Movies Every Christian Should See

[kdet]

This was posted on christianitytoday's website. Now some of these I understand no problem...but American Beauty???



13 Conversations About One Thing, 2001, Jill Sprecher
2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968, Stanley Kubrick
The Addiction, 1995, Abel Ferrara
Amadeus, 1984, Milos Forman
American Beauty, 1999, Sam Mendes
Andrei Rublev, 1969, Andrei Tarkovsky
The Apostle, 1997, Robert Duvall
Au Hasard Balthazar, 1966, Robert Bresson
Babettes Gæstebud ("Babette's Feast"), 1987, Gabriel Axel
Bad Lieutenant, 1987, Abel Ferrara
Bad ma ra khahad bord ("The Wind Will Carry Us"), 1999, Abbas Kiarostami
The Big Kahuna, 1999, John Swanbeck
Blade Runner, 1982, Ridley Scott
Breaking The Waves, 1996, Lars von Trier
Changing Lanes, 2002, Roger Michell
Chariots of Fire, 1981, Hugh Hudson
Code inconnu ("Code Unknown"), 2000, Michael Haneke
Crimes And Misdemeanors, 1989, Woody Allen
Days of Heaven, 1978, Terrence Malick
Dead Man Walking, 1995, Tim Robbins
Dekalog ("The Decalogue"), 1987, Krzysztof Kieslowski
Dersu Uzala, 1975, Akira Kurosawa
Dogma, 1999, Kevin Smith
Dogville, 2003, Lars von Trier
La Dolce vita, 1960, Federico Fellini
The Elephant Man, 1980, David Lynch
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Michel Gondry
Fearless, 1993, Peter Weir
Fight Club, 1999, David Fincher
Le Fils ("The Son"), 2002, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Fuori dal mondo ("Not of This World"), 1999, Giuseppe Piccioni
Grand Canyon, 1991, Lawrence Kasdan
Groundhog Day, 1993, Harold Ramis
Hell House, 2001, George Ratliff
Henry V, 1989, Kenneth Branagh
Der Himmel über Berlin ("Wings of Desire"), 1987, Wim Wenders
Ikiru ("To Live"), 1952, Akira Kurosawa
It's A Wonderful Life, 1946, Frank Capra
Jean de Florette, Manon des sources, 1986, Claude Berri
Jésus De Montréal ("Jesus of Montreal"), 1989, Denys Arcand
Jesus Of Nazareth, 1977, Franco Zeffirelli
Le Journal D'un Curé De Campagne ("The Diary of a Country Priest"), 1951, Robert Bresson
Ladri di biciclette ("The Bicycle Thief"), 1948, Vittorio De Sica
The Last Days of Disco, 1998, Whit Stillman
The Last Temptation Of Christ, 1988, Martin Scorsese
Life of Brian, 1979, Terry Jones
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, 2001-2003, Peter Jackson
Ma nuit chez Maud ("My Night At Maud's"), 1969, Eric Rohmer
Magnolia, 1999, Paul Thomas Anderson
A Man For All Seasons, 1966, Fred Zinnemann
The Matrix, 1999, Andy & Larry Wachowski
Mies vailla menneisyyttä ("The Man Without A Past"), 2002, Aki Kaurismaki
The Miracle Maker, 2000, Derek W. Hayes & Stanislav Sokolov
The Mission, 1986, Roland Joffé
Nema-ye Nazdik ("Close-Up"), 1990, Abbas Kiarostami
The Night Of The Hunter, 1955, Charles Laughton
Offretâ€â€Sacrificatio ("The Sacrifice"), 1986, Andrei Tarkovsky
On The Waterfront, 1954, Elia Kazan
Ordet ("The Word"), 1955, Carl Theodor Dreyer
La Passion De Jeanne D'arc ("The Passion of Joan of Arc"), 1928, C. Dreyer
The Passion Of The Christ, 2004, Mel Gibson
Peter and Paul, 1981, Robert Day
Ponette, 1996, Jacques Doillon
The Prince Of Egypt, 1998, Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells
La Promesse, 1996, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, P.T. Anderson
Roma, città aperta ("Open City"), 1945, Roberto Rossellini
Sansho Dayu ("Sansho the Bailiff"), 1954, Kenji Mizoguchi
Schindler's List, 1993, Steven Spielberg
Secrets & Lies, 1996, Mike Leigh
Shadowlands, 1993, Richard Attenborough
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, Frank Darabont
Signs, 2002, M. Night Shyamalan
The Sixth Sense, 1999, M. Night Shyamalan
Det Sjunde Inseglet ("The Seventh Seal"), 1957, Ingmar Bergman
Smultronstället ("Wild Strawberries"), 1957, Ingmar Bergman
Solyaris ("Solaris"), 1972, Andrei Tarkovsky
Stalker, 1979, Andrei Tarkovsky
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, 1977, 1980, 1983, George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand
Stevie, 2002, Steve James
The Straight Story, 1999, David Lynch
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 1927, F.W. Murnau
Sånger från andra våningen ("Songs From the Second Floor"), 2000, Roy Andersson
The Sweet Hereafter, 1997, Atom Egoyan
Tender Mercies, 1983, Bruce Beresford
Trois coulers: Bleu, Trzy kolory: Bialy, Trois coulers: Rouge ("Three Colors: Blue, White, Red"), 1993, 1994, 1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski
Tokyo Monogatari ("Tokyo Story"), 1953, Yasujiro Ozu
The Truman Show, 1998, Peter Weir
Unforgiven, 1992, Clint Eastwood
Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo ("The Gospel According to Matthew"), 1964, Pier Paolo Pasolini
Vanya on 42nd Street, 1994, Louis Malle
Le Vent souffle où il veut ("A Man Escaped"), 1956, Robert Bresson
La Vita è bella ("Life is Beautiful"), 1997, Roberto Benigni
Vredens dag ("Day of Wrath"), 1943, Carl Theodor Dreyer
Waking Life, 2001, Richard Linklater
Werckmeister Harmonies, 2000, Béla Tarr
Witness, 1985, Peter Weir
The Year Of Living Dangerously, 1982, Peter Weir
Yi yi ("Yi Yi: A One and a Two"), 2000, Edward Yang
Zerkalo ("The Mirror"), 1975, Andrei Tarkovsky



