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Spiritual Movies
Letter L
| Lean on Me. John G. Avildsen. 109 minutes. 1989. | The rousing, fact-based story of high school principal Joe Clark, who took over the strife-torn Eastside High School, and turned it around, becoming a national symbol of though-love education. "If your students don't succeed in life," says Clark to his staff and to the parents, "I want you to blame yourselves. Don't lean on anger, excuses, racism, crime or drugs. Lean on me and learn." |
| Le Chambon: La Colline aux mille enfants. Jean-Louis Lorenzi. 118 minutes. 1994. | The French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was
inhabited by rough farmers of Huguenot descent. They knew a lot about
religious persecution from their history. So, during World War II when
Hitler imposed his heinous laws and set out to arrest all Jews, this
village would not stand for it. The film captures the heartbeat of a people who risked all for fellow human beings. At the beginning of the occupation Pastor Andre Trocme put their position in writing, a pledge Le Chambor was miraculously enabled to fulfill. Trocme wrote: "The duty of Christians is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear upon their conscience through the weapons of the spirit. We will resist whenever our adversaries demand obedience contrary to the order of the Gospel. We will do so without fear, but also without pride and without hate." |
| Life of Padre Pio. | |
| Light
Dance. 40 minutes. |
A beautiful exploration of nature and its infinite patterns and colors. Light Dance takes advantage of special filming techniques to take you on a mystical journey, over vibrant natural landscape brimming with life, through the clouds and out into the cosmos there comets dance. Music by Carlos Santana. |
|
Life
Is Beautiful. |
Italy's rubber-faced funnyman Roberto Benigni accomplishes the impossible in his World War II comedy Life Is Beautiful: he shapes a simultaneously hilarious and haunting comedy out of the tragedy of the Holocaust. An international sensation and the most successful foreign language film in U.S. history, the picture also earned director-cowriter-star Benigni Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor. He plays the Jewish country boy Guido, a madcap romantic in Mussolini's Italy who wins the heart of his sweetheart (Benigni's real-life sweetie, Nicoletta Braschi) and raises a darling son (the adorable Giorgio Cantarini) in the shadow of fascism. When the Nazis ship the men off to a concentration camp in the waning days of the war, Guido is determined to shelter his son from the evils around them and convinces him they're in an elaborate contest to win (of all things) a tank. Guido tirelessly maintains the ruse with comic ingenuity, even as the horrors escalate and the camp's population continues to dwindle--all the more impetus to keep his son safe, secure, and, most of all, hidden. Benigni walks a fine line mining comedy from tragedy and his efforts are pure fantasy--he accomplishes feats no man could realistically pull off--both of which have drawn fire from a few critics. Yet for all its wacky humor and inventive gags, Life Is Beautiful is a moving and poignant tale of one father's sacrifice to save not just his young son's life but his innocence in the face of one of the most evil acts ever perpetrated by the human race. --Sean Axmaker |
| Little
Buddha. Bernardo Bertolucci. 1998. 165 minutes. |
In a remote monastery in mysterious Bhutan, a Tibetan monk begins a journey to the other side of the world. Astonishingly, he is seeking an American boy believed to be the reincarnation of an revered Buddhist lama. The boy's parents are incredulous at the news. A typical American family, they don't believe in past lives or subjecting their son to a strange spiritual education. Even so, they boy's curiosity is kindled by a children's book entitled "Little Buddha" about the life of Prince Siddhartha. A remarkable new world is revealed as he reads about Siddhartha's magical adventures. But the boy has two rivals -- a poor boy from the streets of Kathmandu and a young girl who believes the boys to be imposters. Which child is truly the "Little Buddha"? In the spectacular and magical Himalayas, the answer is revealed. |
| Love Begins at Home: Mother Teresa | |
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[more to come] |
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