Saturday, November 07, 2009

a powerful film: Doubt

Deb and I recently watched "Doubt" (the film's official site), one of the most powerful films we have seen, and the end was one of the most powerful endings I've seen. Left me shaken, though not shaken in my faith. It deserved, in my book, to be nominated for five academy awards. Those with a Roman Catholic background might appreciate it more, and those who have abandoned the faith, including from what I gathered the director of the film himself (on special features I caught a bit of his commentary) would identify with it.

It is set in the 1960's and involves a priest specifically with one boy, and an older and young nun. You can come up with the rest of the general storyline yourself if you've been tuned in at all to the news over the last several years.

The film powerfully draws you in, so that the audience in a sense becomes part of it. You're left wondering or seeing firsthand the ambiguity of what was experienced in similar scenarios.

For us in Jesus who are committed to God through Christ and to the orthodox Christian faith as revealed to us in Scripture, and with the Spirit's continuing help to us, this film won't shake you, even as it does challenge us to think further through certain issues. Any good story which reflects the real world is one I'm ready to see on film. Our own lives and what we see in life make us readily identify with stories like this one.

Just a word of caution. For various reasons you may dislike the film or find it offensive. Nothing graphic is seen in it. I'm sure I missed some of the connotations (literally or figuratively) or perhaps innuendos in it (it's good for me to look up these words in a dictionary, myself). But if you don't mind a difficult subject and deep human interaction over it, than give this a look.

No comments: