All Saints (2017)

My stepmom and father and I wound up going to see this film today (8/25) in the theater on the day it premieres, and I have to say, it is very enjoyable!

My stepmom Peggy was the person who first brought this movie to my attention.  I must confess, I had not heard of the film prior to her telling me about it; however, once I had watched a few trailers for the film, I was convinced that this would be a movie worth going to see.

To set up, this based-on-a-true-story movie begins in Smyrna, Tennessee, at a once-thriving Episcopal church known as All Saints, that has significantly dwindled in membership to less than a dozen faithful members.  The regional Episcopal authorities, including the local Bishop (veteran actor Gregory Alan Williams) have designated the church for closing and sale to local developers.   The plan is to demolish the church, and build a shopping center in its stead.

The Reverend Michael Spurlock (admirably portrayed by John Corbett) is a former paper salesman who has been designated for assignment as pastor at All Saints.  He is a newly-ordained minister, and All Saints is his first assignment.  However, he is merely intended to handle the transition of the church from a place of religious congregation, to a space for commercial transaction (the aforementioned shopping center).  Basically, he’s the guy his superiors have chosen to shut down the church…forever.

Reverend Michael does not relish being a hatchet-man.  He notices only about twelve regulars at his services, but figures if he can increase his congregation, he can persuade his superiors to spare his church from closure.  He sends out fliers to gauge local interest in the church, and receives an unexpected response: a community of Karen refugees originally from the war-torn southeast Asian nation of Burma heeds the call, and starts attending services.  The Karen have a history of conversion to Anglican Christianity as a vestige of the British colonial past of Burma.  It is a small trickle at first, but gradually, the Karen start arriving in greater numbers.

Reverend Michael realizes that there is still a need for All Saints to minister to God’s people, as his church provides necessary resources and comfort (both earthly and spiritual) to the Karen refugees.  However, the economic realities of the situation soon rear their ugly head: the church has almost a million dollars in mortgage debt, with no easy solution of paying off that debt.  Michael hatches a plan with his new friend and unofficial representative/leader of the Karen refugees, the English-speaking former soldier Ye Win (the talented Nelson Lee.)  With the labor and talent of many individuals including themselves and the refugees, and the support of family members- including Michael’s wife (Cara Buono) and Son (Myles Moore), and local ex-farmer/ex-Vietnam vet widower Forrest (the always good Barry Corbin) and local business persons like Boyd (David Keith) the community decides to raise crops on the church land and sell it to help pay off their debt and keep the church open.

Well, needless to say, things do not exactly go according to plan, and the All Saints community faces quite a few trials and tribulations on the way to ultimate vindication.

I’m Roman Catholic, not Episcopalian, yet I found myself drawn into the story of All Saints quite easily, as there are more than a few story points that I feel I can relate with.

Currently, the Roman Catholic Church is experiencing the phenomena of parish closings/and or mergers to an unprecedented degree in our history.  Therefore, it’s not hard for me, as a Catholic, to imagine the same financial difficulties and threat of closure that plague the Episcopal church of All Saints, hitting Catholic Churches, and the need to come up with a creative solution to continue to minister to the flock.

The similarities hit even closer to home when I notice the parallels of the Catholic Church and what appears here to be “high church” Episcopalian, in terms of liturgy, songs, vestments of the clergy, statues (Blessed Mother and Baby Jesus) the painting of a Crucifix at the front of the All Saints church, etc.  Even the external architecture of the All Saints church itself (where the film was shot on-location) was remarked by my father as being similar in look to my boyhood family parish of St. Helena’s in Blue Bell PA (and I certainly noticed the resemblance as well.)

And of course, there is a parallel that Catholicism in America experiences right now regarding its transition in membership.  Currently, Catholic parishes and parishioners are increasingly more diverse in America, with a large influx of new members from Mexico and Central America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa every day.

Casting-wise, it was good to see two veterans of the old quirky 1990s CBS tv show Northern Exposure (Corbett and Corbin) back together on-screen in this film.  Cara Buono has been a favorite actress of mine, ever since I first saw her in the 1992 Cuba Gooding, Jr. boxing movie Gladiator.  It’s also neat to see An Officer and a Gentleman’s young naval officer recruit David Keith here as well.

