedian and social critic Ben Stein is noted in Neil Postman’s book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” as saying that by “2020 everything will be pornography”. As it is the recent "scandal" of the new "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" and its hidden porno-sex scene speak to the point.

So when I hear that a new film coming out of the UK is about nothing other than sex, music, and sex . . . I raise an eye brow. 9 Songs has ruffled some feathers because it shows real, very real sex . . . but that’s all. One reviewer noted that the film felt "incomplete". Couple meet, couple go to concert and hear good brit rock, have sex, go to another concert, have sex, etc., etc. times 9. Watch the previews at the films web site.

The statement here is far more interesting to me than the film . . . we’ll, you know what I mean. (I’m not that lost in the ivory tower yet!). But the movie actually sounds quite boring . . . but this is the rub. Ehhm! Rather, this seems to be the essential point. Cinema is not simply a medium of entertainment . . . as though we need any more entertaining! Cinema is a tool of revolution, of imagination, of disruption. If we are to deal with the over-sexing and hyper-sexing of the 1st world then maybe some boring sex is what we need!

(p.s. for those of you dealing with issues related to an over sexed society i direct you to xxxchurch.com)

Christian Myth as Cinema: “The Cave” (2005)

The Story opens in the Carpathians. A military truck pulls up to what seems to be another eerie and deserted Hollywood church. The skeleton of some bizarre fanged creature hangs crucified in the churchyard. However, what we learn, through a story told in mosaic, is Templars who fought a great battle against winged demons in the cave built a church over the entrance. It served as part remembrance, part protection, part space of redemption.

This abandoned relic of Christian Europe –and the memory of the myth of the cave—is what holds back a deluge of evil. However, as the film opens during the Cold War, the narrative of the cave is hardly remembered no less believed. “All European myths end badly”, says one character. The film ceases to operate in a suspension of disbelief [nore does it try for that matter] and becomes myth. Less “Aliens” and more “Beowulf”. Less Wes Craven and more “Saga of the Volsungs”.

Let me pause here and say “The Cave” is not a perfect movie. It suffers from sub-par acting, questionable special effects, unoriginal plot devices and diluted tension . . . But the narrative betrays expectation, the editing --while untraditional—shapes the story telling, and we find a quality in the characters not found in the horror genre – virtue.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS

karen carpenter:subversive cinema

. . . so you think you know cinema?

Todd Haynes graduated from Brown University with a degree in semiotics --that is, the study of signs.
Todd Haynes knows how signs function in our world as tools of oppression or subversion and, as a result, Todd Haynes knows how to utilize that knowledge to make powerful cinema. Two of his films listed on my flickography are masterpieces of human complexity void of sentimentality and over simplified judgment. (i.e. they don't play the blame game)

However, it's his 1987 [illegal] cult classic "Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story" which is perhaps his most effective attempt at subversive cinema. Shot only with Barbie (and Ken) dolls --the classic American image of marketplace beauty-- Haynes taps into the nightmare that is the Western capitalist image machine. Superstar isn't about the machine, though, it's about lives destroyed by the machine. As the film progesses --and beauty is slowly destroyed by the pursuit of perfection-- Haynes begins to slowly burn the faces of the characters to reveal horrific faces of Fantasia driven lives.

Don't be fooled, "Superstar" is cinema. Camera movements, set design, costumes and most importantly dialogue make you forget you are watching dolls. Language and image communicate with frightening purity of purpose. You will be hard pressed to find a brighter example of the power cinema has to disclose truth.

this is not a date movie . . .

cinema as theology as poetry

this post is a side note to Philip Wheelwright's "four ways of imagination" posts: if you care at all about cinema, art and theology then you must see (if not own) this film. Directed by the great Roberto Rossellini (and amazingly assistant directed and co-written by Federico Fellini!), The Flowers of St. Francis is a theopoetic masterpiece . . . as important as any theology text you'll ever read.

emerging out of Italy's post-WW2 Neo-Realist movement (see Umberto D, the Bicycle Thief, the Shoeshine Boys, L'Avventura, Open City, La Strada), the film approaches the spiritual giant with sensitivity, honesty, charm and existential gravitas. Simply beautiful.

Incidentally, this masterpiece was shot with only one professional actor!

After seeing St. Francis try to find "Europa '51" and see Rosselini deal with sainthood in a tortured modern setting.

Downfall: the banality of evil . . .

In late spring 1945 the gates of hell, open over the city of Berlin–and for a time over all of Europe, were finally being closed. Slowly the allied forces were able to force the mighty iron gates shut in the face of seething and curse strewed hisses. 60 years ago today, May seven 1945–after 50 million people perished in anarchy and madness—the war in Europe had come to an end.

The German film “Downfall” is about the finally day’s of Hitler, the SS, and ultimately Berlin. A pastiche of first hand accounts, one forgets that they are watching a film, watching actors and is transported into the mind numbing madness of the final days of the Third Reich.

Like a trip through Dante’s Inferno, as Hitler is drawn back into the bowels of Hell --in which he no doubt came, the entire German people and the citizens of Berlin learn what the stakes are when you sell your soul to the Devil –when you sell your soul to the shadow world: debauchery, mutilation, infanticide, homicide, illusion and idolatry. This is real evil.

The power of this film though, is not in the tired characterization of evil, but in the disclosure of what Hannah Ardent called “the banality of evil”. We watch the downfall of everyday people who have sold themselves to a hyper-real creation rooted in Nietzsche’s “uberman” philosophy. This is what everyday people –you and I—looks like when we sell ourselves to anti-Christ.

Admittedly, the viewer will be shocked when they begin to sympathize with several characters. The film is working when that occurs. The Balrogs of the shadow-world are disguised as “uncles” and brothers, sisters and wives. The turn to “nothingness”, the turn to “Un-God” is not dramatic but banal . . . a banality that can rob another 50 million human beings of life again if one is not careful. What will we do?

(p.s. look for a film review of “The Kingdom of Heaven” coming soon!)

Meditation: the apocalyptic and the romantic pt.1

"Once upon a time, there were five French soldiers who had gone off to war, because that's the way of the world."

Saw the new Jean-Pierre Jeunet flick A Very Long Engagement. Bloody good stuff. Incredible meditation on the absurdity of war, the death of innocence, and hope.

Conservative estimates say 10 million dead and 20 million wounded from 1914-1918. The call to war was fraught with romantic idealism. "Go to war and be back by Christmas . . ." In the UK 800,000 had enlisted in the first year. By the end of the war almost 1 in 4 from the UK were in the military. But that first year -- what talent, what potential, what loss.

World War I fed the best and the brightest of that lost generation to Molech on the God forsaken plains of Europe. During the Battle of the Somme alone the UK lost 420,000 men, the French 200,000, and the Germans an estimated 500,000. One battle!! For what?

6 miles of land.

The Romantics and Idealists who enlisted in the first year of the war were all dead. Truly a lost generation. Imagine, for example, Hemingway, Paul Tillich, JRR Tolkien, Ford Maddox Ford, TE Lawrence (all vets of WWI) all dead. Now imagine 10 Hemingway's or Tillich's or Tolkiens that could have lived . . . what a loss.

What does the apocalyptic do to the romantic? Using the language of cinema, A Very Long Engagement offers some insight . . .