Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: amariec on March 27, 2010, 07:29:29 PM
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what are some good catholic films or docuмentaries i can watch?
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One of my favorites is A Man For All Seasons, starring Paul Scofield (1966).
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Do you prefer drama, action, what? There are plenty of great movies out there, many of which are perfectly acceptable to watch.
As for docuмentaries, are you looking for secular docuмentaries that are true (i.e., not History Channel stuff), or informational films about the recent, turbulent decades?
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Do you prefer drama, action, what? There are plenty of great movies out there, many of which are perfectly acceptable to watch.
As for docuмentaries, are you looking for secular docuмentaries that are true (i.e., not History Channel stuff), or informational films about the recent, turbulent decades?
yes i am looking for true docuмentaries that are religion based, maybe movies about our faith, mary, the lives of the saints, ect.
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The film I mentioned is the story of St. Thomas More. It was very well done, earning a couple of Oscars, I believe.
There are others, to be sure, but I would have to think a bit, call some friends who know more, or search a little online. I will get back to you, thanking you in advance for your patience :)
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One of Godfather movies is about John Paul I and his assisination. I wonder if it is a good movie.
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One of Godfather movies is about John Paul I and his assisination. I wonder if it is a good movie.
It's not. All three of the movies contain obscenity, but the third one is apparently not well liked either.
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I've always enjoyed the Warner Brothers The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952). They used to play it on Easter Sunday every year when I was a child, and I very much looked forward to watching it.
I also liked The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) because it almost prophetically foresaw a John Paul II-like papacy; it did, however, give undue sympathy to the modernists, so you have to take this one with a huge grain of salt.
And of course there's always The Passion of the Christ, but there are some things I don't care for in that movie.
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The Passion of the Christ, while a good movie in many ways, bowed a bit too much to Jєωιѕн sensibilities.
In other words, Mel had to compromise too much.
The movie could have been 1000X more powerful with a few scenes added that should have been there.
I attended a talk about the Oberramergau passion play (in Germany) done every 5 or 10 years. The Jews kept pushing for more and more changes -- I think they reduced the resurrection to a completely off-screen affair. The resurrection wasn't shown, but the character who played Jesus, dressed in white, appeared on stage at the end during the curtain call.
I can't give any other examples from memory, but the overall theme was that with every iteration of the play, the New Testament was more and more watered down. Give the Jews an inch, they'll take a mile. Sharks smell blood.
At any rate ,the Jews won't be satisfied with the New Testament until it's reduced to a blank page -- or a few pages from the тαℓмυd (God forbid!)
Matthew
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This is a great week to view TPoTC again, although I agree there some things that could have been added, omitted, etc. Overall, it is pretty powerful.
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Yes, I shouldn't exaggerate how weak PoTC was -- it was still very moving, and a decent portrayal of Jesus Christ.
Matthew
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You have to go back to the 1950's and before
for good Catholic Movies. I have not been to a
movie in many years because I judge them as
all bad, and corrupting.
My favorite movie of all time is the 1952
movie " Our Lady of Fatima".
I remember when I saw the very first movie
that used a cuss word, that was the 1961 movie
"wreck of the Mary Deere" that stared of all
actors Charlton Heston, the same actor that
stared in the Ten Commandments, and Ben Hur.
And it only got worse since that time.
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I have the whole collection of the "Super Saints" videos by Bob and Penny Lord. Each video on a saint is 30 minutes long. Bob and Penny make their story about the saints very interesting. We see them visiting the sites where the saint was born, grew up, lived, died, etc.. We also get to see footage of the incorrupt bodies.
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This doesn't answer the original question, but in my opinion, I think that it is much more edifying to read books than to watch movies. For example, instead of watching The Passion, why not read The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (revealed to Anne Catherine Emmerich). The Passion is just based on that book anyhow, so why not read the unadulterated and full account?
God speaks to the soul in solitude and silence. Not in movies, or music even. I can guarantee you that 30-40 minutes of reading a spiritual book, like the Dolorous Passion or The Imitation of Christ, will benefit the soul much more than 2 hours of The Passion of the Christ, etc. Reading alone in silence, while meditating on the meaning of the words and reading slowly/re-reading, etc is probably the best way to help you advance quickly in the spiritual life (of course, you should always start with prayer and end with prayer as well. I usually read a few chapters of a book after the Rosary).
