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Movies/Scenes
Representing
Spiritual Struggle/Fighting Inner Demons/Resisting Evil
- Signs (2002)
- Changing
Lanes (2002)
- Both men face the struggle to recognize what is right and
what is wrong, to care about the difference, and to choose to do the right
thing.
- Bedazzled
(2000)
- I recently watched the movie Bedazzled with
Brendan Frazier. The movie interested me with its theme of good verses evil
and Elliot's struggle to get what he sees as the perfect life. One scene
towards the end where Elliot is thrown in jail after arguing with the devil
over how many wishes he had already received interested me with the
appearance of one of Gods' angels while he is in jail, to encourage and give
Elliot some words of wisdom. Scene starts with Elliot's black cell mate
saying "They say she's a devil that lady cop." He goes on to explain
that Elliot's soul really belongs to God and he can't really give it away.
The scene ends with Elliot looking out the window of the jail thinking over
what has been said to him. The theme of the scene could be that we were
created by God, are chosen by God and we belong to God. (Neal
Shaw)
- The Perfect Storm (2000)
- The Cell (2000)
- I have watched this movie twice and am struck by the
redemption theme and the symbolism of the water,
particularly the baptism. The J. Lopez character
seems to take on the persona of the Virgin. Also there is the
implied suggestion at one point that perhaps the FBI agent was
himself an abused child who resisted the
temptation to turn to evil. (Pam Brewer)
- Bless the Child (2000)
- From the producer of "The Omen" (Mace
Neufeld), this film has good and evil battle in a way unique to most
movies of this genre: while evil gets in its punches, good fights back
with equal and eventually superior power. A small girl with uniqie
spiritual gifts, being raised by an aunt who has lost touch with the
faith of her own childhood, is the focus of the film. The scriptural
scene of Christ's Temptation is replayed with a most interesting twist.
Scenes centered on Good Samaritans abound in the film. (Best Good
Samaritan scene: the satanic cult's leader, in the Temptation scene,
tells the girl to jump off a tall building, to prove God is really there
to save her-- with the assertion of Satan being there, and God being
"just a nice idea." The girl eventually turns away from the
ledge, sits, and says to the satanist: "After you." Next
scene, the girl is being liberated from the satanic cult, and they are
running into the subway. The train's doors are closing, and it looks
like they'll miss the train and be caught by the satanists. At the last
second, an umbrella pokes into the train's door, causing it to re-open.
The umbrella's holder, a woman, looks at the child, smiles, and says
"After you." I can find a hundred homilies in that 10 minutes
of film.) (Jack Everman)
- Remember the Titans
(2000)
- The Hurricane
(1999)
- Hurricane Carter's self-disciplined, determined side
fights with his violent, self-destructive side.
- The
Cider House Rules (1999)
- 'The Cider House Rules' by Lasse Hallström is about the
question, if the rules that God made can be lived up to (answer: no), and
how man can understand himself locked between what he ought to do und what
the situation demands to do. (Dr. Matthias Walter)
- Magnolia
(1999)
- Haunted by their pasts, various
characters struggle between hope and despair.
- Music of the Heart
(1999)
- In preparation for one of the number the students will
play at the Spring Concert Roberta tells her class that they will
"hold-it, hold-it, the audience will be dieing for this next note
but they will have to wait, and wait, and wait for it." At the
concert the kids hold the pause, the audience becomes very nervous, then
the ending is played and the audience takes a great sigh. Application:
When have you felt like you are in a great pause and did not know what
to do? (Richard Reese)
- Dark City (1998)
- John's battle with The Strangers is also a battle
within himself. (see review at Hollywood
Jesus)
- The Stand (1994)
- "Satan" visits during Mother Abigail's prayer (DVD pt 2, ch 7)
- The Fisher King
(1991)
- Parry and Jack are each paralyzed from their struggle
with the "demons" inside of them - Parry with the Red Dragon
symbolizing his wife's death, Jack with the guilt from having been part
of the circumstances surrounding that death.
- "I just want to pay the fine and go home". The character
is tired of trying to
work out his salvation. (Craig & Jo Jorgensen)
- Romero (1989)
- The whole movie is about ArchBishop Oscar
Romero who is martyr. You can add that it is about Transformation,
because Romero is transformed by his encounter with the poor. The
most powerful scene in the movie is one about the spiritual battle
between good and evil. "Romero goes to the village that is
under martial law. He enters the church that has been transformed
into the barracks to get the eucharist where he is beaten by the
soldiers. He returns to confront the soldiers and the power of
good seen in the poor of El Salvador overcomes the soldiers, the forces
of evil." (submitted by Guido Climer)
- Return
of the Jedi (1983)
- Superman III
(1983)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- The demon uses the weaknesses of the priests to turn
them against themselves and make them less able to fight the evil
attacking Regan.
- The Sting (1973)
-
I think the movie The Sting relates to the
Genesis text (ch. 32, August 4) about Jacob wrestling the angel. All his life Jacob has schemed and connived
his way to success only not only to be outwitted by his uncle, and also
by his deceiving wife (who did steal the family idols), but also by Esau
(who has the best of it by far in Jacob's mind when Jacob comes crawling
home), and ultimately by God in personal representation-- who tells him
he has achieved success prevailing against God when the truth is with
his hip out of joint he now stands no chance at all of defending himself
against Esau and MUST rely on God instead of himself at this latest
juncture in his life, into which he must go knowing he deserves Esau's
worst. It is like how in the film The Sting
the way that revenge is gained, as I recall the film, is by convincing the
villain that he will be aiding himself when in actuality he will be ruining
himself. Jacob has tried to aid himself all his life
long toward God's promised destination and each time it has blown up in
his face. And this time God teaches him that God is the blesser, and he
is the recipient, the way he was supposed to live all his life, not
maniacally stealing deceiving plotting and conniving, but living in
simple faith hope and trust. (Steve Allen)
- The Night of the Hunter
(1955)
- Harry Powell's sermon about the struggle between
"love" and "hate" as he uses the object lesson of
his hands - knuckles tattooed with "love" and "hate"
- On the Waterfront
(1954)
Index of Movie Titles
Index of Movie Themes
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