http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies ... films.html

 

[Kalypso]

is there justification as to why christians should see these movies? some of them i think are horrible films just because its bad filmmaking, others have nothing to do with theology, and some are just completely random.

 

[kdet]

is there justification as to why christians should see these movies? some of them i think are horrible films just because its bad filmmaking, others have nothing to do with theology, and some are just completely random.

Well, that was my question also. Movies like American Beauty that are about a man wanting to have sex with his teen daughter's best friend, doesn't appear to offer anything for a Christian. This list was compiled by Arts and Faith and the link was provided on Christianity Today's website...so maybe I'm just missing something?

 

[Kalypso]

haha there were much worse choices on the list than american beauty. perhaps they are movies we should watch to see what sins people are struggling with on a large scale so we can better witness and help them?

 

[Quath]

Well, that was my question also. Movies like American Beauty that are about a man wanting to have sex with his teen daughter's best friend, doesn't appear to offer anything for a Christian. This list was compiled by Arts and Faith and the link was provided on Christianity Today's website...so maybe I'm just missing something?

Have you seen American Beauty? It has more to it than that. A lot more. I think it is a great movie overall, but I wouldn't target a Christian audience for it.

Quath

 

[Kalypso]

as a filmmaker myself- just graduated with a degree in it- i can understand why many films in this list are on a list everyone should see. i just dont get why they are for christians in this particular list? i think most of them are films EVERYONE should see, but not for christian reasons. odd.

but that having been said- i only recommend those who will not stumble to watch these films. many people should only watch good christian films because to do otherwise might lead them into sin. so before anyone watches a movie, they should make sure its not gonna hurt thier spiritual life

 

[gimlisgrl]

American Beauty is one of the worst movies made, along with some of the other ones on there, who made this list? I think christians should go see whatever they want but ask would I take God as my date to this move?

 

[bibleberean]

Martin Scorsese is a pooh pooh head and a big stinky.

He seems to be very inmanure.

Unlike me,

 

[LottomagicZ4941A]

That is a lot of movies. If "The Robe" was on there I missed it.

It would be cool if they did a modern version of it. But part of the fun of watching it is the chezieness of it.

 

[amal95]

Most (at least the ones I recognize) seem like pretty good choices for Christian, moral, and or spiritual message. For ex., the Lord of the Rings movies are not overtly christian but carry Christian themes throughout, that Peter Jackson, though he denied them, could not hide since the source material, Tolkien's writing, contained these religious themes.

... but Scorcese's "Last Temptation of Christ" :x and "American Beauty" :x

huh?

 

[Scott]

The Greatest Story Ever Told, Luther, Unbreakable, The Green Mile and Hearts in Atlantis should have probably been listed instead of a few there.

 

[Blessed]

Joshua was a good movie too.

 

[KnarfKS]

The one movie that I think should be added to this list is
American History X, yes it is violent, yes there is sexual content, but the point of the movies is made extrodinarily well that it is almost necessary.


American Beauty, 1999, Sam Mendes ??? huh

Blade Runner, 1982, Ridley Scott, This is kinda random

Changing Lanes, 2002, Roger Michell This has Ben affleck, your kidding me right?

Fight Club, 1999, David Fincher , I really like this movie, but the theme is absolutely not Christian at all, it is actually fairly anarchist. :-?

