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Silence (2016)
Is it better to apostatize if it can save lives, or is it better to become a martyr for one's faith?
The ultimate question in the movie Silence becomes that of the meaning of life: Is life here on earth the most important, or is the "life" in heaven/paradise the most important?
And the ultimate consequence is then: Is it right to deny one's god (apostatize) if one knows that it can save people from being killed? Or is it right to hold on to one's religion because of the belief that people will enter into paradise even though they will be killed (the belief in martyrdom)?
In the movie father Ferreira explains that the Japanese view is that the Church (Christianity) is not desirable as it can never produce anything good ("take root") in the Japanese society. Ferreira probably means that Christianity produces no life-affirming and strengthening ideology for the life here on earth. Instead the Christian ideology acknowledge death (but Christianity calls it "life" in heaven/paradise) and weakness (the Christian concept of sacrifice and self-denial).
The Japanese religion (mindset) is more focused on humanity than on divinity according to the film, which means that Christianity's focus on heavenly salvation never works in Japan. In traditional Japanese religion the sun is seen as the god-son that arises every morning to give life to the earth, which makes Christianity's teaching about a god-son who gives his believers life in heaven/paradise incomprehensible.
According to father Ferreira, the Japanese Christians have mixed the Christian teachings of God's Son with those of the Japanese religion, and thus do not believe in the same Jesus Christ as Western Christians do. Thus, the "martyrdom" of the Japanese Christians becomes unnecessary as they die for a different belief than the "genuine" Christianity. Thus, according to Ferreira, it is better to apostatize than to be tormented and killed unnecessarily for a misinterpreted religion.
I think that this is the only thing in the movie's theological reasoning that is vague, because how can Ferreira know that all Japanese Christians have misinterpreted the Christian teachings of the god-son? It somehow seems that this is his own excuse to say that the Christian mission in Japan is unnecessary. Or perhaps he says this to justify his own apostasy (and saving his own life). Or perhaps he is right because he has been in Japan for as long as he himself says, and therefore knows what he's talking about.
The movie creates a lot of interesting questions about religion and about the meaning of life. The settings are good and the acting is aswell, and if you're interested in history and religion you will like this movie.
Messiah (2020)
For a religious themed series it's lacking theological depth
Series starts of good, the first couple of episodes. After that it starts to go downhill. As soon as the series transfers its main story to America though it becomes more irrational. People just seems so blindly following a guy that speaks enigmatic messages and acts strangely (for example euthanizing a hurt dog when it's owners think he's going to save it, and the "Messiah" then leaves them looking sad and confused with no explanation).
What astonish me mostly is that many Christians in the series seem to believe he is Jesus who's come back. But according to Christianity the second coming will be much more dramatic with angels, miracles, power and glory. One thing is sure about the Christian doctrine about the second coming: It will be no doubt, not to anyone, who's coming back. Neither does the series' "Messiah" fit in to the messianic descriptions of the other two Abrahamic religions. But still many of the series' characters from these religions seem to believe in him too. Either all of these religious people are irrational or they do not know (or care about) the theology of their own religions.
There are several opportunities in the series where theological discussions can take place between different characters. The series lightly touch theological questions (for example if this "Messiah" is Muslim or Christian). But as often in series/movies connected to religious beliefs it focus on emotion rather than logic thinking. But perhaps it says a lot about religion: most religious people are not logic in their beliefs (if religion even can be considered logic to begin with), they believe mostly because it feels good for the individual. No harm in that though as long as no-one else gets hurt.
Many of the characters' thoughts and belief system seem irrational and as a viewer it's hard to understand what drives them to believe in this "Messiah", since it so clearly goes against the theological teachings of how the Messiah is supposed to be and what he's supposed to do (in all three Abrahamic religions). They seem to be rather weak-minded or depressed. They would benefit more from psychological help than religious faith.
