A Brief Pass at Several Movies You May Have Overlooked

As I was going over the roster of movies we saw this past year, I came across several that you may have overlooked or that at least my friends chose not to see. So, here goes a brief synopsis of each with a “cinematheology” perspective on them.

Hannah Arendt: Okay for you action movie lovers, a word of caution: This will probably be the most “boring” movie you’ve watched in quite sometime. But what it lacks in “action” it makes up for in deep philosophical debate and controversy. Arendt was an early 20th century philosopher, born into a secular family of German Jews, who created the phrase “the banality of evil.” This idea means that evil is not necessarily dressed up in devilish horns and a proverbial pitchfork. There may be little problem with that generalization until one is applying it to the atrocities of Nazi Germany and to Adolf Eichmann specifically. This movie is based on Arendt’s coverage of the Eichmann trial for The New Yorker Magazine. Her observations and conclusions about the face of evil were hotly argued and ridiculed in her day and are sure worth a good discussion today. Not for everyone, but if you are looking for an intellectually stirring film about something as real as evil, Hannah Arendt is worth watching.

Rush: Okay, here’s one for those who measure a film’s greatness by its action. Well, you don’t get much faster pace than Formula One racing. Again, a true story of two competitors, stoic Austrian Niki Lauda and playboy Englishman James Hunt. More than two different styles of driving, the movie depicts two ways of approaching life. Hunt is all risk-taking, reckless and even undisciplined in his relationships, to the point of losing his marriage. Lauda on the other hand displays a precision, a careful calculation and discipline to all things driving and personal, even withdrawing from a key race because of the danger to him and potential anguish to his family. Here’s the rub, you (at least I did) find yourself cheering for Hunt, the reckless playboy and disliking Lauda the principled albeit pompous Austrian. All in all Director Ron Howard weaves us a good story about the illusion of fame and reality of mortality.

The Great Gatsby: I sort of remember reading the book in high school. And I faintly remember the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version of this film (we watched it again to compare it with this new movie, which I must say wasn’t Redford at his best). But what this latest rendition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story made me think of was the movie Moulin Rouge with more than a hint of Fellini. In Leonardo DiCaprio’s other big role of 2013 he plays Jay Gatsby a wealthy recluse who in wanting to win back his old flame Daisy, throws wild parties for the beautiful people of New York. These parties and the entire story are a clear depiction of the narcissism and spiritual emptiness of the roaring 20’s. Though there seems to be no collective conscience or moral pinning, this does not escape the all-seeing eyes of God. The billboard of the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg that overlooks the Valley of Ashes going into the city, was a reminder and a symbol of the judging and omniscient God who sees American society and its moral decay. We aren’t the only ones watching the moral demise and decadence of the day. In the end, no one escapes the watchful eye of God.