related to The birth, childhood, life, miracles, passion and death of our Lord Jesus ChristRuled by the French in 1907 Ferdinand Zeccauntil Dear Maud, performed by rose glass passed in 2019 112 years and many social changes which throughout history religion played a key role. This presence of god in cinemaIt allows us to weave a story that leaves a mark, either as a reflection of the beliefs of the moment and a means of brainwashing, or as a figure seen with irony or even associated with science fiction. an evolution in the seventh art.
This is how José F. Cámara Sempere, technical architect and deputy director of Cineclub Luis Buñuel, saw it and collected in a book how the topic of God was handled. 50 films from different periods of history. Title Long live analysis! It will be presented on Wednesday, 28th at 19:00 at the Pynchon&Co bookstore with the participation of Elche filmmaker Chema García Ibarra, who deals with the subject in his film. Holy Spirit.
The author began to think that, despite the volume of production, there was “a more global god of all religions” that encompassed all faiths. He adhered to Catholicism and Protestantism. The most complicated thing, first of all, was the selection, taking into account that it was viewed during quarantine. “It was difficult imprisoned and start watching movies about God and existentialism… when I see The Seventh Seal It’s not very heartwarming that Ingmar Bergman wrote about the black plague and you’re home because of an epidemic. For this reason, he says he alternates with movies like. hangover in Las Vegas“make peace with life”.
discoveries
Thanks to that movie “parade”, it was reinventing the unlisted movies. Word Exploring Carl Theodor Dreyer and others like him Love related to Robert Rossellini anyone My god!An American film from 1977, not released in Spain, is “funny” and “very satisfying” because it “goes beyond the conventions of the representation of God in the cinema.”
During these years, the treatment of this religious figure evolved at the same time as society. “From life is good From Capra, where God is a voice in heaven, to harder things DogmaThe concept, written by Kevin Smith, played by Alanis Morissette, that God is a singing woman, is changing ».
Humor, horror and science fiction
And he did it out of faith. humor approach, horror and even science fiction. « Humor in the 70s by Woody Allen or Mel brookswho started to think about the subject with irony and sarcasm” and then Monty Python with Brian’s life. In the opinion of Cámara Sempere, buel and its surrealism Milky Way (1969). “He was an atheist, but he had a very strong Catholic background, and it’s brought to the screen with surrealism but with a lot of humor.”
It was definitely Buñuel who marked the change, “but since he had a Mexican and French career, then in Spain Carlos Saura was drinking Buñuel root. mother and wolves, where he speaks of God from the perspective of terror». These films “was a turning point in the way it tackled the subject, and Almodóvar and other directors are drinking from it.”
One of the approaches in the 70s was definitely terrorism… «He’s already pointing. Marcellin, bread and wine in 1955, but this marks the change Aguirre, the wrath of God (1972), by Werner Herzog and above all Spiritualist (1973), by William Friedkin. From there, “the opposite seems to be linked to the devil, and people are starting to talk about God from a less idyllic, how beautiful perspective, and that’s also a turning point.”
In addition, there is another element that came into play in the 70s, which is science fiction. “Both Spielberg and Third stage matches and even MEAT, like Godard inside I greet you, MariaThey associate God with aliens.
«Directors pasolini anyone bergmann While having a conflict with God, like any other aldovar“Even though they are not Catholic, there is a certain religious culture in their films,” he says.