RELIGION AND THE CINEMA
RAST 2300 FALL 2014
PROFESSOR MICHAEL MORRIS, O.P., DSPT, Room 1
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THIS COURSE WILL SURVEY THE TREATMENT AND THEMES OF RELIGION IN THE
JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION AS PORTRAYED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CINEMA,
THE MOST POPULAR ART FORM OF THE MODERN ERA. WEEKLY LECTURES WITH
SLIDES AND FILM CLIPS WILL EXPLORE A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS. A SPECIALLY
SELECTED FEATURE FILM CONSIDERED A MASTERPIECE OF ITS GENRE WILL
FOLLOW EACH LECTURE.
SYLLABUS & SCHEDULE OF LECTURES
I. JESUS ON THE SILVER SCREEN
II. JESUS ON THE SILVER SCREEN, PART 2
III. BIBLE STORIES & BIBLICAL BLOCKBUSTERS
IV. CHRISTIAN STORIES SET IN HISTORY
V. THE CLOISTERED CINEMA: MONKS AND NUNS
VI. THE ROMAN COLLAR: PRIESTS, POPES, & CARDINALS
NO CLASS. READING WEEK. TAKE-HOME MID-TERM.
VII. PREACHERS, MINISTERS, & EVANGELISTS
VIII. HORROR
IX. SAINTS, VISIONARIES, LEGENDS & MIRACLES
X. ANGELS AND DIVINE COMEDY
XI. WAR AND PEACE
XII. UTOPIANISM
FINAL EXAMS, PAPERS DUE, AND DSPT FILM FESTIVAL
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
It is the objective of this class to teach students how heavily the Judeo-Christian tradition
informs the art of the cinema, especially in the United States but also in Europe. This class will
broaden the scope of what is ordinarily considered “religious cinema” by focusing first on films
drawn from the Bible and extending our categories to films depicting the subject matter and
people of religion. Finally, the categories of religious film will delve into issues of morality, war
and peace, and utopianism. Thus the student, through the means listed below, will be given a
comprehensive overview of the history of religious film, and be able to organize and present a
film appreciation program for the classroom and/or parish.
THE “RULES OF THE GAME”
WARNING: This course is an encyclopedic survey on how religion is treated in the art of film
from a Judeo-Christian perspective. While the emphasis will be on Hollywood films (both silent
and talkies), important foreign films will be discussed when applicable to the thematic character
of this lecture course.
LAB FEE: Because of the high cost of producing a course like this, a lab fee of $10 will be
levied on each student (including auditors) to help defray the cost of maintaining the equipment,
making slides, and buying new videos and DVDs. Payment must be made after registration and
before the mid-term date.
COURSE READER: Each week, reading assignments will accompany the lecture and film
screening. These readings will focus on the relationship between film and religion in general or
address the film that will be shown that week. Students will be expected to integrate these
readings into their reflection papers, mid-term, and final exam.
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is required and absences will be noted and result in the lowering
of a student’s grade.
GRADES: The following will be tabulated in the compilation of a final grade for each student:
1) THREE (ONE-PAGE) REFLECTION PAPERS (1/4 of total grade): As this is a
lecture course covering an enormous amount of material, there is little time available for
discussion. Therefore, three reflection papers will be required of each student in the
course of the semester. The paper topic will be established by the professor in class. A
hard copy will be due the following week. The paper is to be typed (single spaced) and
represent a critical, reflective analysis of a given problem. Class lectures and the course
reader will aid in this endeavor. Students are also encouraged to refer to the libraries at
UCB and the Pacific Film Archive for further useful material.
2) MID-TERM EXAM (1/4 of total grade): Comprehensive exam questions will be
distributed in class and the student is expected to return the typed answers in essay form.
This is an open book exam, so outside sources can and should be consulted.
3) FINAL EXAMINATION (1/2 of total grade): A closed-book comprehensive
examination will be administered in class during finals week. You are required to bring
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Blue Books. Immediately after the final exam, the Annual DSPT Student Film Festival
will be held.
4) FINAL EXAM ALTERNATIVES (1/2 of total grade)
a. A Research Paper of 15 pages (not including pictures and bibliography): Typed
double-spaced in standard manuscript form with notes and bibliography, a
research paper on a topic approved by the professor can be submitted in lieu of
taking the final exam.
b. A Film Project: Students who choose this option will be expected to plan, write,
direct, and produce a film of a religious nature. Two students may combine their
talents for a single project. Project approval must first be obtained from the
instructor. All technical problems and costs are assumed by the student(s)
involved. The final product must be in playable DVD form and no more than 10
minutes long. Completed projects will be offered for inclusion in the DSPT
Student Film Festival.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
RAST 2300 RELIGION AND THE CINEMA
Ayfre, Amedee et alia. The Films of Robert Bresson. New York: Praeger, 1969.
