I’m just now getting into the spiritual and intellectual work I associate with Lent. Barring some quick epiphanies, this work will stretch into the Easter season.
Here are some of the things I’m planning to read and watch. No real curriculum here, just what’s on one man’s shelf.
- The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky (also planning to read the recent thesis “The Sister Karamazov: Dorothy Day’s Encounter with Dostoevsky’s Novel” by Michael H. Hebbeler)
- Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by Hume
- The Gospel of Luke
- News reports on the Catholic church’s German child-rape scandals
- The Last Temptation of Christ (have not seen this, though I signed a petition against it when it came out, something I’ve some to regret)
- Jesus of Montreal (have not seen this in years, and have mixed memories)
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew (have not seen this)
If anything else comes in handy I’ll add comments or maybe a second post. Probably 2001 (my favorite movie) and Breaking the Waves (my favorite religious film, though not for everybody–I freaked out a friend yesterday just explaining the plot) will find their way onto my screen.
I liked the soundtrack of “Last Temptation” and I thought Bowie made a pretty good Pontius Pilate. It’s long and there’s some interesting twists and turns – DaFoe is a neurotic Jesus and Keitel is a badass Judas.
Jim Forest has a fascinating interview on his blog about an Orthodox priest who converted after seeing Pasolini’s Jesus if you haven’t read it yet it’s here:
http://jimandnancyonpilgrimage.blogspot.com/2010/03/searching-for-kitezh.html
Hume was pretty close to the Buddhists as I recall, with his theory about consciousness, ness pah?
Oh, I would have totally signed a petition against “Last Temptation” — for wasting two perfectly good hours that I’ll never be able to get back. I found it really annoying (not in a theological way, though I don’t really agree with the worldview of the movie) — the acting was lousy, I didn’t think the cinematography was all that swift, though I do recall really liking the female chin tattoos later on in the movie. (But perhaps my prejudice against anything that features Harvey Keitel affects my perspective on the movie…) I’d be interested to hear your take on it.
The only film of Pasolini I’ve seen is Oedipus Rex, which I loved, and I’ve been meaning to watch more of his films, so this might be that push…
“Gospel According to Matthew” would make a great double feature with “Flowers of St. Francis.”
Thanks for posting “I Wish I Saw Tom Lewis Last Night.” And to Matt Fox. Fitting tribute