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Reviews
40 Nights (2016)
Fascinating Look at Key Time Christ's Life
According to all four gospels in the Christian New Testament, the primary pivotal time in Jesus' life and ministry was his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Before this act, Jesus was just a "face in the crowd" at least outwardly. Possibly he was just another disciple of John, maybe even one so nondescript, he wasn't even worth writing or talking about.
All of this changed when Jesus emerged from the water in John's arms. At this point he had a vision from God. The impact on Jesus was so great , he had to go into the wilderness afterward for 40 days of fasting and praying to help him reflect on and process this experience. What was this vision and its impact on Jesus? The Gospels describe his vision (mainly of a dove descending from heaven) but don't really tell us what was going on in Jesus' mind during this time of radical inward change. What we do know is that after this time was over, Jesus immediately began preaching his (and our) Gospel of love and peace.
So we see this profound outward radicalization of Christ's life but get nothing of his thoughts on the matter, at least from the Gospels. The film "40 Nights" seeks to fill in these gaps during his desert time and speculates on how Jesus realized his calling and decided what to do next. Ingeniously, the film gives us this information by "filling in" Jesus' personal reactions to his subsequent temptations in the desert. The gospels have Jesus react to Satan's temptations by quoting scripture from the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible). What do these quotes mean in their context? Why is Jesus saying these things? What do these reactions say about Jesus' thoughts and feelings about these "mere" scripture verses? Most importantly, what was Jesus thinking while he wasn't encountering Satan.
The Bible is silent on these questions. For centuries Bible scholars, church leaders and theologians have speculated on these questions (and questioned Jesus' personal reactions to other events in his life). In the tradition of such scholarship, "40 Nights" seeks answer these questions simply, by reasonably speculating on what was going on in his mind during this time. Naturally this film uses visual imagery to portray Jesus' thoughts, focusing on his reaction to Satan's attempts to suborn him. You may agree or disagree with what you see and hear, but the results are both moving and at the same time biblical and revealing. How would you react to such "divine" visions and personal revelations? "40 Nights" shows a plausible interpretation of the human side of Christ, the side most of us can best relate to, including Jesus' astonishment at realizing His true message and, most importantly, who he really is. The film's basic story line shows us Christ's baptism and Jesus' subsequent time in the wilderness. This lonely experience brought Jesus to three profound temptations from "the devil." Christians have interpreted these "visions" variously as either real temptations from a real Satan or as metaphors for his inner thoughts and feelings, or both. "40 Nights" chooses to focus on the metaphorical side of the temptations as Jesus journeys through the desert encountering visions of phony "what do I do next" ideas courtesy of Satan himself.
"40 Nights" did a wonderful job of showing Jesus as human, including flashbacks to Jesus' past. Most Christian movies, literature and teaching never do this. Christ's being the son of God was faithfully rendered but not trumpeted. It's good that the film showed what Jesus experienced personally. Instead of trying to turn this tale into a trite "biblical epic," the film focuses on Jesus' interactions, memories and personal internal battles. I especially liked the film's showing that Jesus' temptation in the wilderness was not just a prologue for his ministry but also part of his preparation for death on the cross. In its symbolism, this film's story shows one man's search for faith and God-given strength while he sets off on a journey of fasting to prepare his soul for sacrifice. Of course some artistic license was taken to fill in gaps not shown in the Bible. But hey, the movie is never as good as the book, right? Still, the film was careful to be faithful to the biblical accounts.
In essence, the film boils down to a personal drama, a character study if you like, seeking to reveal Jesus' internal conflicts and struggles. You will either agree with its portrayal or not, but you cannot argue that it doesn't show reverence for its subject. "40 Nights" is a film that inspires, no matter whether the viewer is believer. In essence, it is a thought-provoking and challenging attempt to glimpse the soul of Christ.
Although the "action" is at times a bit slow, I found that some of these moments actually gave me good personal time to reflect on what the film was actually trying to say. I really enjoyed the landscape and scenic shots. I got a profound sense of the natural ruggedness and spiritual solitude of the desert. Certainly DJ Perry does an excellent job portraying Christ. In addition to being entertaining, "40 Nights" is a good study tool for any church Christian education program. Watch it, think about it and enjoy it. Share it with others. Above all, you can use it as a way to help with your own personal journey in Christ.
