Ron Reed celebrates a list of spiritually significant films
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Dekalog •
Krzysztof Kieslowski •
The Apostle
Film critic Ron Reed considers the Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films today at CT.
In a time when nearly the entire history of cinema is available through the web or at your local cinemaniac video store, and when so much of the cultural dialogue seems to center around the movies, a list like this provides a great starting place for an incredibly rich journey that combines entertainment and eternity for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.
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The folks at Arts & Faith, an online discussion group comprised of film critics—including Christianity Today Movies critics Jeffrey Overstreet, Peter T. Chattaway and myself—and other movie buffs have been carrying on a lively conversation about spirituality and film for years. Recently, the participants forged a terrifically diverse and intriguing list of 100 Spiritually Significant Films—an incomparable resource for anyone interested in exploring transcendent themes in the movies.
During our voting process, two films clearly rose to the top, tying for first place: Dekalog, a series of ten one-hour films created by Poland’s Krzysztof Kieslowski, dealing indirectly with the Ten Commandments, and Robert Duvall’s personal vision film, The Apostle. Arts & Faith had an in-depth discussion of Dekalog, a highly artistic and ethically complex series; in fact, the A&F board got started with a discussion of another series of films by Kieslowski, the Three Colors trilogy, which also found its way into the top 100.
Nicely done, Ron!