C. M.Paul
Darjeeling, July 14, 2020: A priest film critic has come up with a new book on 101 of his favorite movies entitled: Dear Movies.
The author is Australian Missionary of the Sacred Heart, Fr Peter Malone. He was the last president of OCIC and first president of Signis – a World Catholic Communications body at the dawn of the third millennium.
Fr Malone is author of several books on film and faith (Lights Camera… Faith! A Movie Lectionary, Cycle A-C; Film and Faith; Can Movies be a Moral Compass, Screen Jesus; Movie Christs and Anti Christs; and In Black and White and Color.
Fr. Malone reminds readers, “Jesus told stories. He entered into our ordinary lives and taught us something deeper: family inheritance, care for the battered, laborers looking for work, a widow pestering an unjust judge… We have always liked this kind of storytelling.”
“We look for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theater, in poetry and novels. What about, Lights…, Camera… Faith?” he asks, “How can the movies we enjoy contribute to our exploring values, gain insights into the spirituality of daily living and of more demanding challenges?”
The 20th century was the movie century. Then it had to make allowance for the screen in the home, television. Then video cassettes, DVDs, a greater availability of movies. And now, at the touch of a tip of the finger, we have more movies than we can watch, movies and series streaming, movies whenever we want them.
101 movies have been chosen and the author writes to them, begins a conversation with each of them, opening up some of their themes, their way of telling stories, their role as fables and parables.
The author also shares what each movie means to him – then this could mean something more to the reader, discovering their dear movies, whether the movie can be described as ‘art-house’ or as multiplex entertainment.
There has been a great tradition of Lectio Divina (Godly Spiritual reading) throughout the Christian centuries. Somebody coined the term Visio Divina (Godly Spiritual watching). This is what Dear Movies invites one to enter into.
The book is available with amazon.in