Movies/Scenes Representing Transformation

• The Shipping News (2001)
  • Great movie on transformation, resurrection, clinging to the past, resisting transformation . . .Main character has experience of "drowning" in childhood with uncaring father that effects his life, is able to find new life in new place, is able to see how the past gets "drug" into everything and finally how to break free of that past. Great moive on so many themes. I plan to buy it for my collection. Watch it! (Rebecca Herring)
• A Beautiful Mind (2001)
  • One of the last scenes when the Nobel prize committee rep takes John to tea. John is transformed from a paranoid-schizophrenic working in relative obscurity to an honored, noticed man. "The pens" are offered by his Princeton colleagues. (Bil Shappell)
• Shrek (2001)
  • The princess is transformed into her True Self - not necessarily beautiful in the eyes of the "world", but beautiful in a more important reality.
• Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
  • At the beginning of the movie, Ethan Hunt is climbing a mountain. At one point, he hangs facing out from the cliff face, arms spread as though he were being crucified. He makes it to the top of the mountain, and stands looking out in a moment of exhilaration. Almost immediately, he is presented with the latest impossible mission, which will send him out to potential rejection and death -- "the secretary will disavow all knowledge..." (FUMC, Natchitoches, LA)
• The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
  • "The Emperor's New Groove" (Disney, 2000; rated G) is about a self-centered emperor who is transformed into a llama . . . and, in his search to become human again, learns some lessons about humility and love along the way. Whether the folks at Disney knew it or not, the plot is remarkably similar to the story told about King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:28-37, in which Nebuchadnezzar -- so pleased with his accomplishments as ruler of "magnificent Babylon" -- learns a lesson in humility at God's hands, as his madness forces him to eat "grass like oxen." When Nebuchadnezzar is restored, he praises God.
• Chocolat (2000)
  • This movie takes place in a small town in France in 1959. The town has always expressed their community life using the word “tranquilite” (tranquility). You knew what was expected of you, you knew what your place was. And if you happened to forget, someone would remind you. They trusted the wisdom of ages past, lived with the values of tradition, family, and morality. Into this town comes Vianne, played by Juliette Binoche. She does not go to church, has a daughter without a father present, and has the gall to open a chocolaterie right in the middle of Lent! As she opens and conducts her business, it becomes clear that she is anything but traditional. Vianne does nothing by the book. She does nothing out of obligation, but everything out of love. It is her encouragement that brings Josephine out of her abusive marriage. It is her encouragement that brings Armande together with her grandson. It is her encouragement that brings a widow of 30-some-years out of mourning and into a new relationship. The town is transformed by her chocolaterie and her grace. (Carla Thompson Powell, Livonia, MI)
• Mystery Men (1999)
  • Invisible Boy claims to become invisible when no one, including himself, is watching. How can he know this? He just feels invisible. The test comes when his group of dubious superheroes must bypass electronic "seeing eyes" in order to enter a supervillain's fortress. Everyone closes their eyes as Invisible Boy takes off his clothes and maneuvers through the electronic surveillance area. If he isn't really invisible, the fortress' defense system will kill him. He makes it through, disables the defenses, and shouts that he did it. When his teammates opens their eyes, he immediately becomes visible again. One of them says, "Maybe you should put some shorts on or something, if you wanna keep fighting evil today." (David K. Miller)
  • Roy is a pussycat who wants to be considered dangerous. Calling himself Mr. Furious, he allies himself with a bunch of misfits also claiming to have superpowers. Never quite mustering enough fury to do anything more than to key a car or break off its hood ornament. When the woman he has fallen in love with is in danger, though, he truly transforms into Mr. Furious.
    Mr. Furious: Rage... taking over...
    Casanova Frankenstein: Yes, yes, we've heard that before.
    Mr. Furious: No. Rage... REALLY taking over...
    (David K. Miller)
• Jesus' Son (1999)
  • The movie "Jesus' son" (1999) is a good example of transformation. In the movie the lead character experience a moment in which his whole life is transformed. (Johannes)
• Matrix (1999)
  • A rather literal transformation: "Neo (New) is literally reborn, sprung from his womb in the Power Plant, sent down a channel and plunged into the water.  He is then plucked up by the rebels, rising towards a light of the hovercraft's interior.   He is awakened from a dream.  Of course the name of the hovercraft is Nebuchadnezzar who, in Daniel, asked for his dreams to be analyzed." (Mike Clark, Hamilton, Canada)
• Men in Black (1997)
  • The final scene from "Men In Black" was helpful in a communion sermon on remembering and forgetting.  Sometimes a "neurolizer" would be very helpful as we seek to put painful memories behind us so we can move on in life in healthy ways. (Holly Boardman)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
  • After Buffy has gotten in to her new calling, there is a scene where her girlfriends confront her.  "You've changed."  They are still focused on the Senior Dance and on the Mall.  Buffy is a new person now, though, and her former life seems trivial to her now.  Illustrates how, when we respond to the call of discipleship, our old world, and often friends and family, do not understand, and cannot relate to the new persons we have become. (Paul Wiberg)
• City Slickers (1991)
  • Early in the film, Billy Crystal's character is getting outfitted for the cattle drive, but can't find a real cowboy hat that suits him. He ends up just wearing his same old baseball cap. When Curly, the old-time cowboy, dies, Billy Crystal's character wears Curly's hat away from the gravesite -- it is a transformative moment for him as he becomes the leader of the group and gains understanding of the meaning of his life. (Amy Parker, Charleston, West Virginia)
• Dances With Wolves (1990)
  • Lt. John J. Dunbar is "converted/transformed" into Dances With Wolves by learning a new language, learning new stories, and learning to tell his story in a new way.  This is very much how Jesus trained the first disciples and how today's disciples are most fruitfully  transformed.   The Gospel story is the story that claimed us before we knew we didn't have a story. (paraphrased from Dr. Stanley Hauerwas by Jon/Holly Stouffer)
• 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." (Guido Climer)
• After Hours (1985)
  • The film After Hours by Martin Scorcese ends with the hero breaking out of a plaster shell that he has been encased in to escape his tormentors.  The movie involves a long strange evening in the life of a quiet office worker.  Highly reccommended. (Mike Clark, Hamilton Canada)
• The Breakfast Club (1985)
  • I would suggest  "The Breakfast Club" for discussion about Transformation and the Body of Christ.  All five of these teenagers start the day off looking at the world through their own personal filters.  By the end of the movie they are transformed to realise that they are all one and the same. (Emily Young)
• Altered States (1980)
• Superman (1978)
  • Clark Kent becomes Superman - reveals his "True Identity" (Transfiguration?)
• Taxi Driver (1976)
  • Travis Bickel's progressively odd appearance as he transforms into a vengeful killer.
• The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
  • A very early Robert Young film about disfigured war veteran and a very Plain Jane who keeps house for him in an old cottage. Neither thinks much of the other to begin with, but they fall in love, and those who see them later see them as lovely. They see each other and themselves as lovely, too. (Leslie Gregory, Crane, TX)

Index of Movie Titles

Index of Movie Themes