We will be using film to articulate theories and ideas. Share your reaction on the movies we watch in class. Elaborate on important themes and dialogues on your comments.
Here is a list of movies I recommend. Some you may have already seen, but as you learn new religion concepts it is worth going back to them and interpret and analyze them with a new mind frame. These movies are just recommended and will not be displayed in class.
•Triumph of the Will (1935)
•The Eternal Jew (1940)
•Brief Encounter (1945)
•The Fall of Berlin (1950)
•The Searchers (1956)
•West Side Story (1961)
•The Sound of Music (1965)
•Loves of a Blonde (1965)
•Seconds (1966)
•The Firemen’s Ball (1967)
•Oratorio for Prague (1968)
•If…. (1969)
•MASH (1970)
•Zabriskie Point (1970)
•Cabaret (1972)
•A Clockwork Orange (1971)
•Jaws (1975)
•Taxi Driver (1976)
•Brazil (1985)
•Full Metal Jacket (1987)
•The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
•They Live (1988)
•Titanic (1997)
•I Am Legend (2007)
•The Dark Knight (2008)
•Possessed (1931)
•Monkey Business (1931)
•Frankenstein (1931)
•City Lights (1931)
•Duck Soup (1933)
•The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
•Pluto’s Judgement Day (1935)
•The Wizard of Oz (1939)
•The Great Dictator (1940)
•Saboteur (1942)
•Dead of Night (1945)
•The Red Shoes (1948)
•Kubanskie Kazaki (1949)
•Alice in Wonderland (1951)
•Rear Window (1954)
•To Catch a Thief (1955)
•The Ten Commandments (1956)
•Vertigo (1958)
•Ivan the Terrible: Part II (1958)
•North by Northwest (1959)
•Psycho (1960)
•The Birds (1963)
•Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
•Persona (1966)
•Solaris (1972)
•The Exorcist (1973)
•The Conversation (1974)
•Alien (1979)
•Stalker (1979)
•Dune (1984)
•Blue Velvet (1986)
•Wild at Heart (1990)
•Three Colors: Blue (1993)
•Lost Highway (1997)
•Alien Resurrection (1997)
•The Matrix (1999)
•Fight Club (1999)
•Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
•Mulholland Drive (2001)
•The Piano Teacher (2001)
•In the Cut (2003)
•Dogville (2003)
•Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Documentaries
The Long Search – Buddhism
The Buddhist Path – Buddhism
What you didn't learn in religion class 
I thought that Bury My Heart At Broken Knee was a good movie. I found it to be interesting that the father of the kid, that became the doctor, found jesus in prison. Everyone turns to christ when they get locked up, I guess it’s because when your locked up you have this sense of hopelessness. Like everything just sucks, and christ gives them hope, I guess. I think it is the dumbest thing. It’s like if christ loves you so much and he is forgiving then why in the hell are you still in jail. I guess at that time converting to jesus made you more accepted in that society. I think it was more to do with conforming to the white mans society and a part of that is changing your religion
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I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, I have actually seen it before with my father! I think that the transition from being viewed as a Native American towards being views as an “American” was a large change for every single Indian.
Changing the Indian name towards a white persons name is very important in an Americans view point because it symbolizes that power Americans have over the Indians, and their path of conforming to American ways. Americans at that time wanted to be in control of everything and everyone who weren’t themselves, so when the Native Americans began to corporate it was a sign of them winning. The name had to be from the bible to symbolize the purity of their new name, and to honor the White persons god, to basically show they are giving up their old ways as Indians. Once they choose their name, they also choose a new Religion. Charles was at a young and influential age where he knew it wasn’t right to switch names, but if he wanted to be someone in this new world, he had too. He just felt wrong due to being forced by his father to leave his beloved life and join this new “White dominated” life. Overall It was a powerful movie with a beautiful meaning behind it. I enjoyed Charles and Sitting Bulls journey through their transition into a “white mans world”.
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I’ve enjoyed watching “Black Robe” because its a real eye opener on how the Europeans came into the new world and try to take control over the Indians. One important aspect in a persons life is what they believe in and when the Europeans attempted to convert the indigenous people to Christianity they didn’t want to accept. Every person has their own perspective of life, just like the natives had their own. Daniel would question Father Laforgue about his beliefs. He started to question religion, while Father Laforgue wouldn’t question his beliefs. He believed that the natives had to be converted in order for them to go to heaven. Father Laforgue wanted to civilize the natives by teaching them how to write, and teaching them how to question and plan things. The natives ways of living were for the moment, and that didn’t do well for Father Laforgue.