Barsacq, Leon. Caligari’s Cabinet and Other Grand Illusions: A History of Film Design. New
York: Little, Brown and Co., 1976.
Bird, Michael and John May (eds). Religion in Film. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,
1982.
Bodeen, DeWitt and Gene Ringgold. The Films of Cecil B. DeMille. New York: Citadel Press,
1969.
Bordwell, David. The Films of Carl-Theodor Dryer. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1981.
--- and John Kobal. Hollywood: The Pioneers. New York: Knopf, 1979.
Butler, Ivan. Religion in the Cinema. New York: Zwemmer/Barnes, 1969.
Ceram, C.W. Archaeology of the Cinema. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, n.d.
Chierichetti, David. Hollywood Costume Design. New York: Harmony Books, n.d.
DeMille, Cecil B. Autobiography. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1959.
Donner, Jorn. The Films of Ingmar Bergman. New York: Dover, 1972.
Elley, Derek. The Epic Film. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984.
Flesher, Paul V.M. and Robert Torry. Film & Religion: An Introduction. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2007.
Friedman, Lester. Hollywood’s Image of the Jew. New York: Unger, 1982.
Gomez, Joseph. Ken Russell. London: Pergamon, 1976.
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Guarner, Louis. Roberto Rossellini. New York: Praeger, 1970.
Hurley, Neil. Toward a Film Humanism (Theology Through Film). New York: Delta, 1970.
Insdorff, Annette. Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust. New York: Random House,
1983.
Kay, Karyn and Gerald Peary. Women in the Cinema. New York: Dutton, 1977.
Keyser, Les and Barbara Keyser. Hollywood and the Catholic Church. Chicago: Loyola
University Press, 1984.
Kinnard, Roy and Tim Davis. Divine Images: A History of Jesus on the Screen. New York:
Citadel, 1992.
Knight, Arthur. The Liveliest Art. New York: Macmillan, 1957.
Leab, Daniel. From Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Movies. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1976.
Lindvall, Terry. The Silents of God: Selected Issues and Documents in Silent American Film
and Religion, 1908-1925. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2001.
May, John R. (ed.). Image and Likeness: Religious Visions in American Film Classics. New
York: Crossroads, 1992.
Medved, Michael. Hollywood vs. America. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.
Michael, Paul. The Great American Movie Book. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
1980.
Miller, Frank. Censored Hollywood: Sex, Sin, & Violence on the Screen. Atlanta: Turner
Publishing, Inc., 1994.
Mitchell, Jolyon and S. Brent Plate. The Religion and Film Reader. New York: Routledge,
2007.
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Morris, Michael. Madam Valentino: The Many Lives of Natacha Rambova. New York:
Abbeville Press, 1991.
Ott, Frederick. The Films of Fritz Lang. Secaucus, New York: Citadel, 1979.
Pitts, Michael and Richard Campbell. The Bible in Film. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow
Press, 1981.
Plate, S. Brent (ed.). Representing Religion in World Cinema: Filmmaking, Mythmaking,
Culture Making. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Pratt, George C. Spellbound in Darkness (rev. ed.). Greenwich, Connecticut: New York
Graphic Society, 1973.
Roud, Richard, ed. Cinema: A Critical Dictionary: The Major Filmmakers (2 vols.). New
York: Viking Press, 1980.
Russo, Vito. The Celluloid Closet. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.
Schrader, Paul. Transcendental Style in Film. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
Slide, Anthony and Edward Wagenknecht. The Films of D.W. Griffith. New York: Crown,
1975.
Smith, Gary A. Epic Films. London: McFarland, 1991.
Solomon, Jon. The Ancient World in the Cinema. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Stallings, Penny. Flesh and Fantasy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978.
Thomas, Tony. Music for the Movies. Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1973.
Thomson, David. A Biographical Dictionary of Film. New York: William Morrow & Co.,
1976.
Tyler, Parker. Screening the Sexes: Homosexuality in the Movies. New York: Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston, 1972.
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Wall, James. Church and Cinema. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971.
Walsh, Richard. Reading the Gospels in the Dark: Portrayals of Jesus in Film. Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International, 2003.
Webb, Michael. Hollywood: Legend and Reality. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1986.
Zeffirelli, Franco. Jesus: A Spiritual Diary. New York: Harper and Row, 1984.
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