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...
City of Angels (1998)
6.7/10
Director: Brad Silberling
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Dennis Franz, Andre Braugher
This Americanization of Wim Wenders' haunting 'Wings of Desire' stars Nicolas Cage as an angel who strives to become human after falling in love with... Read more
Mulan (1998)
7.6/10
Director: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft
Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Donny Osmond
The timeless Chinese folk tale of an heroic young woman who takes drastic measures to save her family and country is given exciting animated treatment... Read more
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
7/10
Director: Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells, Steve Hickner
Starring: Val Kilmer, Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Steve Ma...
A spectacular animated retelling of the story of Moses. The biggest star-studded voice cast ever assembled for an animated film includes Val Kilmer, R... Read more
What Dreams May Come (1998)
7/10
Director: Vincent Ward
Starring: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr, Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow
This stunning achievement in visual effects follows a man's literal journey through heaven and hell in an attempt to be reunited with his wife in the... Read more
After Life (1998)
7.7/10
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Naito Taketoshi, Oda Erika, Terajima Susumu, Naito Takashi, Tani Kei
Many films have offered insight into the unexplainable realm of the after life. In Kore-eda Hirokazu's ("Maborosi") thought-provoking vision, the newl... Read more
Pleasantville (1998)
7.5/10
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: J T Walsh, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, Reese Witherspoon, Tobey Maguire, William H...
A kind of "Wizard of Oz" in reverse as two 1990's teenagers become trapped in the golly-gee suburban fantasy world of a 1950's sitcom, where everythin... Read more
Kundun ( Blu-ray ) (1997)
7/10
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Gyurme Tethong, Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong
A beautifully crafted saga of the 14th Dalai Lama, from his childhood in Tibet to his exile following the Chinese takeover. A cast of non-professional... Read more
Contact ( Blu-ray ) (1997)
7.4/10
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Angela Bassett, James Woods, Jodie Foster, John Hurt, Matthew McConaughey, Tom S...
Radio astronomer Jodie Foster receives signals from outer space which, when decoded, offer plans for building a ship that could help her reach the sta... Read more
Contact (1997)
7.4/10
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Angela Bassett, James Woods, Jodie Foster, John Hurt, Matthew McConaughey, Tom S...
Radio astronomer Jodie Foster receives signals from outer space which, when decoded, offer plans for building a ship that could help her reach the sta... Read more
Seven Years In Tibet ( Blu-ray ) (1997)
7/10
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Starring: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, B D Wong, Mako
This grand historical adventure in Tibet is the story of Austrian mountain climber and Nazi party member, Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt), who after fleei... Read more