It could be argued that religion is highly photogenic. All kinds of religions can be beautifully aesthetic, with elaborate and ornate temples and cathedrals, colorful clothing, and powerful music. The millennia of great religious art testifies to this, so it’s no wonder that filmmakers, too, sometimes turn to religion for inspiration.
Indeed, some of the earliest movies were made in the religious register, from the Salvation Army’s 1900 production of Soldiers of the Cross to Alice Guy-Blache’s gorgeousThe Birth, the Death, and the Life of Christ from 1906. Since then, cinema has utilized the rich histories and ecstasies of different religions to tell great stories that have moved audiences of differing, if any, faith backgrounds . Some have practically become their own religions in the process, like J.J. Abrams and Star Wars. A great religious film taps into the feelings and passions of specific beliefs, exploring the meaningful rituals and lives within them and teaching audiences a thing or two in the process. These are some of the best films with religious themes.
10 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is a quiet Buddhist film that patiently observes the growth and maturity of a young student training to be a monk, almost entirely within the setting of a small temple floating on a lake. The poignancy and spiritual power of the film has moved people of all persuasions. In fact, non-believer Roger Ebert once wrote of the film, “We are moved and comforted by its story of timelessness, of the transcendence of the eternal.” The cycles of seasons and lives in Kim Ki-duk’s film flow into each other, radiating the wisdom of ancient teaching while revealing the noble truths of Buddhism.
9 Malcolm X
Via: Warner Bros.
Spike Lee’s biopic of the notorious but often misrepresented human rights activist that contains a refreshingly authentic look into Islam. The arc of Denzel Washington’s character, from hateful criminal to Black Panther to devout and loving Muslim, depicts one of the greatest processes of religious conversion ever portrayed on film, thanks to both his phenomenal performance and Lee’s detailed research.
8 Dogma
Image via Lionsgate Films and Miramax
There is an important component of religion which often goes unmentioned– humor; anyone who has heard the Dalai Lama laugh, or seen a platypus, surely concurs. Kevin Smith’s Dogma opens with just this sentiment, disclaiming that “even God has a sense of humor” before launching into an epic and hilarious Catholic quest. Along the way, a cavalcade of clever celebrity performances, aided by the quotidian wit of Smith’s script, reminds viewers of all faiths that spirituality is often healthiest when playful.
7 Fiddler on the Roof
United Artists
Cinema owes a great deal to Judaism, as Jewish immigrants were largely responsible for the creation and flourishing of Hollywood. Many masterpieces are based on Jewish stories, but Fiddler on the Roof may be the most comprehensive film about Judaism. Released seven years after the blockbuster musical, Norman Jewison’s film details the rituals, traditions, and struggles of Jewish life through the lens of family, which has always been central to the Jewish tradition.
6 First Reformed
A24
Paul Schrader has always shared a similar obsession with religion as his frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese, and First Reformed is his most explicit and provocatively religious film to date. Drawing from spiritual classics like Winter Light and Diary of a Country Priest, Schrader tells the tale of a Protestant minister caught up in doubt as he witnesses his church succumb to political and corporate influences. Locating faith within the modern world of climate change and dirty politicians, this sometimes strange movie is an urgent meditation on suffering and compassion which appeals to viewers both with and without faith.
5 Andrei Rublev
Mosfilm
Andrei Rublev is a massive spiritual biography of one of Russia’s greatest religious painters, created by one of Russia’s greatest spiritual filmmakers, Andrei Tarkovsky. The film grapples with deep questions of Christianity, suffering, church and state, while also powerfully suggesting the spiritual potential of art itself. Tarkovsky guides audiences through Eastern Orthodox monasteries, villages, and seminaries, focusing on the interesting intersection of faith and art, which is exactly where this film resides.
4 The Last Temptation of Christ
Image via Universal Pictures
Though viscerally protested against as blasphemous upon release, The Last Temptation of Christ creates one of cinema’s most illuminating and personal portrait of Jesus of Nazareth. Martin Scorsese discovers in Christ the greatest manifestation of the filmmaker’s perpetual struggle between the profane and the sacred– Christ is at once both divine God and dirty human; Christ is bloodied and killed, and yet risen and ascended. No other film portrays the utter humanity of Christ in a way which elucidates his temptations and suffering and, in doing so, reveals ours.
3 The Passion of Joan of Arc
Image via Société Générale des Films
Carl Dreyer’s silent film mesmerizes with its haunting close-ups of intense performances and uncomfortably personal direction, and acts as both an indictment of the institutional church and a celebration of the passion and zeal of spiritual legends. Renee Falconetti’s portrayal of Joan has been called “the greatest acting performance in movie history” by the Daily Beast and others for a reason– her work carries so much spiritual weight and conviction here, channeling countless martyrs and persecuted women in her searing, magnetic gaze. This is one of the greatest film about the many saints.
2 A Hidden Life
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life tells the story of Franz Jagerstatter, the martyred Austrian who was a conscientious objector during World War II and refused to sign the required oath of allegiance to Hitler. Situating itself in the long and inspiring tradition of non-violence in religion, this is a jaw-droppingly beautiful film about what faith looks like, Malick’s best since The Tree of Life. Later beatified by the Catholic church, the pacifist’s story is a testament to both the danger and passion of choosing God over Nation, love over hate, and peace over war.
1 Silence
Paramount Pictures
The aforementioned Martin Scorsese returned to religion four decades after his Last Temptation with this astonishing update of Shusaku Endo’s novel (and Masahiro Shinoda’s film) Silence. One of the best representations of the danger, commitment, and horror of evangelism and missions work, Silence pulls no punches in its often brutal vision of the clash of cultures which always occurred when Catholicism attempted to convert people of other faiths. Despite the despair in the film, and the serious questions it asks about faith, it is grounded by the deep empathy and passion which live in the heart of religious experiences. This is a thought-provoking spiritual masterpiece, one which is representative of the deep complexities and difficulties of religion and faith.