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This doesn't answer the original question, but in my opinion, I think that it is much more edifying to read books than to watch movies. For example, instead of watching The Passion, why not read The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (revealed to Anne Catherine Emmerich). The Passion is just based on that book anyhow, so why not read the unadulterated and full account?
I've been listening to this some of this on MP3 CD (https://www.chantcd.com/catholic.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/646/keywords/mp3/). Does that count? :smile:
Seriously, though, it's a good alternative if you don't have much time to read. We have an outdoor speaker on our house, so I can turn it on and listen while I hang laundry.
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I'm going to say that yes, audiobooks give you almost all the benefit of reading the book. You are getting something in full detail, not "made for the screen". When something is adapted for TV, a LOT of detail/depth has to be removed OF NECESSITY or it just wouldn't work.
Think of it this way: LISTENING to books is how many people used to "read" many years ago. And St. Paul did say, "Faith comes by hearing" -- not by watching snazzy Youtube, VHS, or DVD videos.
One of the devil's biggest accomplishments is to damage the world in such a way that the majority of the population can't (or don't want to) read a book. How will they EVER be converted?
Multi-media just can't save souls, unfortunately. It needs more depth than that -- books, sermons, etc.
St. Paul was right -- Faith comes by hearing.
Matthew
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I actually enjoy listening to sermons, etc on CD's when I have the chance. I listen to the sermons on AudioSancto often.
That would certainly make manual labor much more "fun" if you were listening to a spiritual book or sermons.
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I do, too, Vladimir. But I can't multi-task when I listen to Fr. R-he's too fast for me!
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i agree. i listen to sermons on my ipod everyday whenever i can, i often listen to them more than once to make sure i get the most of them.
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Welcome carolina22 and cinecatolico!
Into Great Silence is quite good, although, like the Carthusian life itself, may not appeal to all. C'est la vie.
Again, welcome. Godspeed :)
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Here is a link for those interested: http://www.diegrossestille.de/english/
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Specially the series of docuмentaries of Sister Wendy Becktt about Art, magnificent.
Sister Wendy Beckett?! Are you kidding me?! I happened to come across an art docuмentary of hers a few times. I was totally repulsed. She was standing in front of a totally nude painting of a woman and spending a long time commenting about every detail. I have also seen her commenting in great depth about a nude picture of a man with his private part next to her face. Making viewers look at a naked picture with her is unchaste and is a situation of temptation. Many of the artwork she chooses are nudes - not only of women but of men. It seems totatlly inappropriate to be seeing anyone, let alone a nun, standing infront of a nude picture with private parts in full few while they keep our gaze on the indecency with their detailed commentary and close-ups of the nude. And this is not a just a quick shot of the nude. She is infront of the picture commenting for a long time. A Christian, let alone a nun, should not be focusing on nude art. Even before I learned about my faith properly, I always was dissettled and repulsed at the sight of a nun asking us to look closely at a nude picture. Sister Wendy's behavior is disgusting!
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All of a sudden I thought of the movie "Fearless" with Jeff Bridges and I can't remeber the women's names but I loved it. It isn't strictly a Catholic film, but as a Catholic I loved it.
:popcorn:
And "Doubt" was super good even though I do not care for Meryl Streep, the arrogant priest was very strong. But the interview part was a loser.
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Here's part of a news article about Sister Wendy discussing the sɛҳuąƖ and sensual statements she often makes when commenting on the nude art in front of her. Her focus on nudity and sex shameful! No Christian should be watching her shows.
The incongruity of such passionate, and often sensuous, statements coming from a hunched, bespectacled, 67-year old nun is the secret to much of Sister Wendy's charm and success.
Over the last six years, Sister Wendy, who still spends most of her time in solitude in a trailer near a Carmelite monastery in England, has starred in three British television series about art and developed something of a cult following in Europe.
The basic format for these programs is to plop Sister Wendy in front of a piece of art and let her lapse into one of her meandering, rapturous commentaries. Her fame owes no small debt to the erotic overtones of some of these reveries, which have occasionally made her seem the Dr. Ruth Westheimer of art appreciation.
