Spiritual Cinema
"Movies containing spiritual, metaphysical, conscious or similar messages or themes".
Simon Keyes explains the idea behind Spiritual Cinema.
It is the extraordinary power of cinema, high or low, serious and exploitative, to move and disturb us that we should celebrate and embrace in all its diversity. Films can fertilise our inner lives and provide a counter-balance to that compartmentalisation of our "religious" selves that Thomas Merton dubbed our "personal holiness project". The feelings and shadows that films (well, perhaps not quite every movie) incarnate in us give us privileged access to the world beyond our immediate experience. The sights and sounds of cinema can resonate in the realms of the unconscious and the archetypal like no other medium, and there is much for us to learn about ourselves in this experience.
Below is a list of "the best of" this genre...
The Elephant Man (Blu-ray) (1980)
8.2/10
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie J...
From the director of 'Eraserhead' and 'Dune', based on the true story of John Merrick, who suffered from a rare, physically distorting disease and was... Read more
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
6.7/10
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore
Inspired by real events, this is as much courtroom drama as supernatural chiller. It tells in flashback the tragic story of 'Emily Rose' (Jennifer Ca... Read more
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Blu-ray) (2005)
6.7/10
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore
Inspired by real events, this is as much courtroom drama as supernatural chiller. It tells in flashback the tragic story of 'Emily Rose' (Jennifer Ca... Read more
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)
7.4/10
Director: Lloyd Kramer
Starring: Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Daniels, Dagmara Dominczyk, Michael Imperioli
Mitch Albom ('Tuesdays With Morrie') wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his best-selling novel. Eddie (Jon Voight) is an elderly maintenanc... Read more
The Gospel According To St. Matthew (1964)
7.9/10
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Enrique Irazoqui, Susanna Pasolini, Mario Socrate
A totally original Italian version of the story of Christ, using only the words and scenes described by St Matthew. Director Pasolini, an avowed marxi... Read more
The Gospel of John (2003)
7.7/10
Director: Philip Saville
Starring: Henry Ian Cusick, Stuart Bunce, Christopher Plummer
In the spirit of 'The Passion of the Christ' comes this uplifting dramatization of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of his disciple John. Th... Read more
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1956)
6.6/10
Director: George Stevens
Starring: Max von Sydow, Charlton Heston, Carroll Baker
An all star cast highlights this glossy biblical epic about the life of Jesus. John Wayne is the Roman centurion overseeing Christ's crucifixion. Max... Read more
The Hiding Place (1975)
7.6/10
Director: James F Collier
Starring: Julie Harris, Jeannette Clift
The award-winning wartime drama, based on the real-life exploits of Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch woman who was sent to a Nazi concentration camp with her... Read more
The Kid (2000)
6.1/10
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin
As he approaches his 40th birthday, obnoxious image consultant Bruce Willis begins seeing a chubby 8 year-old boy wherever he goes - a boy that turns... Read more
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7.6/10
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie
One of the most controversial films of recent years, this adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel is essentially about the battle raging within Jesus w... Read more