Art and Worship

“People ask what are my intentions with my films — my aims. It is a difficult and dangerous question, and I usually give an evasive answer: I try to tell the truth about the human condition, the truth as I see it. This answer seems to satisfy everyone, but it is not quite correct. I prefer to describe what I would like my aim to be. There is an old story of how the cathedral of Chartres was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Then thousands of people came from all points of the compass, like a giant procession of ants, and together they began to rebuild the cathedral on its old site. They worked until the building was completed — master builders, artists, labourers, clowns, noblemen, priests, burghers. But they all remained anonymous, and no one knows to this day who built the cathedral of Chartres.
Regardless of my own beliefs and my own doubts, which are unimportant in this connection, it is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and degenerating itself. In former days the artist remained unknown and his work was to the glory of God. He lived and died without being more or less important than other artisans; 'eternal values,' 'immortality' and 'masterpiece' were terms not applicable in his case. The ability to create was a gift. In such a world flourished invulnerable assurance and natural humility. Today the individual has become the highest form and the greatest bane of artistic creation.
The smallest wound or pain of the ego is examined under a microscope as if it were of eternal importance. The artist considers his isolation, his subjectivity, his individualism almost holy. Thus we finally gather in one large pen, where we stand and bleat about our loneliness without listening to each other and without realizing that we are smothering each other to death. The individualists stare into each other's eyes and yet deny the existence of each other.
We walk in circles, so limited by our own anxieties that we can no longer distinguish between true and false, between the gangster's whim and the purest ideal. Thus if I am asked what I would like the general purpose of my films to be, I would reply that I want to be one of the artists in the cathedral on the great plain. I want to make a dragon's head, an angel, a devil — or perhaps a saint — out of stone. It does not matter which; it is the sense of satisfaction that counts.
Regardless of whether I believe or not, whether I am a Christian or not, I would play my part in the collective building of the cathedral.” Ingmar Bergman

Modern Parables Interview

CBN did an interview with Modern Parables director and writer, Thomas Purifoy. Thomas talks through the purpose of the film series and how they bring the message of the parables to life in our own times.

Thomas is also offering free iTunes downloads of the six films for a limited time on his website. You can also purchase individual films as well.

Steinway Documentary

Film maker Ben Niles is screening his documentary Note by Note: The Making of the Steinway L1037. It's a look at the making of a specific Steinway 9 foot grand from the milling of the wood to its final form. The Boston Globe has a short review of the film.

Review of Modern Parables

I recently wrote a review for Reformation21 about Modern Parables, a series of short films and lessons. I am currently using these films in a Sunday School class and am having wonderful feedback as well as in-class discussion.

Watching Film

I love films. There are some movies that I enjoy, but I love films. The difference is not just in the content of the story, but how the story is told. Too often Christian reviews of film get stuck on the plot and then try to show how that agrees or disagrees with Scripture. The worldview of the narrative certainly matters, but how that worldview is expressed specifically through the medium of film also matters—and it matters greatly. A good filmmaker can tell you more through non-verbal expression than the actual dialogue can. To understand what the director is saying through his craft, you need to understand some basic elements of his tools—lighting, framing, camera angles, color, sound, symbolism, etc. The story is but one layer of the total expression.

A skilled director shows the audience what to think about a character by how they are presented on screen and in a manner that is often absorbed subconsciously. As the characters are thus presented, the story itself gains levels of meaning and symbolism well beyond the actual words spoken. Film is a specific art and it tells a story in a unique manner. The story is a great place to start in understanding the worldview of a film, but the art of the filmmaker transforms that narrative into something different than what a play or book portrays. Part of the beauty of a good film is a film that understands how to be a film in how it tells a story.

Current Listening and Viewing

A New Favorite Film

I finally watched Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School this week. Wow! I was skeptical about the movie, but a friend insisted I had to see it. Whether intentional or not, it is one of the most amazing representations of worship and liturgy I have ever seen. The main character bakes bread for a living (large sacramental clue), but his life is empty and meaningless until, through a series of providential circumstances, he arrives at Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School. There, he enters into a life comprised of patterns, repetition, and rules that bring about freedom, rhythm, and joy in his life.

The film is filled with sacramental imagery and theological allusions as well as portrayals of substitutionary atonement, forgiveness, the moral foundation of rules, the bride of Christ, providence and sovereignty, and the rituals of worship. It is a fascinating movie with a keen eye for good filmmaking. **Warning—There are a few coarse bits of language.