MY TOP SEVEN MOVIES ON A SPIRITUAL  THEME:

I actually believe that if you view all 7 of these movies, you'll receive a real spiritual lift.   I'm also posting my annotated list in the hope that my readers wll counter with their own Top 7 Lists.   If you've seen any of these movies, feel free to share your reaction to them.   Of course, such a list begs the question of what constitutes a "spiritual" theme.  For example, I have omitted my all-time favorite movie, "Schindler's List."   No explicitly religious theme is present, but I view the movie as an excellent reflection on how God can perfect His strength through our weaknesses.  I have never been more moved by a movie's closing scene.  Oscar Schindler was one of the most remarkable, if unlikely, heroes of WW2.  Also, I have not yet seen "Amazing Grace," the true story of how two evangelicals, William Wilberforce and John Newton teamed up to abolish slavery in the British Empire in the century prior to the American Civil War.  John Newton is the ex-slave trader who composed the beloved hymn "Amazing Grace."  This movie has recieved rave reviews and I suspect I will have to make room for it in my revised list.

(1) "The Mission" (Robert De Niro):
Based on the true story of the tension between the Jesuits who had converted a tribe of Amazon Indians and their weak bishop, who succumbs to Spanish and Portuguese pressure to allow the enslavement of  these Indians.   The movie has the most beautful conversion story I've ever seen.  It is violent and very sad and had me in tears.   But the loyalty of the Jesuits to the Amazonians despite the cost was deeply inspiring.  

(2) "Les Miserables" (Liam Neeson):
Based on the famous French novel of that title: a deeply moving story of a criminal's conversion and his subsequent spiritual dilemmas.   An excellent meditation on PUL.

(3) "Friendly Persuasion" (Gary Cooper):
A heart-warming comedy that incorporates a serious reflection on Quaker spirituality (pacificism) and the dilemmas it created when their community was overwhelmed by the South in a Civil War invasion.   An interesting meditation on the difference between spiritual pretense and unexpected spirituality in times of crisis.  The contrast between the Quakers and the Methodists in this movie is hysterical.

(4) "Amadeus:"
This movie won the Academy Award for best picture.  It is the story of Mozart and the music is exquisite.  Mozart's enemy musician, Solieri, makes this movie, which turns into a reflection on whether God unfairly distributes special gifts to His least deserving survants.

(5) "The Shadow Lands" (Anthony Hopkins):
the true story of famed author C. S. Lewis's faith crisis after his new love dies after a battle with cancer.  The tenderest movie in the grief process I've ever seen.

(6) "It’s a Wonderful Life" (Jimmy Stewart):
A wonderful comedy that I'm sure most of you have seen:  I loved its treatment on the unknown chain-reaction effect of our lives revealed through the invention of Clarence, a wannabe angel.    What most viewers won't realize is that the villain (Potter) is meant to be a carcature of President Roosevelt, whom the director despised.  The movie can be hilarious at times.

(7) "What Dreams May Come" (Robin Williams):
The best movie on the afterlife, including a retrieval.  Deeply moving, but I hated the ending.  

Honorable Mention: 3 movies which won the academy award for Best Picture:
In my order or preference:
"Gandhi"
"A Man for All Seasons"
[the true storyof the martyrdom of Thomas More at the time of Henry VIII]
"Ben Hur"

Don

Thanks, Berserk!

This will be an interesting thread!
To some extent the films that move us spiritually are dependent upon where
a person is on their spiritual path.  So I hope this cannot turn into a debate. 
For example, I suppose  'Brainstorm'  was an aspiritual theme, but for me it was spiritual because it broke down the barriers of what day-to-day living is and showed our soul / mind as a co-creator and a bridge to other realities. Perhaps if I were to see it today it would not have that impact because (hopefully) I have moved on.

Bets

I Am Dude wrote on Mar 17^th, 2007 at 6:28pm:


 Verray Nizze.   Chinkuya. (dunno, sounds like ginkuyah)

Hi Don My favorite spiritual movies was GHOST with Patrick Swayzee and Demi Moore and The SIXTH SENSE with Bruce Willis.

My favorite comedy spiritual films are BLITHE SPIRIT and HAUNTED MANSION with Eddie Murphy.

Love and God bless           Love Juditha

Don

I was just joking!  Borat is only my second favorite spiritual movie.

My REAL favorite spiritual movie is The Fountain.

Dude, So was I.  But I always take the jokes of rivals with deadly seriousness!   I almost got expelled from seminary for all the practical jokes I pulled on the female students.   But these capers added high drama to our daily studies and ultimately bonded us all together in deeper friendships.

OK, just one example.   The women were all attending a concert in Hollywood.  So my buddy Lynn and I found a female spy to let us into the room of two girls we really liked.  We planted one alarm clock under their clothes in the closet and set it for 3 AM.  We placed another alarm under a bed and set it for 4 AM.  It was fun fo wait outside in the dark and see the lights suddenly come on at 3  AM!    They had no idea who did it.  But the next day, Lynn and I sat at a table next to these girls at breakfast in the cafeteria.  I remarked within earshot, "Ah, it was great to get a good night's sleep last night."  Then I stretched dramatically and the girls glared suspiciously. 

Not content with this, Lynn and I sent this memo to all students: "Due to an unforutnate incident in the women's dorm this weekend, I have no other recourse but to ban all males from entering the premises.  I am sorry to take such drastic action.  But under the circumstances, I really had no choice."  Then we carefully forged the dean's signature, "Robert M. Schaper."  In fact, we merely sent this memo to all the women and their male friends. 

It was good that we forged the dean's signature because the women checked it against the signature in the school bulletin.   Only then were they convinced that it was real.  They were outraged that their boyfriends couldn't enter their dorm and that they were being blamed for someone else's caper.  Mild mannered Christian vigilantes then formed a lynching party and stormed towards the dean's office.   Fortunately, we had tipped off his secretary about our caper.  The dean seemed to find this amusing, though he sternly warned us not to do it again.  We of course agreed.  Why would we want to pull the same stunt twice? 

That Valentine's day, we tried to make it up to our women by anonymously sending them long-stem roses.  the women thanked their boyfriends who blankly betrayed their lack of thoughfulness.   So these guys were mad at us for making them look bad.  I was only 21.  But I decided then and there that life is more fun if ou don't try to please everybody.  Hnece, my style on this site.

Don