In 2004, 2005 and 2006 the Arts & Faith conversation board created a list of 100 "spiritually significant" films. Last year the site joined forces with IMAGE Journal, which is to my mind the finest publication available on, well, arts and faith. Jointly, A&F and IMAGE today published the fourth iteration of the list, and it's well worth exploring.
This year the "spiritually significant" descriptor was removed from the list, and as a result there's been an increase in films which might not at first glance seem to be of particular "soul food" interest - a drift toward just-plain-great movies, the "Sight & Sound" effect. But for every PLAYTIME or KILLER OF SHEEP added to the list, you'll find any number of exciting new additions that still fit with the list's original intent - A SERIOUS MAN, INTO GREAT SILENCE, L'ENFANT and LORNA'S SILENCE, THE ISLAND (OSTROV), SILENT LIGHT, THE NEW WORLD, USHPIZIN and (an extreme personal favourite) SON OF MAN.
More to follow, whenever your faithful correspondent can spring some time to dig a little deeper, but for the meantime check out the list itself at A&F, Jeffrey Overstreets initial thoughts posted at the IMAGE Journal blog, "Good Letters," and ongoing commentary at Filmwell. And here's a rundown of all the films previously included on the list, from 2004 to 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment