The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Films(and Ten Spiritually Literate Foreign Language Films)
(and Ten More Spiritually Literate Films)
Reviewed by by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Films can be appreciated on a number of levels. Some people look for
production values — the quality of the acting, directing,
cinematography, special effects, or writing. We're partial to the
latter, we admit, and especially to those stories that reveal us to
ourselves, showing us the whole range of human possibilities. We like
movies even better when they shed light on the spiritual practices,
such as hospitality, questing, or transformation, that help us discover
the meaning and purpose of life. On that score, here are the best of
2000.
The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Films
GRACE The Legend of Bagger Vance
(DreamWorks) focuses on the mythical journey of a golfer, battered by
war and personal tragedy, who must give up his depression, confront his
demons, cope with his fears, and learn to trust his inner voice. A
spiritual guide, the personification of grace, helps this young man
discover his authentic self.
HOPE
Cast Away
(20th Century Fox) follows the adventures of a time-obsessed FedEx
systems engineer who is stranded on an uninhabited South Pacific Island
for four years. Hope is the faculty that keeps his soul alive and
enables him to give up the illusion of control and open up to the
mysteries of the present moment.
HOSPITALITYChocolat
(Miramax) is a charming comic fable about a free-spirited woman who
brings life and vitality to a repressive and stultifying small French
community. This buoyant drama challenges us to love diversity and
respect the differences we find in one another.
MYSTERY
Unbreakable (Touchstone) deals with the inner transformation of a sad and confused
man who is blind to his own powerful, exceptional, giving, and loving
self. Within each of us a unique and glorious being awaits awakening.
Here the one who compels the protagonist to consider the mystery of his
goodness is another wayward soul.
QUESTING
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Touchstone/Universal) is a zany and hilarious bluegrass version of Homer's
Odyssey
set in the South during the Depression. Three escaped convicts go in
search of one treasure and find another they didn't expect. The movie
is a wonderful conglomeration of comic bits, American folklore,
religious rituals, political satire, and cinematic tributes.
SHADOWGladiator
(DreamWorks) is a spectacular action drama that brings us face to face
with our own blood lust. Through a series of engaging and interesting
characters — from an admired warrior to an envious son — we are forced
to square off with the powerful emotions that animate the best and the
worst in us.
TEACHERSSpring Forward
(IFC Films) revolves around the unlikely friendship between an ex-con
who has just been hired by the parks department of a New England town
and his partner, an older man just a year away from retirement. These
two turn out to be lifelines to each other, sharing what they know
about the most important things in life.
TRANSFORMATIONNurse Betty
(USA Films) is an inventive comedy about the surprising ways in which a
person can be transformed. In this case, a waitress and avid soap opera
fan is severely traumatized and set on a new path that completely
uproots and changes her life.
YEARNINGBilly Elliot
(Universal) tells the inspiring story of an eleven-year-old boy from an
English mining community who uses ballet as an outlet for all the mixed
feelings of anger, loss, and rebellion stirring in his adolescent soul.
Heeding the advice of his deceased mother — to always be himself — he
turns all his yearning into a passionate commitment to dance.
Eventually even his conservative father comes to see that this is
Billy's way out of the mines and into a bright future.
YOUErin Brockovich
(Universal) explores the idea of calling and vocation in the true story
of a brash young woman who finds her chance to make a difference in the
world. She champions the cause of a community suffering from the
poisoning of their water supply by a gas and electric plant. Here is a
film about a person who learns the words to her own song and winds up
singing from the bottom of her heart.
The breadth and depth of this year's releases has compelled us to
stretch our best list by putting the foreign language films into a
separate category. We don't mean to imply that these movies are any
less wonderful that those described above.
In addition, special mention must go to The Decalogue,
ten one-hour stories originally created for Polish television by
director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Finally available in the United States
on video, these modern stories inspired by the Ten Commandments were
truly one of the high points of 2000.
Ten Spiritually Literate Foreign Language Films
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Color of Paradise (Sony Pictures Classics/Columbia TriStar)
Girl on the Bridge (Paramount Classics
Human Resources (Shooting Gallery)
It All Starts Today (Independent Artists Group)
Not One Less (Sony Pictures Classics/Columbia TriStar)
A Time for Drunken Horses (Shooting Gallery)
Titanic Town (Shooting Gallery)
The Wind Will Carry Us (New Yorker Films)
Yi Yi (A One and a Two) (WinStar)
Ten More Spiritually Literate Films
Chicken Run (DreamWorks)
Finding Forrester (Columbia)
George Washington (Cowboy)
Keeping the Faith (Touchstone/Buena Vista)
Pay It Forward (Warner Bros.)
State and Main (Fine Line)
The Tao of Steve (Sony Pictures Classics)
Traffic (USA Films)
Two Family House (Lions Gate)
You Can Count on Me (Paramount Classics)
Reviews copyright 1998 - 2007 by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SpiritualityandPractice.com.
