Religion and Film 2020

Witt managed to stay alive and stay sane during the war by continuing to look towards coming home to his wife. In a way you could say that this was his transcendent reality. When this reality finally shatters, he is crushed but gains a new perspective on sacrifice willing to let himself distract the Japanese ultimately leading to his death. I also picture Staros as the Holy, he sees what is going on and tries to give salvation to them to avoid meaningless sacrifice. I think a big thing that the director communicates visually is that within the horrors of the world, there can still be beauty, this is repeatedly shown when soldiers were dying, they would pan to the sky. Then you would see the beautiful scenery around them, like the trees and the bright blue sky. Additionally when you saw them charge up the hill soldiers would get hit, and then proceed to disappear back into the grass as they fall. Plenty of nature, we find that struggle to survive exemplified by the baby bird struggli...

“The Thin Red Line” has many similar themes to “Apocalypse Now.” This makes sense, as both are war films focused on a squad of American soldiers with diverse backgrounds and personalities heading into enemy territory. However, although both films tackle similar ideas, they approach them from different perspectives. For example, “Apocalypse Now” views the natural world as a part of the sacred. Meanwhile, the arbitrary war between human countries is profane by going against nature and destroying it through bombs, napalm, and firefights. But while nature is sacred, that doesn’t mean it is friendly, as the jungle is hostile towards the main characters to the point that they only feel safe on their boat after an animal attack; even then, several squad members still die on the boat as a result from unseen attacks coming from the jungle.  Comparing these ideas to those found in “The Thin Red Line”, there is plenty of overlap. Many of the visual shots in the film focus on how nature...

In comparing the themes of the Bhagavad Gita to the movie "Thin Red Line", one can look into the over arching theme of what Krishna aka Vishnu is attempting to teach Arjuna, the young prince, after he expresses his own inner turmoil due to his duty as a prince to his country as he enters war after years having been wrongly banished from his own home. As he rides down the middle of the battle grounds before the war begins to look into the eyes of those he would soon be attempting to concur, he finds himself looking into the eyes of old friends, and those of young sons and old fathers causing a rupture in his character. I would compare this inner turmoil that the young prince Arjuna experienced to those of the feelings of Private Witt and how he struggled with what expectations his "duty" to his country held him to going against the wills of his own person. Another theme I would compare between the movie "The Thin Red Line" and the Bhagavad-Gita would be t...

      The Thin Red Line follows the events of the Battle for Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. Private Witt is picked up by a patrol boat while he and another solider are AWOL, living with a group of South Pacific natives living a care free life. Witt is punished with demotion by his Sergeant. As the film progresses, officers speak on large warships of the importance of taking the island of Guadalcanal, many of the soldiers who will be raiding the island are horrified and worrisome of what will happen on the island. Captain Staros is an American Captain who is tasked with keeping all of his men in line and also making sure they are all okay and healthy. It bothers Captain Staros that his men are seen as merely pieces in a grand plan by commanding officers and not as human lives. Staros is faced with an order from Lt. Colonel Tall to charge of a hill which will lead to the loss of probably all of his men and refuses to take the order, by doing so, this de...

The Thin Red is a film about soldiers fighting against the Japanese army on Guadalcanal, an island near Australia. The protagonist, Private Witt, struggles with the idea of dying in this war. He spends much of the movie in a contemplative state, watching nature and the natives of the island as he considers life and death surrounding the war. He has gone AWOL a number of times and is now forced to confront the issue in battle. This film communicates the idea of the Holy through the war, as war can often lead people to confront their beliefs.   The Holy can be seen as a mask in relation to war, as such a traumatic time as war can reveal a deeper understanding of what it means to live and die. The Holy is able to lift off the mask in a way to uncover the knowledge behind it. Visual symbolism in the film also refers to this mask. The tall grass conceals the soldiers as they wait for the conflict to begin, and once they stand above the grassy shield, they must confront the violent...

In the film Thin Red Line,  it follows the transformational excursion of young military troopers who are engaging the Japanese army on the Guadalcanal. In spite that this movie is a war film, it gives numerous emblematic references to religion while being combined with nature. The crowd before long discovers that the characters in the film, and the music come next to the visual symbolism prevailed. Nature is continually referenced in the film from the alligator as well as the harmed bird. The audience must realize that nature is a piece of war. The sacred can be missed at first glance as there is regularly more to a book than its cover. It attracts you yet pushes you to dive further for a more clear and personal comprehension of life. War is a dangerous situation where many come to think about the sacred things in life, especially in a life or death situation. Life and death are major contemplations when it comes to religion. Apart from science, religion is the only things to ...

The movie  The Red Line  follows the transformational journey of young soldiers who are battling the Japanese in the Guadalcanal. Though this film is a war movie, it provides many symbolic references to religion as it is paired with nature. The audience soon learns that the characters themselves, the music and the dialogue come second to the visual imagery included. Nature is constantly referenced in the film from the lurking crocodile to the injured bird. We soon understand that nature isn’t fighting the war but is a part of it. From this point we understand the elements of human nature that come into question.              Many characters, especially Witt constantly battle between morality and religion. We see them question the meaning of war, to take someone’s life, afterlife and redemption. A religious reference is made here as the Captain’s unwillingness to send his men to their death is similar to Arjuna...

