Film and faith

Terence Malik's new film is out - To the Wonder - and has just appeared in New Haven. From the trailers it looks like classic Malik - Paris and Mont St Michel shot in gleaming light are contrasted with the wild beauty of America's great plains. And the undercurrent to the film is a profound meditation on love, not just as feeling but - drawn from the understanding of love as a characteristic of God - also as duty and sacrifice. I'll let you know how it is when I've seen it.

Meantime I paused to think of other films in which the plot hangs around a point of faith - not in a preachy way, but in a way that puts its finger right on a central point and draws out the human experience of religion. Here are a few of my favourites - what are yours?

Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
Babette’s Feast (Babettes gæstebud) (Gabriel Axel, 1987)
Chariots of Fire (Hugh Hudson, 1981)
Jésus de Montréal (Denys Arcand, 1989)
JoyeuxNoël (Christian Carion, 2005) 
Luther (Eric Till, 2003)
O Brother, where art thou? (Joel Coen, 2000)
The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
The Way (Emilio Estevez, 2011)
Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)