|
| |
Contact
(1997)
 | Information at Internet
Movie Database |
| Hollywood
Jesus visual review |
|
Looking Closer, review by Jeffrey Overstreet, "searching for truth, beauty
and meaning in the movies." |
|
Cinema in Focus, a
social and spiritual commentary by Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman. |
|
"Robert Zemeckis's
Contact as a Late-Twentieth Century Paradiso," Gregory M.
Sadlek, Journal of Religion and Film. |
| "Anti-feminism
in Recent Apocalyptic Film" by Joel W. Martin, Journal of
Religion and Film, 2000. |
|
Review,
Steve Lansingh, TheFilmForum:
Christian Conversation about the Movies. |
|
Review, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Health -
Spiritual Practices for Human Being. |
| Themes
 | Alternate Reality
 | Ellie is called to
experience an alternate reality (symbolized by her journey to the
other world and by her love with Joss and with her father) which she
cannot explain or prove. |
|
| Apocalyptic
| "...although we know earth is no longer
central, the visual magic of this shot suggests our home planet is
still very important. If for no other reason, this makes the shot
supportive of human meaning making and anthropomorphic affirmation
in the manner of classic apocalyptic." ("Anti-feminism
in Recent Apocalyptic Film" by Joel W. Martin, Journal
of Religion and Film, 2000.) |
| See "Armageddon
at the Millenial Dawn," Conrad Ostwalt, Journal of
Religion and Film, 2000. |
|
| Call
| Ellie's call to study and then to
experience the alternate reality. |
|
| Entry into Jerusalem/Palm Sunday
| Ellie is welcomed back from her "journey"
as a hero, but then becomes the object of an interrogative power
struggle to discover (and *own*) "what happened." |
|
| Faith
| raises serious
issues about faith in the midst of science’s quest for knowledge.
(submitted by Ellis I Washington, Columbus GA) |
|
| Father Figure
| Theodore Arroway as
Ellie's father - also a mediator figure used to show her new worlds. |
|
| Guilt
| Ellie is sure that
she killed her father because she didn't get him the right pills on
time. |
|
| Home
| Ellie's journey returns her home -
in all outward appearance she was never gone from there at all. Her
experience of journey brings her into a fuller appreciation of the
truths within her own home/heart. |
|
| Journey
| Ellie's journey
takes her miles and hours from home, and yet she cannot prove that
she has gone anywhere - from the outside it looks as if she has gone
no where. Like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," her journey
has been an inner journey about learning truths of love and
faith. |
|
| Seeing/Not Seeing
| The scene
where Dr. Arroway (Jodie Foster) is called to testify before the
congressional hearing reminds me of the scene where the Blind Man (well,
ex-Blind Man actually) is called to testify before the Pharisees. Whilst
there is an obvious difference in that the Blind Man could provide the
Pharisees with the sort of physical evidence that Dr. Arroway could not,
the interogators in both cases have made their minds up and are unwilling
to "see" the truth that is being presented to them. The 'truth' is not
always visible to the naked eye.
(Andrew Fox, Russell Street Uniting Church, Toowoomba, AU) |
| In the movie, she uses this
machine built by unknown alien plans. The
machine takes her on a journey that is very
powerful and real, the problem is that it
appears to the entire world that nothing happened. She is dismissed as
delusional, but it is as real to her as anything
she has ever experienced. Our walk with Christ
is the same. It has to be experienced. To those who have not experienced
it seems delusional, but for those who walk with
Christ it is real and true. (Steve
Richardson, First United Methodist Church of
Boyd) |
|
|
Index of Movie Titles
Index of Movie Themes
|