       The film Thin Red Line follows the transformational journey of younger soldiers that in an intense war against the Japanese in the Guadalcanal. Like many war movies you see a sense of religious symbolism through the soldiers. Many soldiers usually carry a bible or something that exemplifies their religion and keeping God with them through the tough times of war. The imagery that is demonstrated throughout the movie is very quickly assumed by the audience that the characters and music come second behind the vivid imagery. Throughout the movie you understand that nature is in this war along with everyone else. From lurking reptiles to injured birds the movie provides nature elements to show that the soldiers are not the only ones in the war.  Pvt. Witt is continuously fighting between morality and religion. The movie seems to not accept and support Pvt. Witt’s fantasy about the afterlife by the scenes of his dangerous disregard of human suffering. Ofte...

Midrash is defined as an interpretive act that seeks answers to religious questions through meaning in the Torah. The visual medium of film works as midrash by interpreting old religious teachings through a modern lens which allows the viewer to relate to the teachings of old. In Dekalog: One, the first two commandments of the ten commandments are explored. The first and second commandments: "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image."  is explained through midrash when the father allows his son to have too much faith in the power of the computer. Krzysztof introduces his son to  personal computing and the problem solving potential a computer possesses. This is done by showing his son a physics problem. This physics problem along with other examples provided by Krzysztof spark Pavel’s fascination with the power of the computer. Pavel is given his own computer and he begins writ...

Bunny: Bunny is an animated short film about an elderly bunny who is trying to get rid of an irritating moth. Once the bunny captures the moth, she angrily mixes it with the cake she is making and bakes it in the oven. Tired from chasing the moth around, the bunny falls asleep and has a vivid dream about following the moth into the lit up oven. The audience then finds out that the bunny actually died instead of falling sleep. The bunny then reunites with her already deceased husband. This has an interesting irony showing that moths naturally are attracted to lights whereas "going towards the light" symbolizes death. Personally, I would be horrified of this if I watched it as a child. However, it is a creative film. Harold and Maude: Harold and Maude is full of symbolism and life lessons. Harold merely wants her mother's care instead of her trying to set him up with a girl. He constantly fakes suicides to get rid of the girls and finds pleasure in it. His grim outlook ...

Religion in the Movies Blog Paris Texas Opening, there are shots of a beautiful desert with a guitar playing in the backward to set a western theme. The next mood we see is an odd one. There is a man that is well dressed in the desert with a baseball cap and is dirty from all of the sand and dirt he’s been walking across. This gives him a rough appearance. He is following the phone lines on his cross country journey. His brother pulls up alongside him on the road. His brother tries talking to him but there is a shot from his point of view of him looking at the power lines. This is where he wants to go and he continues looking back at the power lines. At the motel, the first shot is focused on a pair of red heels. There was an airplane in the shot landing in the background of the heels. Then, there’s a man looking through binoculars at the plane landing with shoes lined up next to him. The shoes, plane, and phone lines all indicate some sort of travel because people travel in shoe...

Bunny The short film Bunny really emphasizes the idea of light.   The moth is obviously attracted to the light.   But by analyzing the movie there is also the idea of “going in to the light”.   The rest of the short film is very dark with kind of blue and purple tones.   The blue and purple tones definitely represent sadness or melancholy towards the memories she had with her husband before he died.   The moth, the husband, is causing a disturbance by the light and she keeps going over to the light to get rid of it, she even turns the light off.   Finally, the oven represents a passage way to the other side so that she can be with her husband.   Once again, a very bright light comes out of the oven.   I think this short film is all about lighting, color tones, and symbolism. Harold and Maude               This movie obviously has an extremely dark overarching theme: suicide. ...

Bunny As I have stated before, Bunny was a short film I had since forgotten from my childhood that came back to haunt me. Its film techniques were dark and luminous in a cramped home where an old grumpy rabbit cooked her dishes in that late evening.While the title of the short emerges and leads the audience on that the short will be wholesome and cute, the audience quickly learns the title to be misleading. The "Bunny" the title talks of is an old, bony, and mean rabbit found in a room only illuminated by one singular light bulb hanging form the ceiling adding to the creepy ambiance of the short which is already was a thing of nightmares with its chaotic and uninteresting background music meant to keep the audience on edge as they watch the rabbit die from the fumes of a stove meant to bake an annoying fly into a cake of some sort. The short had no spoken words, meant to add to the simplicity of the ability for universal understanding in viewing of the creepy short.In watch...

Bunny The level of violence in the film really did not shock me that much when I saw it. It came off to me as very slapstick-like, which is a common theme in animation going as far back as early Warner Bros and Disney films. When watching it, the actual dirtiness of the bunny and her house was the most surprising aspect of the film. The animators made the house feel cramped and dirty through the set design, despite there being only one person living there. I got the feeling that this bunny was just tired of life without even needing to see the shot of her viewing the photo of her husband. However, I will say that her climbing into the oven to reach the afterlife was also something I didn’t expect, but I can see why it got the film banned. I do like the imagery of this bunny going through her final transformation into something new via the oven, much like the pie she was trying to make. Harold and Maud The single closeup shot between the mother and her son told the entire stor...