AP/RLST 3826 3.00

Religion and Film

This course examines the role and representation of the religious in popular film. It introduces students to the vocabularies of Religious Studies and Film Studies, and critically explores the relationship between religion and film as aspects of contemporary culture. Drawing mainly on mass-distributed films from Europe and North America, the course analyzes the ways in which contemporary cinema narrativizes Aboriginal, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious myths, histories, rituals, institutions, ethics, and doctrines. Issues addressed include: To what extent do particular films reflect the personal beliefs of particular film directors? How are religious leaders, institutions and histories portrayed in contemporary cinema, and to what purpose? How do popular films embody religious symbols, rituals and values, and to what end? How does contemporary cinema represent the teachings and traditions of different religions, in both personal and societal terms? How does the cinema help shape our attitudes towards religious “others”? Topics for discussion include: the creator and the created; free will and destiny; sin and salvation; evil and responsibility; selfhood and society; reality and illusion; transcendence and the afterlife. Some prior knowledge of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Maori traditions will be helpful.

RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Multiple

Course Category: Religion, Literature, and the Arts