Anyone interested in an inspiring story of faith and perseverance (even those without a particular religious orientation) I would encourage to see this feel-good (but realistic) film.

Ostrov (The Island) (2006)

There have been many films over the years with the title of “The Island”; I believe that the one most familiar to American audiences is the 2005 Michael Bay-directed version starring Ewan MacGregor and Scarlett Johannsen (not a particularly bad film for a Michael Bay movie, BTW, and has since become a cult classic.)

In any case, the movie that I am writing about today, is a Russian production in primarily the Russian language, from 2006.

The movie starts in 1942, during the “Great Patriotic War” (World War II).  In what is likely the North Atlantic Ocean off the shores of an island in northern Russia, a Nazi German naval vessel encounters what appears to be a derelict barge hauling a tugboat full of coal. Further investigation of the “ghost barge” leads to the uncovering of a hidden Russian sailor of the Northern Russian Fleet of the Soviet Navy.  The sailor, a cowardly man, begs for his life in no uncertain way.  The sailor is pressed, under penalty of death, to reveal the location of his hidden captain, which he promptly does.  Further, this treacherous sailor is promised his life will be spared, if only he executes his captain.  The sailor is given a pistol, and after some consternation, shoots his captain, who promptly falls overboard off the ship’s deck into the cold sea below.

The Germans keep their promise and leave the Russian sailor alive, who scrambles atop the tugboat of coal.  However, as the German vessel leaves, the Nazis activate explosive charges that they have hidden within the mound of coal, detonating the coal pile in a huge explosion, and casting the sailor into the sea in the process.  The sailor wakes up the next morning washed up on the beach of a nearby island, alive, but barely conscious.  He is found on the shore by Russian Orthodox monks that have a monastery on the island, and taken into their care.

Fast forward to the year 1976.  The Russian sailor, Anatoly, has become a part of the community of monks on the island.  He is much older now, perpetually in a repentant state over his murderous past.  Strangely, he lives separately on the island as a stoker from his brethren, who regard him as a mischievous prankster.  But Anatoly has been granted by God the gifts of healing, and prophecy.  Folks from all over the country seek him out, regarding him as a “Holy Man” who can rescue them from their various miseries.  Then one day, Anatoly receives a visit from a Soviet admiral and his daughter, that will change his destiny forever….

I thought I should include these notes from Wikipedia, regarding the spirituality of the movie:

The film is focused on father Anatoly's repentance of his sin (therefore the virtually continuous occurrence of the Jesus Prayer); but the transgressions of the depicted character (a fool for Christ) and their impact on the others are the means by which the actual plot develops. The film's director Pavel Lungin, speaking of the central character's self-awareness, said he doesn't regard him as being clever or spiritual, but blessed "in the sense that he is an exposed nerve, which connects to the pains of this world. His absolute power is a reaction to the pain of those people who come to it;" while "typically, when the miracle happens, the lay people asking for a miracle are always dissatisfied" because "the world does not tolerate domestic miracles."

Screenwriter Dmitry Sobolev further explains: "When a person asks God for something, he is often wrong because God has a better understanding of what a person needs at that moment.  Pyotr Mamonov, who plays the lead character, formerly one of the few rock musicians in the USSR, converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the 1990s and lives now in an isolated village. Pavel Lungin said about him that "to a large extent, he played himself." Mamonov received a blessing from his confessor for playing the character.

The simplicity, the humbleness, the remoteness, the miracles converge into creating a timeless snapshot of Orthodox spirituality, apart from the historical circumstances. The Patriarch of Moscow, Alexei II, praised Ostrov for its profound depiction of faith and monastic life, calling it a "vivid example of an effort to take a Christian approach to culture."

This picture is a great, uplifting, inspiring, spiritually-rich movie, the kind that are in short supply from Hollywood these days.  I find it wholly original and unpredictable, and entertaining as well. 

Though the film is framed by the spirituality of the Russian Orthodox clergy and religion, I find its messages of faith and hope relatable to viewers from all sorts of wisdom traditions.  Highly
recommend!

