By Peter T. Chattaway

“IF WE really heard God’s voice, we would be reduced to juice, probably, because it would be like, ‘That was God!’ The vibration of his voice would reduce us to liquid. We couldn’t take it. So he has to use other people to speak his word.”

So says Andrae Crouch at the beginning of Rejoice and Shout (October 1, 6, 11), one of dozens of documentaries scheduled to play at the Vancouver International Film Festival this month. This particular film may be of special interest to Christian moviegoers, as it documents the rise of gospel music over the past century or two.

The film features interviews with the likes of Smokey Robinson (“I praise God every day of my life”) and music clips galore of such beautiful, compelling artists as Mahalia Jackson and the Blind Boys of Alabama. If Crouch is right – and of course, he is – then these voices may not be divine, exactly, but they surely point us in the right direction.

Another documentary, Plug & Pray (October 1, 8, 15), is not directly concerned with religious matters, per se, but it does explore what is happening to our notions of humanity and spirituality in a world that is increasingly obsessed with technology.

The film features interviews with several experts in artificial intelligence, including Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has already created a somewhat creepy android duplicate of himself, and Ray Kurzweil, who says it is our “destiny” to become hybrid technological organisms.

But the film’s heart and soul belong to Joseph Weizenbaum, a pioneering computer scientist who was in his 80s when the film was made, and who worries that the current obsession with technology is reducing human beings to just another kind of object.

Finally, I was able to see one dramatic film before this issue’s deadline: Of Love and Other Demons (October 1, 2, 3) is a Colombian film based on a novel by Gabriel García Márquez, about a teenaged girl who is bitten by a rabid dog and subjected to a form of exorcism, because one of the local priests believes rabies is a form of demonic possession.

As it happens, the priest assigned to her case is something of a rationalist who doubts that a demon is to blame. (At one point, one of his elders chastises him for thinking like a Jesuit.)

And it will come as no surprise to hear that certain passions get stirred between this celibate young man and the woman who has been entrusted to his care.

But it’s an interesting film just the same, with some nice atmospheric touches.

Other films that I have not seen yet, but I definitely intend to, include:

Continue article >>

Of Gods and Men (October 10, 12, 13), which tells the true story of seven Catholic monks who were martyred during the Algerian civil war;

Another Year (October 10, 11, 13), said by some to be the best film Mike Leigh has made since Secrets & Lies, which gets my vote for best film of the 1990s;

Waiting for Superman (October 4, 5), a documentary about the American public school system and how it is letting down the children who are raised within it;

Carlos (October 9, 11), a nearly six-hour dramatization of 1970s terrorist Carlos the Jackal;

Certified Copy (October 9, 11, 14), a made-in-art-movie-heaven teaming of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami and French actress Juliette Binoche;

The Illusionist (October 15), an animated film inspired by the late, great French comedian Jacques Tati.

Check viff.org for exact showtimes and tickets.

* * *

Two quick updates on movies in development with a Bible theme:

First, in April, I mentioned that David L. Cunningham was developing a 3D movie based on the early chapters of Genesis called In the Beginning. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s got another 3D Bible epic in the works, about the young David.

The film is called Day of War, and it will be based on the first in a series of novels written by Cliff Graham that Zondervan will start publishing next year. John Fusco, who wrote the horse-race movie Hidalgo, has been hired to write the screenplay.

Ironically, Cunningham, whose parents founded Youth With A Mission, made his directorial debut on a World War II movie called To End All Wars. 

But if all goes as planned, his newest ‘war’ will be just beginning; the proposed sequels to Day of War all have titles like Covenant of War, Song of War, Fires of War and Twilight of War.

Second, Legendary Pictures has hired a new director for its long-gestating adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. 

The film, which was previously being developed by writer Stuart Hazeldine and director Scott Derrickson, both of whom are openly Christian, is now in the hands of Alex Proyas, whose last film was the apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Knowing.

Variety says Milton’s epic poem “will be crafted as an action vehicle” depicting the war between archangels Michael and Lucifer, with scenes of “aerial warfare, possibly shot in 3D.”

– filmchatblog.blogspot.com

October 2010