It’s been a busy, busy spring - so much so that I keep forgetting to post updates. These last few months I’ve had the privilege of continuing to contribute to Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. I’m very grateful to hosts Thomas Mirus and James Majewski for continuing to have me back to offer film-related thoughts - sometimes slow-cooked, sometimes half-baked.
Here’s a roundup of recent episodes I participated in…
In January, we covered Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice (1986). I’ve long held this to be Tarkovsky ‘worst’ major film, which is to say it is slightly less than his others, but revisiting it this year proved revelatory. It’s an incredible, uncompromising final word from a truly unique soul.
In February, we discussed Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (1955). A masterful film, and yet one which did not connect with me as fully on this viewing as it did over a decade ago.
I flailed a bit in this episode while trying to explain why. A few months later, I still have trouble articulating my response. It has something to do with the script’s orientation to the presence and action of grace in our fallen world. What I think I perceived, at least, was the sense that in this particular filmic world, grace is only known by the in-breaking of the rare, alien, miraculous event. But, if you look at the world with sacramental eyes - seeing the goodness of created things sing forth God’s presence and, in particular cases, becoming the matter for sacraments themselves - then Dreyer’s vision (which is likely just being faithful to its source material, a play by the Lutheran minister Kaj Munk) seems quite cold and austere, even while it affirms the reality of the Christian God. Thus do I find this formally mesmerizing and uplifting work to be a bit bittersweet.
All that being the case, it was still a profound pleasure to revisit Ordet and discuss it with Thomas and James. I hope you’ll enjoy the conversation.
Finally, in April, we discussed Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (1945). Revisiting this was a treat, as it has been quite a while since I did my first neorealism run. The simplicity of Rossellini in each of his particular epochs (Neorealism, the Bergman / faith films, the 60s/70s history films) is always refreshing, and Rome, Open City is no exception: crisp, humane, heroic, and sincere. It was a pleasure to contemplate the film with Rome-based historian Elizabeth Lev.
What’s next? Stay tuned for Criteria’s epic-length Vatican Film List wrap episode, which will be arriving very soon. We left no stone unturned in concluding the three year journey of watching the films of the Vatican Film List.
Until then, happy watching and listening. Thanks for reading.