The Religious Film: Christianity and the Hagiopic

Lush, vaguely liturgical music floods the theater. A sonorous offscreen male voice slowly articulates the words, “And it was written…” or “In the year….” On the screen, clouds mysteriously separate, and a semi-transparent figure appears in the sky . . . This is the religious film.

Conventional films about religious heroes are instantly recognizable, and average filmgoers can easily identify the most common sounds and images and, more significantly, the values that most traditional films of this kind uphold: unquestioning faith, chastity, virtuous suffering, and the superiority of one religion over all others.

The Religious Film is a welcome introduction to this complex and iconic genre of film. Pamela Grace provides historical, cultural and critical background for religious films from the silent era through today, and explores the genre in its many guises – as spectacle, as musical, and as controversy. From The Gospel According to Matthew to Jesus Christ Superstar, from The Passion of Joan of Arc to The Last Temptation of Christ and Jesus of Montreal, The Religious Film captures the glory, gore, and centrality of this important genre.