In her first series, ''Sister Wendy's Odyssey,'' she clucked over the ''lovely and fluffy'' pubic hair in a nude by Stanley Spencer. In ''Sister Wendy's Story of Painting,'' she describes the male bison rendered by cave muralists as ''great balls of male erotic fury, ready to explode on one another.'' Looking to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, she espies Adam, ''sprawled there in his naked male glory, but he's not alive.''
''All he can do,'' she says, ''is lift up a flaccid finger.''
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"Sister" Wendy on gαy marriage:
"Q: You've spoken out about gαy marriage. How do you balance what you believe with what you have sworn to uphold?
Sister Wendy: I believe in loyalty. We should respect our church, but never believe that the church has the last word. The church is saying "this", but I believe that sooner or later "this" will change. "This" is not the mind of our Lord. God is all love. It's a delicate balancing thing. The Church has changed its position over the years, and because the spirit is with the Church, in the end the Church will always get it right. But in the end. The spirit of the Church is the meaning of love, which hasn't yet, perhaps, been fully understood."
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I liked The Song of Bernadette. 1943.
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I liked The Song of Bernadette. 1943.
:wave: Long time no see.
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Yes, hello again. I'm probably not much of a forum goer these days. You'd be better placed than me to say how long since I even looked here, let alone posting.
If you have a chance to see that movie, you'll fall instantly in love with Jenefer Jones. She is the perfect St Bernadette. Her voice, demeanour, everything.
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Clevispin said:
The Bad Lieutenent
Are you joking?
That movie would be a perfect example, like Scorsese movies, of how a director tries to get away with the most tawdry material by sticking in a crucifix and some supposedly religious themes. For those who don't know, and you shouldn't, Bad Lieutenant is a film by the New York druggie Abel Ferrara about a renegade, amoral cop, played by the Jew Harvey Keitel, who learns about "redemption" while investigating the rape of a nun. The "redemption" is that he lets the rapists go as an act of mercy... The film is extremely sɛҳuąƖly explicit and filled with profanity -- rated NC-17, I believe.
There is no such thing as a recent Catholic film. If there is, why have NONE of these so-called Catholic directors seen fit to mention the Novus Ordo or the trouble in the Church? It's all distraction.
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The Bad Lieutenant has pranity and sɛҳuąƖ content, therefore a Catholic should not be watching it - Period!
You recommend this movie because it speaks about redemption. Well, read the Bible or lives of the saints if you want to think about redemption. You don't watch a sɛҳuąƖly explicit and profane movie to do that.
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Alex said:
You recommend this movie because it speaks about redemption. Well, read the Bible or lives of the saints if you want to think about redemption. You don't watch a sɛҳuąƖly explicit and profane movie to do that.
Exactly. I know where you are coming from, clevispin, and that you think it's okay, that it shows gritty, life on the streets as it really is, and all of that, but the film is really sensationalistic. You shouldn't be watching films like this at all. You should not wallow in violence and depravity on screen -- you already know it's bad, you don't need Abel Ferrara to tell you that.
What about the scene where the "bad lieutenant" blackmails some girls into miming a sex act for him? Was this scene necessary to show the "badness" of the titular lieutenant, or does it rather entice the viewer to sin himself? Was it necessary to show the nun actually being raped, and if I remember correctly, full-frontal naked? This is a truly sick erotic fantasy that Cain Ferrara tries to make acceptable by giving it some religious overtones.
Is all of this somehow redeemed by showing Christ howling on the cross? And how is it redemption to let a couple of dudes who raped a nun free? The bad lieutenant's justice is as lame and un-Catholic as his mercy.
You can't just whitewash a pervy movie by throwing in Catholic iconography.
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clevispin said:
And that you think it matters that one of the actors is a jew or the director is a druggie (???) really has no bearing on the the film itself (FYI, I think Jesus was a juden too).
Thanks for the tip-off.
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I don't believe that God works through films. Films seem to be almost entirely the province of the devil. Even the ones that seem good always slip in some kind of false prophecy or something inappropriate.