Pilgrimage (2017)

Pilgrimage (2017) is a movie that has recently arrived in select theaters across the country.

Currently, in the Philadelphia area, it is playing only at the AMC Voorhees, in Jersey.

I actually saw this movie via Comcast On-Demand.

This movie is a period piece.  It tells the story of a band of monks that travel the countryside of Middle Ages Ireland (circa early 1200s) in a quest to deliver their most precious relic to their shores to a boat to France (and then Rome). The relic transported is the stone that killed St. Matthias (the apostle of Jesus Christ, who was elected to replaced Judas) during his martyrdom in the first century A.D., around 80 A.D.

One aspect to mention up-front is that in keeping with the realism of the time period, multiple languages are spoken by the characters.  We have Gaelic, French, and English here.  English is used as a substitute for the more period-appropriate Latin by the filmmakers, as a concession to modern audiences no doubt.

The film stars Tom Holland (fresh off his roles as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) as a young, impressionable, novice monk named Brother Diarmuid.

Co-starring Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit films) as Raymond De Merville, a French knight of noble birth, and Jon Bernthal as The Mute, a lay brother of the monks with a secret, violent past who may or may not be a former Crusader.

This is a great story of an adventure quest, slow-moving at times, but unpredictable with it's various plot-twists.

The film has quite a few scenes of graphic violence, but these are scenes are all valuable to the overall plot and make sense, due to the violent time period we find ourselves in whilst watching the goings-on in the film.

I have read of this film as a story of ambition and faith, and how faith can be usurped by ambition.  I would agree that this is an accurate view of this film's message.

I really appreciate the performances of the various actors in this film, particularly Jon Berthal.  Fans of The Walking Dead tv series will be reminded of his violent performance of the erstwhile Shane in that series, in this movie.

What I find quite refreshing in this movie is the originality displayed. It is rare that we get a glimpse of ancient Ireland, when Christianity dominated Europe (as told to us right off the bat, via onscreen subtitles.) This is also a time when paganism, and pagan, primitive, warrior tribes, existed side-by-side in a precarious existence with Christianity.

The ending is a bit ambiguous, and abrupt.  I will not spoil it , but suffice it to say, it is open to interpretation.

This movie is ably directed by Brendan Muldowney, best known for the critically-acclaimed Savage (2009) which according to IMDB is a story of "an explanation of masculinity and violence."

This picture is shot on-location on the west coast of Ireland, and the Ardennes region of Belgium.

Some of the locations in particular from the beginning of the film, remind me of the scenes shot on the Irish island of Skellig Michael from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).  We see some clachan-type beehive cells in the background at one point early on.

I recommend this movie to not just anyone, but those particularly with an interest in faith/religion, ancient Ireland, and/or the Middle Ages.

Year Million (2017)

Recently, I stumbled across a new cable television series that started showing up on the National Geographic cable channel called Year Million (2017).   The documentary-style show is the type of series that makes an immediate impression on the viewer.  The series takes a speculative look at how human beings and human society will evolve (devolve?) in the next several hundred years (the term “Year Million” not specifically referring to a million years from today; it’s more of a catchy way of saying “the future.”) This is the kind of program that sticks with you long after a viewing, that makes you think, question your reality, and alternately, can invigorate/frighten you to your core, in its display of the future worlds depicted.

Here's a description of the show, via Google:

"Given how rapidly technology and intelligence have advanced humankind in the past 10 years, one can't help but wonder how different the world may be in another 10 years. National Geographic, however, is thinking big. The six-part docudrama "Year Million" paints a visual story of what it will be like to be a human 1 million years into the future. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the series features top futurists, scientists, scholars and notable science-fiction writers guiding viewers through the latest advances in technology, ideas and innovations and to an existence where we're living beyond our bodies, beyond our planet and beyond our solar system. Illustrative, imaginative storytelling describes humanity's fate through the lens of a typical futuristic American family, which includes an android daughter."

