Going to the movies may not seem like religious action, but it’s one of the most common ways we experience spiritual insight. Film impacts how we interpret life, and its mechanical apparatus is uniquely suited to provide glimpses of the divine in the signs and symbols of the everyday. Like religion, film reflects what’s most important to a society, but reaches beyond institutional boundaries to visualize the transcendent in an enchanting, temporal way. Its dominance as a medium of meaning-making in our culture, its propensity to engage with questions fundamental to human experience, and its effect on spiritual resurgence make it an important subject of theological study.
This piece, featured in Pop Culture and Theology, is based on my conversation with Danny Anderson on Zoom. It's divided into a Part 1 and Part 2.
Andrei Tarkovsky
Stalker
1979