An Ordinary Killer (2003)
A veteran detective searches for a serial killer in Michigan over many years and comes to a deeper understanding of human nature and himself.
I was enthralled by "An Ordinary Killer," the story of a search for a serial murderer, and frankly, I'm usually I'm much put off by all the "serial killer" movies we get flooded with all the time. This one, though, was different (and based on a true story). It was more than just a whodunit or a "sympathy for the victims' friends and family" type film, though those elements were there. DJ Perry does an excellent job playing a detective, Lynn Kendall, who doggedly looks for a criminal that knows no bounds of "ordinary" human decency. However, the murderer does not seem like an evil monster either but just a plain somebody like you and me. Kendall ultimately comes to realize the potential monster lurks in all of us, though cloaked in everyday garb. His slow realization of this truth forms his arc as a character. Kendall, instead of becoming cynical, ends with hope, knowing that although the beast lurks within humanity, there is also heroism and sacrifice in us all, which triumphs over this evil. "An Ordinary Killer," though not a "big story" or complex drama, is not just an "ordinary" murder mystery either. At it heart, it's a morality tale, a voyage of discovery that urges us onward to see the good, as well as evil, residing in every human soul.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Excellent Social Commentary and Shakespearean Themes
YOUNG HAMLET BECOMES PROSPERO -- Rarely do you ever see a film that combines quality wit and satire, savaging the weaknesses and poverty of values in our modern society, along with drama and tragedy worthy of being called "Shakespearean." Incredibly, this is exactly the beautiful and seamless combination "Donnie Darko" achieves. In addition, it is an example of film-making (including directing, acting, writing, and production) at its very best.
I won't summarize the plot or comment on the story. Others who have posted reviews on this site have done this admirably. I want to comment that the film emphasizes major themes in Shakespearean tragedy plus an additional "magical" element.
To give a short English lesson, Shakespearean tragedy has the following basic elements:
1. The hero has to die in the end (there can be more than one hero, as in Romeo and Juliet).
2. For the most part, the hero creates his own conditions. He always dies in some way by his own doing, either by outright suicide (Brutus in Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet) or by in some way actively bringing on his own death (Macbeth and Hamlet). Individual free will is important in Shakespeare as opposed to "fate" in the Greek tragedies.
3. His death is not meaningless or negative, but rather an act of sacrifice, an action to right a wrong, an act of justice, or some major symbol of love or "rightness."
4. Through the hero's death, the family, community, nation, (pick one or more) world becomes a better place. In this sense the tragedy concludes with a positive "catharsis" (to use the literary term).
5. An overall personal, externally controlled order exists in the universe, which the tragedy reaffirms. Call it God, divine justice, force for good, or whatever. Shakespeare was probably not a traditional Christian in any sense, but he most likely did believe in some notion of God, a God very much in control of the universe.
In "Donnie Darko" the first four elements are clearly present. But the story makes it clear that Donnie and most of the other characters (recall the conversation with the physics teacher who says he can't talk about God or lose his job) are generally agnostic. I get the feeling that, as far as the filmmaker is concerned, the jury on God's existence is very much out.
Interestingly, there's also an element of the supernatural in several of Shakespeare's tragedies (and in many of his other plays). This is not present in all of them, but witness the witches in Macbeth or the ghosts in Julius Caesar and Hamlet. The time travel element in "Donnie Darko" falls very much in this same category. What Shakespeare would have called "a magical story" we call "science fiction."
In addition, however, you have to look at Shakespeare's Prospero in "The Tempest" to find that Donnie combines elements of Hamlet AND Prospero. Prospero is a magician who discovers great powers and could easily become a god or misuse these powers for selfish purposes. Instead, Prospero uses these powers one last time, to benefit the person he loves most in his life. Then, he renounces them once and for all because he realizes being an ordinary human being willing to sacrifice the ultimate is the VERY BEST a person can be in this life.
I only want to say one more thing in terms of social commentary, the central symbol of our society, in the film, is endlessly jumping on a trampoline. This is continuous motion, effort, and "busy-ness" that goes nowhere. It's also a metaphor for time travel certainly (still in space but motion in time), yet the image of jumping up and down meaninglessly all the time also echoes the "Mad World" idea where people "run in circles" going nowhere.
Donnie is able to transcend all of this and reach the sublime through sacrifice. As Joseph Campbell has said, "Sacrifice is bliss." This is the profound bliss Donnie attains by the end of the film.