The modern film industry is created by people who for the most part consciously and principally put themselves outside of any framework of the traditional faith in God. The elements of religion in the cinema are most often presented in the form of emphasis on the other world or on the Creator's estrangement from the world of people. The ideology of cinema in every possible way tries to utilize the spiritual life, affirming the philosophical postulate "everything is in your hands." Therefore, one of the favorite motives of many films is the profanation of sacred buildings, objects and improper (from the point of view of religious people) treatment of Scripture, its individual texts. And heroes who embody traditional religiosity sometimes act as negative or dubious characters. Nevertheless, the priest / monk occasionally appears in the guise of a positive hero, but at the same time appears to be a helpless creature, both in the spiritual and in the earthly world. The exception is the film "Calvary", reviews of which are extremely controversial.
Important layer
A special, important layer in the perception of religion by a modern spectator is popular films shot specifically on biblical themes, including the Romanian drama of 1966 directed by Mircea Dragana. His “Calvary” is a film about which reviews are quite rare. And the picture itself has an extremely low rating. The fact is that the plot is a retelling of classical history, organized linearly, without any frills. Although the idea is so powerful in emotional and moral terms (it is a road movie in a metaphysical and literal sense), that all 88 minutes of timing look at one go.
The embodiment of your own vision
Religion is undoubtedly one of the strongest sources of inspiration. Some filmmakers capture and transfer their internal contradictions to the screen, while others try to construct their own postulates, while others are limited only to the realization of a personal vision of events known to everyone. Such an author is the French director Julien Duvivier, who presented the viewer in 1935 with the adventure drama “Calvary”. The film received reviews from critics of that era exclusively laudatory. The plot is known: it tells about the last days of Jesus. The director tried not to set emotional accents, but simply portrayed a factual outline, which gave the picture a certain shade of documentary. This approach seems justified. The author was guided by a wide audience, did not insist on his innocence at all and did not sing the hosannas in the film (which is very often found in films produced by Hollywood).
Feeling of God-givenness
The film "Golgotha" (2013) co-produced by Ireland and the UK is a real drama, although it was declared by the creators as a tragicomedy. This is the second directorial project of John Michael MacDon, after having a stunning success debut - “Once Upon a Time in Ireland”. John in a creative alliance with his older brother Martin McDonagh (“Seven Psychopaths,” “Bottom of Bruges”) shot an interesting film about the main character (performed by Brendan Gleeson), who embodied virtue in his person, and about the inhabitants of the Irish village, who represented its categorical opposite.
Irish roots
The film “Golgotha” received critical reviews from diametrically opposite, which was to be expected, because the topic is quite piquant. But many experts noted the Irish roots of the picture, which were clearly and expressively manifested in the work of the director. With characteristic national directness, the author claims that theistic religiosity remains the right to be not only a way of life, but also its meaning. The film “Golgotha” was called the reviews of some viewers by a real guide to the shores and streets of the northern island and a lively acquaintance with Ireland’s typical images and characters that preserve the specifics of morals, outlook on life, language, but fit into the international community.
Plot
A clumsy new week begins for Priest James, who is serving in a village church in a remote corner of Ireland. During the confession, one parishioner promises to kill him next Sunday. The potential killer remains unrecognized, although the voice to father James seems very familiar. Further, the film "Golgotha" acquires a touch of the detective genre. The priest cannot contact the police, as he must keep the secret of confession, so he begins to conduct his own investigation, for which he goes to all his citizens in turn in search of a lost soul.
Seven days of purification
Golgotha is a film whose reviews unanimously mark the originality of the beginning of history. This gave the director a brilliant chance to present the audience a true panopticon of strange, amazing, charismatic and eccentric, simultaneously recognizable types of people. Lost in attempts to determine the identity of his future murderer, the priest carefully looks at the inhabitants of the village, whom he thought he knew to be flaky, and understands that each and every wormhole is without exception. And seven days of trial of other people's sins become for Father James seven days of purification.
Paradox
Paradoxically, most of the reviews of the film claim that it is not religious at all, rather, on the contrary, it is extremely down to earth thanks to the fantastic cast. Admire the skill of Gleason can be infinitely long. The first episode in the confessional is magnificent. Shot in close-up, without editing, it shows a wide range of the actor, an endless kaleidoscope of mutually changing emotions. So for the sake of this scene, the film is worth watching. But father James is the tip of the iceberg. “Under the water” remain no less vivid, even if offended by fate, an auto mechanic who periodically beats his lover, a cynical doctor, a wonderful writer, fixated on the theme of death, two maniacs - the future and realized himself, spoiled and corrupt inspector. Each character is played in such a way that his image deserves a separate film. It is not easy at all to bring such a flock to God, even such a strong person as Shepherd James. In addition to the inimitable play of the actors, the essence of the director’s idea and the main rhetorical device are also impressive: a practically physically tangible divine presence emerges from the feeling of a complete God-delivered feeling.
Golgotha in Russian
For the first time, the Russian Calvary documentary project, a film by Felix Razumovsky, was presented to the audience at the international festival of Orthodox mass media under the speaking title Faith and the Word, which took place in 2014 in the Moscow Region. As a result of his work, winners in individual nominations were traditionally identified and named. Among them was a cycle of paintings by the outstanding Russian historian F. Razumovsky, who in each of the 12 episodes told a separate story about the feat of the new martyrs of the twentieth century. The project “Russian Calvary” (film 1) began with a kind of introduction to the entire cycle of subsequent programs dedicated to the persecution and persecution by the Bolshevik authorities of the Church of Christ, its ministers and faith.
After Calvary - The Resurrection
There is another masterpiece with the same name - a picture of the director and at the same time a true patriot of the Fatherland Viktor Yegorovich Ryzhko. His “Russian Golgotha” is a film, Orthodoxy was not in a hurry to leave reviews, in contrast to patriotic citizens. This documentary and feature film tells about the tragic fate of the last emperor of Russia. Work on the film required the creators of a huge expenditure of strength, courage and dedication. The work contained a small fraction of the huge number of studied sources, accumulations and archives, the revised old newsreel. At two hours of timekeeping, the creators managed to accommodate the quarter-century reign of Nicholas II - a tense, complex, fast-moving and conflicting episode of Russian history. Thanks to such an integral ideological approach, the viewer reveals the true meaning, cause-effect relationships and the logic of the history of the chaotic beginning of the twentieth century. The film simultaneously develops two storylines: the most important episodes of the reign of Nicholas II and the ministry and death of Christ. Such a daring comparison is the key to the scriptwriter's plan (he is also the director).