I probably know more about film than anyone alive. If I were proud of this, it would be a boast, but it's not. Considering that I've seen so much, it is sad how few films there are that I would consider showing a young person today.
I think one of the best films on a religious subject -- I won't call it a "Catholic" film -- is Roberto Rossellini's miniseries Acts of the Apostles, which mostly focuses on St. Paul's activities in converting various regions. It is filmed in a very lived-in, objective, you-are-there, slow-paced style that Rossellini himself described as catechetical. I wouldn't go that far, but the film is intriguing and after sitting through six hours of it, you feel kind of like a desert Father yourself.
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0165093/usercomments
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Juden? Are we in Germany all of a sudden?
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Bumping for Copticruiser rather then muck up the Television - EXCELLENT ARTICLE! A Must Read! thread.
Here are a few movies that I think are the type you are looking for.
Molokai: The Story Of Father Damien (2008)
Francis of Assisi (1961)
The Reluctant Saint (about St. Joseph of Cupertino) (early '60s)
St. Teresa of Avila, miniseries in Spanish, English subtitles (2008)
St. John Bosco: Mission to Love Italian, English subtitles (2007)
I've viewed and enjoyed all of these. There is some sɛҳuąƖ innuendo in the, The Story of Fr. Damien, but no nudity.
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Juden? Are we in Germany all of a sudden?
Indeed.
There are lots reasons to object to a movie like the Bad Lieutenant. The fact that one o the actors is Jєωιѕн is not one of them. The woman who played the Blessed Virgin in the Passion of the Christ was Jєωιѕн. Come to think of it, so was the Blessed Virgin herself. Mel Gibson perhaps tried to avoid being needlessly offensive in his movie. If later this bothers anyone, his insane rants after a few drinks more than made up for his lapse into civility.
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"The Mission - (1986)" The soundtrack is most astounding!
(There are a couple of places that, at the innocence of the village people, the lovely ladies wore clothing different - which did not cover their bosom - so please cover the screen with your pillow, at those moments, or fast forward :))
I was also going to recommend, "A Song for Bernadette - (1943)", "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)", but someone already recommended, and "One Night with the King (2006)" (The story of Esther).
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
"Joan of Arc" 1958 with Ingrind Bergman
I am curious if the made for TV movie about Joan of Arc is appropriate.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178145/
"The Robe" 1953
"The Trouble With Angels" 1966 with Hayley Mills
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Has anyone seen- "The Keys to the Kingdom" ?
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
This 1928 version has close up, full screen nudity.
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I have a theory that religious films of the 50's and thereabouts were made deliberately boring in order to drive people out of the Church, ha ha. Has anyone seen King of Kings? Christ is portrayed as having the charisma of a block of wood, he just stands there and lectures in a monotone. It would take a great deal of imagination to make a film that has so little imagination. You literally could not be more boring if you tried. Yet the director, Nicolas Ray, made many trashy films that were entertaining.
Easily the best Christ film in terms of artistic style is Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese. The lighting and the editing is state of the art, the images evoke lots of good religious art from the past. The problem is that it's blasphemous and heretical.
Mel Gibson's Christ film, from what I have seen, has trashy Titanic-style hard-edged lighting and THX sound effects, which are totally inappropriate for the life of Christ. I developed a prejudice to this film early on, I'll admit, so I'd better watch it before I say anything else.
There are lots of films made about Joan of Arc. Don't get excited. This is in order to push rebellion and feminism to girls. Unless you think girls watching these films will be able to understand that Joan of Arc wore men's clothes for special reasons and based on divine inspiration. Or that they will comprehend that Joan being burned was an act of an English cleric that was probably politically motivated, rather than an act of the mean, macho, masculine Church itself.
But of course, the historical context is blurred over or misunderstood, and all that people take away from Joan of Arc films is a sliver of a girl standing up for her right to be a soldier on the battlefield, and then persecuted by some Inquisition-like court. It makes it look like she is standing all alone against men, and against the unfair and unjust Church itself. Bleh.
St. Francis, also, is turned pretty much into Doctor Doolittle crossed with a hippie, a forerunner of Vatican II, in certain works of art ( Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Zefferelli, which is scored with songs of Donovan! )
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
"The Trouble With Angels" 1966 with Hayley Mills
The Passion of Joan has some of the most brilliant acting ever seen.
