 | Erin Brockovich (2000)
 | The movie is based on a true story.
Erin is a young woman with little education attempting to find a
job after six years at home with her children.
She worms her way into a job at a law office.
There she deals with what on its surface is a routine, pro bono,
real estate case; her curiosity exposes the reality of the case – a
toxic poisoning of a small town's ground water by the
power and light company. She
digs deeper and is moved by the stories of the people who have been
affected by the situation. Her
compassion, her love for these people drives her to seek justice.
Her means are uncouth and unschooled but she makes fools of those
the world sees as powerful and successful.
Through her passion she drives home the need for justice; turning
the tables of corporate power upside down. (submitted by Judson Baptist
Church) |
|
| Natural Born Killers
(1994)
| The prison riot - the prison "temple"
(society's place of sacrifice for their own safety) is exposed for what
it has become. Prisoners riot and put the head of the warden on a pole
in a sort of ultimate sacrifice. |
|
| Strictly Ballroom
(1992)
| Scott and Fran dare to improvise their dance steps at
the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Championships. |
|
| Jesus
of Montreal (1989)
| This is a film that is so rich it could
illustrate any number of themes: discipleship, temptation, redemption,
etc. Jesus of Montreal tells the story of an actor hired to help update
a parish's annual Passion Play. He gathers a group of actors around him
and in interesting ways the actors lives mirror the stories of
Jesus and his followers from the gospels. Memorable scenes for me
include the gathering of the actors (Jesus calling his disciples); the
actor destroying a television studio (Jesus destroys the temple); a
lawyer trying to get the actor to sign a contract (temptation in the
wilderness); and the dead actor's organs being donated so that others
can have life. (submitted by Rev. Maria Nightingale) |
|
| The
Color Purple
(1985)
| "All my life I had
to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to
fight my brothers. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men, but I
ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house! I loves Harpo.
God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me."
|
|
| Cool Hand Luke
(1967)
| "Conflict with the prison
establishment is inevitable and the last straw comes when Luke
encourages his fellow inmates to complete, with enthusiasm, the arduous
task of repaving a highway well before five o’clock. The road paving
episode is the equivalent of Jesus cursing the Jerusalem Temple. Luke is
seen as a dissident and the ruling authorities plot to humiliate
him." ("The
Messianic Figure in Film: Christology Beyond the Biblical Epic,"
Matthew Mc Ever, Journal of Religion and Film, 1998) |
|
