HC 221H Cinematic Religion

This book analyses the most important depictions in film of Jesus, Rama, Buddha and Muhammad and the religious and cultural background to portraying individuals who disclose the divine. It also addresses the reactions of religious leaders to these films.

Religion and Film helps us to understand the stagings, structures, and embodiments of film in the light of religion and to rethink the dynamics of religion in the light of film.

This book argues that what makes a filmic manifestation of the sacred true or authentic may say more about a spectator or critic's particular way of knowing, than it does about the aesthetic or philosophical dimensions of the sacred onscreen. This book engages with films from Hollywood religious spectaculars, Hindu mythologicals, and an international array of films revered for their 'transcendental style.'

Enriched by a cultural studies approach, a deep understanding of religion and history, and a love for the movies, Seeing and Believing explores what popular films of the 1980s and 1990s say about religion and the values by which we live.