Posted by: @coracle

Funny, isn't it? Yet I don't think of it as a children's story at all, but the songs in the Disney animation made it a bit more accessible. There are several elements that are very much adult material, including abuse of the poor, misuse of the girl, and the dehumanisation of the title character.

I know, right? The Hunchback of Notre Dame was probably the last thing you expected to come from the Mouse House. While it's not necessarily going after the church, it does touch on mature themes like good and evil, religion, prejudice, genocide, oppression, and even lust.

So a movie like that, while it's beautiful, as a kid, the content is kind of over your head.

I remember watching a children's animated series called Storykeepers when I was a kid. It's about the early Christians in Rome during the year of the great fire ("While Rome burns, Nero fiddles"). The Christians would meet in secret meeting places, including catacombs, to share about Jesus. They also have the mission to keep the story of Jesus alive.

I actually have a vague memory of when I was in 4th grade, on Wednesday night at church, our 4th and 5th grade class was studying Revelation. We also watched a movie Left Behind (the 2000 with Kirk Cameron). Even though I won't get into the theological aspect, while it is well done cinematically, it is almost uneasy to watch at times.

It was not until during lock down with the covid that I actually read through the Left Behind series. So I almost feel bad about watching the movie before actually reading the book.

I have seen Ben Hur, & the Ten Commandments, and believe that Cecil B De Mills produced both of these colour films. Some others, like Quo Vadis, I think I might have seen on TV, but missed others like The Robe. I remember having nightmares after seeing battle & siege scenes in "The Crusades", even though it was in black & white. The difficulty I find with such religious films, especially less famous productions picked up from remainder tables cheaply, than these early box office movies, is how the extras, & even the stars, move around far too solemnly, almost as if they are in a trance. I wonder why they can't move more naturally, strolling along, talking to each other as people normally do. What did you think about Mel Gibson's 2004 The Passion of the Christ? I found it a bit gruesome. 

I'm happier with documentaries that explain how events unfolded, which show the localities, & which reveal any historical or archaeological evidence for what has been asserted to be true. Whilst archaeology of the Middle East tends to be the Holy Grail of the science, continuous war & hostilities in these areas tends to make archaeology more difficult to pursue than in UK or in Australia. 

The Passion of the Christ is a really hard movie to watch, especially if you are religious. Though I will say it is actually close to accurate, especially in showing how badly Jesus was beaten.

I guess there could be debate about who portrayed Jesus the best in films and TV, because that's a really hard person to get right. I actually liked the way they did Him in Superbook from CBN: middle eastern with olive complexion, brown hair and eyes is what he would have most likely looked like and brings out the gentleness and anger in him (like when he's overturning the tables in the temple). Jesus is a very complex character.

Then of course, when it comes to religious films, it would all depend on what your definition of religion is. 

I'm not religious, per se, but I am interested in religions as phenomena, in why mankind has chosen to embrace these belief systems in so many cultures. I do like the occasional film or story that involves religion or faith. 

Posted by: @king-nain

I'm not religious, per se, but I am interested in religions as phenomena, in why mankind has chosen to embrace these belief systems in so many cultures. I do like the occasional film or story that involves religion or faith. 

I think there are religious and non-religious who enjoy religious films. The Passion of Christ was successful even among non-Christian audiences.

It's like that there are Christians and non-Christians who enjoy the Narnia series. I wouldn't consider the Narnia films to be religious, but I think the series has an impact on both Christian and non-Christian readers.

So I can kind of see that religious films could have an impact on both Christians and non-Christians.

I have no interest in The Passion of the Christ because I can't stand Mel Gibson. I quite liked Life of Brian, though. 😛 

Religious films can have an impact on both religious and non religious alike. Then of course, it would depend on what your definition of religious is.

Recently, there was a movie that came out called Jesus Revolution, which is about the "Jesus Movement" in the 1960's or 70's.

@jasmine_tarkheena I'm interested in this movie, because it's about a time when I was a young Christian, delighting in the enthusiasm of younger people for Christian faith. Some of the early CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) aka Jesus Movement music comes from former hippies and druggies .
(I know that the leading 'hippy' is the actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen, a good actor but rather older than the real person he is playing). 

@coracle 

It's also a take on the life of Greg Laurie, an evangelist here in the US. I actually did not know about Christian music coming from former hippies and druggies, though.

@jasmine_tarkheena yes, I think that's the one. The actor is over 40. The person was about 20 .

I also remember seeing One Night With The King at the cinemas. It's a take on Queen Esther, and it's very beautiful from a cinematic point of view. The setting of Susa, Persia, is beautiful. Plus, it does have some mature elements, though for the most part it is subtle. Though not Biblically accurate (which is the case for Hollywood).

@waggawerewolf27 

I watched both The Robe and Ben Hur again recently, and I still like them very much for the Easter season.  The acting in the films may have been a bit artificial, but the movies were well made with beautiful sets and the reverence which is not so common in today’s television and cinema. I really like the respect for religion that was present in the 1950’s, which unfortunately is not found as much in modern entertainment.  The classic movies are well worth watching for more than nostalgic reasons. 🙂

Do horror films count? There are quite a few religious horror films.