The Trouble with Angels brings back memories! I wonder if it's available on YouTube.
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
This 1928 version has close up, full screen nudity.
Is it on the youtube?
I watched it on Turner Classic Movies and there wasn't that scene in it. A few weeks ago they showed four Joan of Arc movies in a row at TCM.
One of the movies was from the sixties ? and in French and B&W. It was the transcripts of her trial. Very powerful.
This looks like a comprehensive list of Joan of Arc movies.
http://smu.edu/ijas/movielis.html
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Has anyone seen- "The Keys to the Kingdom" ?
Keys of the Kingdom - 1944 ?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036983/
I probably did see that one.
Here's the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLOtkuS_Ags
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The 60's one is by Robert Bresson, who called himself a Jansenist, and whose style was to film everything in a way that was supposed to be "realistic" but made people look like robots or puppets of fate, acting like automatons. As usual with these "genius" artists, it's something that seems profound but when you look at it more closely it's really quite meaningless. Worse, contrary to Catholic teaching ( suggesting no free will, a deterministic worldview ).
I am very negative when it comes to the media, in case anyone hasn't noticed. Where were the so-called Catholic film directors during Vatican II, why did they never say something about it in a film? Name me ONE film that depicts the Novus Ordo Mass as something to be concerned about, or that discusses it at all. Show me one picture of a "Catholic" film director going into a church.
I've always found it fascinating how the Church is portrayed in post-VII films as being PRE-VII. A good example would be The Exorcist, directed by the Jєωιѕн William Friedkin. In The Exorcist, the priest is some old-school severe devil-hunter type, not an effeminate man spouting New Age platitudes. You never, ever see the Novus Ordo Mass in films. Literally, these films create an alternate reality where the Church is still in its heyday.
There is a conspiracy of silence going on, and it is no accident. Probably the ONLY reference to Vatican II and the Apostasy EVER in a film was a passing allusion in Scorsese's ultra-profane The Departed ( I saw it before I was baptized ), where a character says "We used to have the Church, that kept us together." But even that is wrong, since we still have the Church, it's just under siege.
The truth is not going to come from Jєωιѕн Hollywood, or from the communist-liberal French or Italian film industry. It's all liberal.
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I am very reluctant of television and movies. In many 'catholic' films there can be found subtle heretical propaganda undermining the truth of catholicism. It is also ridiculous how the clergy is usually depicted as the 'big, mean authority' spoiling all the 'fun'.
If it's mainstream, avoid it. That is my conviction.
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I picked up a lot of modern communist style propoganda in films of the 30's.
I researched and found this.
(please google "screenwriters from the thirties" and click on search results link:
Framework: a history of screenwriting in the American film)
I think we can find minimal intrusion in movies depicitng Catholic themes made prior to the sixties.
So, what happened to our list?
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Has anyone seen- "The Keys to the Kingdom" ?
Yes and we LOVE it. (that is if it's the Gregory Peck film)
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Christ is portrayed as having the charisma of a block of wood, he just stands there and lectures in a monotone.
The problem is that it's blasphemous and heretical.
Mel Gibson's Christ film, from what I have seen, has trashy Titanic-style hard-edged lighting and THX sound effects, which are totally inappropriate for the life of Christ.
St. Francis, also, is turned pretty much into Doctor Doolittle crossed with a hippie
:laugh1:
I don't like being a Raoul-fanboy, but wow you make it hard not to be. Mike, those are good commentaries.. LOL
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Literally, these films create an alternate reality where the Church is still in its heyday.
Amazing insight. I never really noticed this until you brought it up, but you are so right. The Church as depicted today in movies is like some ghost town of the West, with massive neon-lit storefronts on propped up by 2x4s and a PA system playing crowd murmurs and hustle-bustle sounds of a marketplace. Its all a farce.
Wow.
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
This 1928 version has close up, full screen nudity.
Yes it does. I saw it recently and it had a full-screen breastfeeding going on. Really oddly placed and weird. Like a dash of satanism in an otherwise holy-seeming movie.
Gross.
