Faith and Film: A Guidebook for Leaders

by Edward N. McNulty

Overview

Growing numbers of church leaders are discovering that many films are able to impact viewers with gospel truths almost as well as a good sermon. Ed McNulty, a former pastor and longtime reviewer of films, offers this guide to help church leaders enter into dialogue with contemporary films. McNulty carefully crafts a theology of movies and then provides practical suggestions for creating and leading movie discussions with groups. In addition, he provides people from all across the theological spectrum with a framework to understand whether the overall message of a film outweighs concerns over profanity, violence, or sex in the film. He concludes by introducing twenty-seven films and including provocative questions about each that will prepare leaders to assemble and facilitate a group.

Popular films explored include The Color Purple; Crash; Hotel Rwanda; The Matrix; Million Dollar Baby; O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Shawshank Redemption.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664229504
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	01/31/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edward N. McNulty is the author of Praying the Movies and Praying the Movies II, both available from WJK. He is founder and editor of Visual Parables, a monthly review newsletter, and was coeditor of Real to Real, a film quarterly for youth.

Table of Contents

Looking for the Light of the World While Sitting in the Dark
Introduction: Developing a Theology of Seeing     1
What Has Jerusalem to Do with Hollywood?     5
Four Types of Films     26
More on Parable and Film     32
Help for Becoming Your Own Critic     52
Settings for a Film Discussion     64
Using the Guides in This Book     69
Movie Discussion Guides
American Beauty     75
Amistad     82
Babe: Pig in the City     96
Beyond the Sea     104
Chocolat     108
The Color Purple     114
Crash     118
Dogma     125
Erin Brockovich     133
Final Solution     137
The Grapes of Wrath     147
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone     157
Hotel Rwanda     162
The Insider     168
The Iron Giant     174
Les Miserables     178
The Matrix     186
Million Dollar Baby     192
O Brother, Where Art Thou?     197
Pieces of April     203
Road to Perdition     208
Shawshank Redemption     212
TheSpitfire Grill     217
Tender Mercies     224
The Thin Red Line     230
To End All Wars     239
Walking across Egypt     246
List of Films and Their DVD Distributors     253
Church and Theater     255
Notes     265
Bibliography     269