This was another way that the Europeans encouraged the natives to change their ways but it wasn’t an easy transition. the natives weren’t born into the same civilization as the Europeans were. The indigenous people encountered various obstacles in their lives in order to survive in the wild which brought upon their ways of thinking. Overall it was a beautiful movie because you see these two worlds colliding, the “white mans world” vs “the natives”.
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I personally enjoyed watching the black robe because I was fascinated to see what an impact the Europeans had on the natives. At first I was a bit confused but as the story progressed I began to sympathize with the Native Americans because as seen in the movie, their lives weren’t easy. Had the Europeans not came in to the picture the natives lives would have never developed. I for one learned more about Christianity while watching this movie. Prior to watching the movie I wasn’t fully aware of the history nor the dramatic impact the Europeans had. I would definitely recommend this movie and encourage people to watch it. I know I learned a lot from it and hopefully others will too!
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This movie is very intriguing, in how the author is able to put different perspective and ideas within the characters. Father Lafourgue, a priest- is going on a journey were he wants to convert indians to the religion of christianity. Daniel, another character embarks on this journey with Lafourgue because he “wants some adventure” but during this journey many things start becoming clear to him. To Lafourgue the idea that indians believe in afterlife is very ignorant, little does he know that for him to think that is very ignorant itself. It is made clear that Daniel has is a more open minded person, stating ” is it any harder to believe than a paradise where we all sit in clouds and look at god” . Lafourgue and Daniel part ways; Lafourgue ends up reaching the Heron and convincing him and some of his people that if they turn into christianity, they will be able to pray to end diseases and death, in the end the Heron and the people end up slaughtered because of the fact that they turn into christianity. ‘The new world” is sacralized with the idea that there is a god, “Christianity” and that within that power of god, one is able to do anything as long as prayers are made.
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The movie really tied into the concepts of Imago and Axis mundi we discussed in class. The colonists really try to bring “order” (their religion) in the chaos that they consider the life of Native Americans. They consider them profane space and are trying to sacraliza it.
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The movie was a really good. The french wanted to sacralize the new world by the addition of priests who acted as axis mundis to the new world. You learn to emphasize with the natives who are seen as “savages” by the French. The french colonials felt they needed to in a way civilize the natives by converting them to Christianity. Father Lafourgue was a catholic priest who wanted to convert the Indians to Catholicism by teaching them to read and write and Daniel was another main protagonist who wanted to embark on the journey of the new world for an adventure. Father Larfourgue had an ethnocentric view of religion and deemed Christianity to be the true religion and viewed the native’s idea of an afterlife to be egotistical. Daniel questions Lafourgue’s beliefs and ultimately his own. This movie is really good and teaches the audience the hardships native Americans faced when encountering colonials and how they were forced to changed.
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I found that “Black Robe” was a movie very rich in historical content. Not only does it evoke the feeling of heroism from the group embarking on the mission, especially Father Laforgue but it also contains scenes of great brutality. It’s exemplary in showing the truth, malignancy, and sadness that goes on when different religions clash.
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Luther was a very interesting movie. One can tell how most of its content favors the Lutheran church since the movie is written by Lutherans. I can definitely see a brake in history. No body had been able to ask or question church’s authority with out being penalized or punished. Luther was a very smart guy who was able to bend people’s point of view when it came to the way they were living. I found particularly special how he makes fun of indulgences, symbols or relics; it shows how aware he was of the situation in the current church. He saw corruption and lack of direction from the Christian church which made him step out and bring his ideas to the entire German community.
The most problematic issue at that time was to make people understand how some behaviors or actions they were doing did not have any meaning for God, as Luther thought. He was not only a priest, he was a revolutionary who like any other did right and very humanitarian actions as well as deplorable decisions and positions agains his own people.
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God on Trial:
I found this movie quite honest. Extreme situations will always take us to the most unknown places of our own perception. Probably we have always wondered why are we here and which is the reason why we must suffer, have calamities, endure pain, deal with hard and difficult feelings, and more than likely we have no other answer more than that is the substance of life when is combined with beautiful experiences. The fact we do not understand the nature of humanity makes us delegate the actions of the present to a deity. Being deep thinkers by nature, humans will never be satisfied with any answer that is not concrete; maybe that is why is so hard to believe that there is something different from us that governs us. I must accept that believing and having faith for something we do not know is quite beautiful at the same time being vulnerable. Faith is everything we need to keep going through the journey.
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God on Trial:
I liked this movie because often times people do try to challenge God, and this is a very clear representation of it. When in a touch situation we often think we can judge who God is and decide for whether or not the things that happen in our daily lives are because of him or just life itself taking course. Because we cannot actually see God we tend to doubt his power and what he can really do.
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