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"The Secret Conclave" (1952) with Henry Vidon as Pope St. Pius X
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The King of Kings from 1927 directed by Cecil B Demille the same director of The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston. A beautiful film to look at. Although some people may not like it as it is a silent film.
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The Gospel According to Matthew.
Just JOKING. I hate that commie crap film.
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
This 1928 version has close up, full screen nudity.
Yes it does. I saw it recently and it had a full-screen breastfeeding going on. Really oddly placed and weird. Like a dash of satanism in an otherwise holy-seeming movie.
Gross.
Oh that.
Now I remember. It was like "Whaat?" when the scene first came on but then I wondered if in 15th c. France in the villages, they did breast feed like that.
The movie was notable for facial closeups and I noticed the closeup of the baby's face as it abruptly stopped the most important activity of its life and turned towards the pyre, as if the baby was aware that a saint was being martyred.
By that time I had disregarded the b--b. :rolleyes:
But I guess it could have been a perversion.
:baby:
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of Joan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
This 1928 version has close up, full screen nudity.
Is it on the youtube?
I watched it on Turner Classic Movies and there wasn't that scene in it. A few weeks ago they showed four Joan of Arc movies in a row at TCM.
That's because all the nudity containing movies that are on TCM have had the nudity taken out before they air it.
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In the greater scheme of things, taking scandal from a breast-feeding episode seems a little too rigorous.
I would worry much more about being in the check-out line at the supermarket, going out in public when the weather is warm, watching television and cleavage in general.
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G'day
Has anyone seen The Greatest Story Ever Told from 1965. I can't find any information regarding it's compliance with the Catholic Faith.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I have seen it but it was a while back. I can't remember there being anything against the faith in it. It was pretty good as far as I remember.
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Has anyone seen- "The Keys to the Kingdom" ?
The movie starring Gregory Peck about a Catholic priest sent to China as a missionary? What a wonderful film and so spiritually uplifting. No profanity or any other objectionable material at all It's one of my favorites.
Another film I've always liked on a somewhat similar theme but technically not a Catholic movie is "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" starring Ingrid Bergman. It's the story of an Englishwoman who longs for nothing more than to go to China and work as a missionary but due to her lack of education she's unqualified. She manages to save up enough money and eventually makes her way to China where she operates an Inn. She becomes so successful that she ends up becoming the foot inspector (even after the practice was outlawed, many little girls were still subject to foot binding) and and advisor to the local Mandarin.
I would also highly recommend "The Prisoner" starring Alec Guiness. This film is loosely based on the ordeal suffered by Cardinal Mindszenty.
Another great film is the "The Scarlett and the Black" starring Gregory Peck. Some of you might not like it because it's based on a true story about and Irish priest who saved thousands of Jews and Allied POW's from the Germans in occupied Rome during WWII.
If you like foreign films you might like "Diary of a Country Priest (1950), and Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987), Rome, Open City (1945). I a huge fan of foreign films and one that has been rated the one of the best ever is Babette's Feast (1987). I realize that the whole theme of this movie is based on the eucharistic celebration but I found it to be insufferably boring. If you like watching a bunch of people sitting around a dining table partaking in a sumptuous feast, this film is for you.
Unless I missed it, I'm surprised no one mentioned "Becket" based on the martydom of St. Thomas a' Beckett.
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I think this might be okay
"The Passion of J
oan of Arc" 1928 can be watched on youtube in 8 parts.
"Joan of Arc" 1958 with Ingrind Bergman
I am curious if the made for TV movie about Joan of Arc is appropriate.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178145/
"The Robe" 1953
"The Trouble With Angels" 1966 with Hayley Mills
"The Passion..." was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, arguably one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. A high Lutheran he directed many religious themes films. "Ordet" and "Day of Wrath" are two other in his canon. He was working on a life of Our Lord to be shot in the Mideast when he died in 1968. I believe he was one of many non-Catholic intellectuals to sign a petition asking Montini and the Vaticanistas not to throw away the Church's (and the West's) patrimony by altering her liturgy. We know how well that turned out (sigh).
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Satan Never Sleeps (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056447/) is pretty good. It stars William Holden as a Catholic priest in Communist China.
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Movie: the Scarlet and the Black: with Gregory Peck