Movie lists are a dime a dozen – and that’s how it should be! Just as a sea without a sandy beach lacks something, a multitude of rankings is more attractive than a film discourse with a single block of granite for orientation. (Or something.)
Anyone who is also familiar with sometimes more, sometimes less rounded similarities is the Vatican. He also discussed films on the occasion of an anniversary in detail: In 1995, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications published a list of 45 films worth watching. And this list has some surprising entries!
A birthday gift from the Vatican to the medium of film
The stumbling block was the centenary of the first film screening of the Lumière brothers. Pope John Paul II celebrated this milestone by praising cinema and the film industry as a positive influence on society. To celebrate the anniversary beyond these words, John Patrick Foley, then Vatican communications chief and cardinal of the Curia, convened an international commission.
She was tasked with selecting 45 notable films from a film studies perspective: 15 each that could be assigned to the subject of religion, values or art. The modesty with which the list was presented is special. Even the official Italian title “Alcuni film importanti” (“Some important films”) suggests a moderate self-image.
This impression was reinforced by the explanatory comments of the Pontifical Council: they explicitly emphasized that the selection does not represent a complete canon set in stone.but there are films just as worth seeing as the works on the list – but you couldn’t list every successful film and had to select them. The Vatican certainly won’t win a heated debate among angry film fans – his selection includes some titles that appear on many standard best lists!
Cinema makes it possible: the Vatican recommends the theory of evolution
An example of this can be found in the Art subject section: Stanley Kubrick’s Science Fiction Masterpiece “2001: A space odyssey“. This choice comes as quite a surprise, as Kubrick’s critically acclaimed classic implicitly shows that humans are descended from apes – thus touching on a scientific fact that some strict believers oppose.
For the same reason, the inclusion of an animated masterpiece is surprising: “Fantasy“. Dedicated to the fusion of classical music and breathtaking animated visuals, the Walt Disney production features a chapter chronicling Earth’s early history to the sounds of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” – including the evolution of early single- cell organisms to dinosaurs.
This passage was sharply criticized by Christian conservative circles during the film’s original theatrical release in 1940.. Therefore, it is surprising that the Vatican included “Fantasia” in the art category of its (quasi-)canon.
The complete art list: where ‘Nosferatu’ stands shoulder to shoulder with Mickey Mouse
The complete Vatican list in the art category includes, in addition to the Mickey Mouse star vehicle “Fantasia” and “2001: A Space Odyssey”, FW Murnau’s horror milestone “Nosferatu, a symphony of horror“the socially critical science fiction masterpiece “Metropolis“ by Fritz Lang and Abel Gance’s historical epic, which lasts more than 300 minutes “Napoleon“.
The art section also includes George Cukor’s family drama “Four sisters“ (an adaptation of the classic novel “Little Women”), the comedic genius of Charlie Chaplin “modern times“that blends the boundaries between silent and sound films, as does Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane“without which virtually no best movie list can do.
The Vatican also recommends the war drama “The great illusion“ by Jean Renoir, considered one of the greatest French films of all time, and John Ford’s grueling western “Ringo“ and the British theft comedy “Happiness came overnight“ by Charles Crichton.
The list also contains Italian milestones that also contain some suggestive moments “La Strada – The song of the street“ And “Eight and a half“ from Federico Fellini, the influential musical by Victor Fleming “The Wizard of Oz“ and Luchino Visconti’s beautiful costume film epic “The leopard“.
The full list of values: Kurosawa, Spielberg and Bergman
The values section of the Vatican film list also lists some productions that are generally respected. It contains the neorealist classics of Vittorio De Sica “Bicycle thieves“, “Rome, open city“ by Roberto Rossellini and the directorial works of Ingmar Bergman “The seventh seal“ And “Wild Strawberries“ various titles that also regularly appear in the best lists of prestigious publications such as to happen.
Also Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List“ and Akira Kurosawa’s pessimistic cultural parable “Uzala, the Kyrgyz“ are regulars on lists of classic films, as is Frank Capra’s Christmas evergreen “Life is great, isn’t it?“ and Elia Kazan’s emotionally charged drama “The fist in the neck“.
And even though many film historians have a passion for the bombast silent film of DW Griffith “bigotry“ has waned in recent decades: the film is still respected for its production efforts – and in the mid-1990s it wasn’t a particularly surprising entry on such a film list.
Also respected, although not often represented at the top of the best film lists of all time, are the war films selected by the Vatican as recommended “The harp of Burma“ by Kon Ichikawa, the poverty drama by Ermanno Olmi “The clog tree“the sports movie classic “The winner’s hour“ by Hugh Hudson, the biopic of Richard Attenborough “Gandhi“ and the multi-award winning Holocaust film “Goodbye, children“ by Louis Malle.
Moreover, the Vatican cheated a bit and included a ten-part film series in its list. But this is certainly one of the most revered film series of all time: Krzysztof Kieślowski’s, originally produced for Polish television “Decalogue”in which a film is dedicated to each of the Ten Commandments.
The Complete Religion List: Not Just Bible Adaptations!
As expected, this list contains no shortage of adaptations of Biblical material. This genre of film is represented by the 44-minute early film work “La vie et la passion de Jesus Christ” by Ferdinand Zecca and Lucien Nonguet and by Pier Paolo Pasolinis “The 1st Gospel – Matthew“ stand for.
In addition, the list contains “The Passion of the Virgin of Orleans“ by Carl Theodor Dreyer and his thoughtful masterpiece “The word“Maurice Cloches “Mr Vincentius“ on the founding of modern Caritas, Rossellini “Francis, the deceiver of God“the satire “Nazarin” from surrealist mastermind Luis Buñuel and the visually stunning monumental adventure “Ben Hur“ by William Wyler.
The list continues with Fred Zinnemann’s historical drama “A man for every season“Andrei Tarkovsky’s acclaimed medieval epic “Andrei Rublev“ as well as being visually powerful and spiritual “Victim“and through the drama of Roland Joffé “mission“. The selection is completed by Liliana Cavanis “Francis“ with Mickey Rourke as Francis of Assisi, “Therese“ by Alain Cavalier about Saint Therese of Lisieux and a classic of gastronomic cinema:
“Babette’s party“ by Gabriel Axel, who caused a sensation with one of the most beautiful parties in film history and became extremely popular far beyond religious circles. However, we don’t know about how festive it would be to watch the (over) 45 Vatican-highlighted films while enjoying the treats of Babette’s Feast.