Terrence Malick’s personal, poetic film from two years ago is one of the most religiously compelling I’ve seen. All of his movies seem to tap into some other dimension that really effective works of art can sometimes do, but this one dealt with faith and religious concepts in a much more direct way, if you can call anything Malick does direct. The movie is essentially about Malick’s own childhood, his life, and his struggles with coming to terms with matters of faith and family and the world.
Maybe “spiritual” is a better word to use for this movie. It relies on the juxtaposition of a lot of different images shown in succession, combined with gorgeous classical music (Smetana, holla!) and contemplative narration. It sets up this binary opposition of “the way of nature and the way of grace,” which isn’t entirely clear and thus people have interpreted all sorts of ways. My take on it is that this is something oppositional as defined by religions, but with contemplative spirituality can be reconciled, and that’s what Malick, and the main character of the movie, are striving to do. It’s beautiful-looking and esoteric and will get you thinking, probably more than any church service possibly could.
There’s this magic element to movies that gives them a certain aura, which makes it understandable why people would flock to theaters once a week or so and sit in an auditorium with a large group of people. There’s something inherently spiritual about this activity anyway, so getting an audience that’s already disarmed to think about faith in new and challenging ways is one of the greatest cinematic accomplishments.
Are there any movies that have struck you as spiritually fulfilling? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.