Magnolia, 1999, Paul Thomas Anderson, ???huh

The Matrix, 1999, Andy & Larry Wachowski, It is a fun movie, but not Christian themed or overtly intelligent actually

Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, P.T. Anderson, Good cinematography and acting, but horribly boring movie

Unforgiven, 1992, Clint Eastwood, great western, but why on this list?


The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, Frank Darabont, Excellent movie, not really totally Christian themed

Groundhog Day, 1993, Harold Ramis One of the most underrated movies ever, awesome

Schindler's List, 1993, Steven Spielberg, 100% agree

 

[Scott]

Fight Club, 1999, David Fincher , I really like this movie, but the theme is absolutely not Christian at all, it is actually fairly anarchist. :-?

Fight Club has Christian concepts all the way through. The realization that material possessions are unimportant, the war against the flesh, and killing the old nature. While the language and subject matter are enough that I would not recommend it as a movie every Christian should see, it does have many themes that deal with hitting rock bottom and eventually making a choice as to which path to take.

 

[Nocturnal_Principal_X]

The one movie that I think should be added to this list is
American History X, yes it is violent, yes there is sexual content, but the point of the movies is made extrodinarily well that it is almost necessary.

Great movie hard to watch but great.

The Matrix, 1999, Andy & Larry Wachowski, It is a fun movie, but not Christian themed or overtly intelligent actually

Perhaps not by itself but when you put it in the Matrix triology it definitively has Christianity within it.

The Shawshank Redemption, 1994, Frank Darabont, Excellent movie, not really totally Christian themed

I agree this is not a Christian themed movie but man is it an awesome movie though.

 

[KnarfKS]

Fight Club has Christian concepts all the way through.

Yes it does talk about material possessions being bad things to place meaning in one's life, but the whole animalistic theories of natural selection (panda comment), self help and self empowerment stuff is not Christian at all. The basic concept of the movie was absolutely not Christian. The killing of the old nature of passivity to one of anarchy? That is not Christian either way.
Just because something has Christian concepts doesn't make it good. Islam agrees with helping the poor in some ways, Atheists usually do too, but does that make either of their positions legitimate as a whole? No

Perhaps not by itself but when you put it in the Matrix triology it definitively has Christianity within it.

Yes in that there is a savior, but the random undertones of philosophies are not Christian at all. The movie is a philisophical arguement that doesn't go anywhere. I liked the first and the last one, but only for entertainment value.

 

[Scott]

The killing of the old nature of passivity to one of anarchy?

Did you notice the destruction of the buildings were Tyler's idea, not Jack's. Jack spends the last 20-25 minutes of the movie trying to stop Tyler (control his sin nature). Jack kills the old nature (Tyler) in the end of the movie.

Jack was questioning things much of the way and we are able to look back and see all that has happened in a different way when the movie climax's with the death of Tyler.

 

[KnarfKS]

Did you notice the destruction of the buildings were Tyler's idea, not Jack's. Jack spends the last 20-25 minutes of the movie trying to stop Tyler (control his sin nature). Jack kills the old nature (Tyler) in the end of the movie.

Jack was questioning things much of the way and we are able to look back and see all that has happened in a different way when the movie climax's with the death of Tyler.

This is exactly why this is not Christian. We can't fight sinful nature ourselves, only through the power of Christ's blood do we have the ability to fight it. It isn't our own power, but His. The movie is about our own control over our own sinful nature if anything. This is complete bull hockey because we don't, otherwise there would be no reason for Christ. But there absolutely is reason for Christ, we can't fight the sinful nature alone without God's intervention.

 

[Scott]

This is exactly why this is not Christian. We can't fight sinful nature ourselves, only through the power of Christ's blood do we have the ability to fight it.

He chose to pull the trigger, the gun did the work.

Symbolism!! Almost none of the movies listed point out Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord directly. Many of them don't even mention God. Does that mean we can't see any symbolism. Lets take your example of American History X. Let me say that I do like the movie, but it deals with racism not finding God. It makes no mention of God or pointing one to a personal relationship with Christ. So if I answer your post in the same manner you answered mine, fear created by a prison experience is not salvation. But I can see a deeper meaning, I can look past what's not spelled out for me. Movies aren't supposed to be a substitute for God's Word.

 

[KnarfKS]

He chose to pull the trigger, the gun did the work.

Sorry, I'm calvinist. :-D :-D :-D hahaha

But seriously, that is stretching it. If you had read the book the movie completely scewed what the author's origional message was. The book really didn't contain the symbolism, it was actually about a screwed up guy with multiple personality disorder who did weird things. The movie actually did a better job of having hidden meaning than the book. I just don't agree with your interpretation, but thats fine, there have been times where people disagree and it really doesn't matter, such as this.

Movies aren't supposed to be a substitute for God's Word.

You did get the point and thank you.