I've seen three episodes of the series thus far.  Here's the titles, with a brief description of each episode, via the series website:

Episode 1-Homo Sapien 2.0-A look at advances in neuroscience and engineering in regard to artificial intelligence. Advances in neuroscience and engineering are bringing us closer toward a reality first described in great science fiction, one in which artificial intelligence will become indistinguishable from – or perhaps even surpass – human intelligence. This could lead to a future in which AI beings become our essential collaborators or a threat to human value and life. What are the major milestones that are leading us towards this singularity, and how will that affect the evolution of the human species?

Episode 2-Never Say Die-How the futuristic idea of living forever will change what it's like to be human.  In the future, will we move beyond treating individual diseases and, instead, treat the aging process itself? How would a dramatically protracted life change not only the fabric of society, but what it means to be a human being?

Episode 3-Dude, Where's My Body?-With human activity transferring to virtual spaces, will reality suffer the consequences.  Advances in graphics and computing power have given rise to a renaissance in virtual technologies from world-building platforms like Second Life to manufacturers of VR headsets like Oculus Rift. We’re seeing more and more of human activity transfer to virtual spaces, offering people profound experiences via online personas and even transforming the way the real-world functions. Will we reach a tipping point where reality becomes a pale shadow of the rich, imaginative, virtual worlds we’ve created for ourselves? What will that mean for our perception of humanity? What do we risk losing?

My biggest issue with this series?  The impact of theology on human future society is completely ignored, a rather unfortunate misstep of this series.  Additionally, in the episodes I have watched, the disciplines of philosophy and psychology, and their impact on future human societies are to a large (but not total) extent, ignored.  Theoretical physicists are interviewed, yes, which is a welcome and necessary component of the program.  One theoretical physicist does reference such diverse thinkers as Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud.  But no philosophers are interviewed in the series? No theologians?

There’s no discussion by the existing on-camera commentators on what impact religious faith will have on these future biological, electronic, et al advances of humanity, which I find curious, to say the least.  Yes, I am only three episodes into the series, but I find the omission of non-secular P.O.V. thus far contributes to an incomplete feeling whilst watching the show. 

For example, in the first episode, Homo Sapien 2.0, we are told that in the future, electronic automation will eliminate most jobs, even those occupations considered “safe,” like those in the medical or legal field.   The patriarch of a future family (that is followed throughout the series) is shown at one point to lose his job as an architect to computers/automation/robots that can do the job quicker, cheaper, and more effectively.  What are human beings, such as this individual, going to do when they no longer have a job to go to every day?

I believe that in the absence of employment, a large majority of unemployed individuals will turn towards psychology, philosophy, and yes, religion, to make sense of their lives following the massive loss of occupations.  Machines potentially can replace psychologists and philosophers, but they can never replace, say, Catholic priests, who are required to be human to fulfill their duties.  So, at least some jobs in the clergy sector will be irreplaceable. 

Yes, I am well aware of the argument that a system of guaranteed basic income might be a solution to widespread unemployment caused by job loss as a result of omnipresent automation in future human society.  In that case, humans will have ample opportunity to pursue leisurely activities, as they won’t need to earn money for a living.  This, of course, is assuming that some sort of basic income can be affordably provided to the citizens of a nation, or that the philosophical nature of a particular nation will allow for that guaranteed basic income in the first place.  I’m entirely not convinced a developed country like the U.S. would (or should) plan on a future guaranteed basic income to short-circuit mass poverty (or could even afford such a system in the future, were it to become an economic neccesity.)

As far as what the series Year Million gets right?  Well, there are a number of touches I really like. 

It was a really inspired choice to choose actor Laurence Fishburne to narrate this series.  Fishburne is synonymous in many a mind as the character of“Morpheous”in the set-in-the-future Cyberpunk Matrix movie series of the late 20^th-early 21rst century; his voice lends an air of authenticity to the proceedings.

I also like the choice the series producers made in following a futuristic family that we gradually get to know and love as the series progresses.  We feel a kinship with the family, even as we feel separated from them by multiple decades (and even centuries.)  By the third episode we are fully emotionally invested in the fate of this little group of related individuals.

Bottom line, I am very curious to see how this series plays out.  Truth be told, if some of the predictions of the future of humanity thus far illustrated come to pass as depicted in this series, the seeming-utopia presented seems to me (as a man of faith) to be more of a dystopia, and one that I am not all-too-interested in seeing come to fruition.