For example, one irrational character is the US president (who is Mormon) who seems so easily allured by the so called Messiah that he's willing to make some really stupid political decisions that could potentionally threaten a lot of people. But no explanation is given what goes on in the president's head. Too me he just seems irrational believing in a Messiah-figure who doesn't correlate to the theological teachings about the second coming in his own religion. Either he's ignorant or stupid. In general many of the series' characters (religious or not) seems ignorant, overly emotional, labile, guided by their emotions rather than reason and intellect when it comes to their relations to the "Messiah".
The "Messiah" mentions fate a lot in the series. It seems to be a philosophical theme in the series, but belief in fate is just nonsense. What irritated me most about this is when the "Messiah" tells the judge that it was fate that gave him his profession. As a judge I would find that very offensive since it's probably many years of hard studies and work that has given him his job. But the judge just sits there and listen. Either he doesn't care about his education and hard work or he became a judge through cheating or something. It's irrational behavior if you ask me.
If I myself were either Christian, Muslim or Jewish I would be very critical to a guy with Messiah-complex, just as critical as I am as a non-religious. Is the storyline of this series what really would happen to people if a person comes, holds a few speeches about peace and love and performs "miracles" that can't be proven to be real? Aren't people smarter than that nowadays? Are people so easily manipulated? What happened to critical thinking and reason?
I think the acting in the series is ok. The settings are good too, especially the ones in the Middle-East. The series works like a thriller at some parts which are the best. The lack of deeper theological discussions about messianic teachings (which would be good in a series with obvious religious connections) and about what drives the characters to believe or doubt makes the series a lot weaker.
Eli (2019)
Poor boy Eli didn't even need treatment in the first place!
The whole reason for the story is full of plot holes. We learn in the last act of the movie that Eli isn't sick after all. He doesn't have a immunity disease. He doesn't seem to suffer from the fact that he's Satan's son either (lol, that plot in this movie is almost ridiculously funny, not scary), which we see in the end of the movie when he sits down in the car. He's fine.
So if his parents would've let him grow up like any healthy kid (instead of lying to him that he has a immune disease) he would never have had to go through the horrible treatments in the facility. He would've been spared so much suffering! The only reason Eli goes berserk in the final act is because he's afraid and angry, and he takes it out on the persons that have scared him. I'd say it's a valid reaction.
So the hole plot for the movie is basically useless. Besides that the acting is pretty good. The scary parts aren't super scary but the ghosts are pretty well done I think.
Lambs of God (2019)
Utter psychotic nonsense!
Are the nuns suppose to be the good guys in this series? With some kind of 'feminist sisterhood' theme in mind, honoring their convent and their 'holy mother' (it seems more like a nature goddess of some sort than the virgin Mary) against the patriarchal catholic church (represented by the priest)? That was my first impression.
At first I can sort of accept their strange customs, for example the sheep slaughtering and using its blood in som kind of perverted eucharistic meal. The convent have been without contact with the church for a long time and therefore probably have developed its own strange theology, for example the belief that lambs that are born are reincarnated religious sisters.
But as the series move on it becomes clear that the nuns are total psychos who seems to find new cruel methods by each day to keep the priest from returning to the mainland and report about their convent. In a rage, after the youngest nun puts her hand on him (he's tied down), he blames women (and specifically the nuns) for being 'cause of sin'. It's classic Christian theology about the sinfulness of women. Not very nice.
BUT WTF, COULD YOU BLAME HIM!? He's being restrained, abused, getting his hair cut of, tied down to the ground in a cruxifiction-like position by the nuns!
The nuns find out that the plans are to build a fancy hotel complex on the island (but preserving the convent ruins as a special hotel experience). And the nuns become obsessed with preserving their weird semi-christian monastic lives in the dilapitated ruins.
The priest is no saint either. But these nuns doesn't know anything about that. They are just crazy psychopaths, and probably schizofrenic too because the 'see' tings and hear voices. And they are so bound to their vows to stay in their convent that they cannot even take the priest to the hospital after the youngest nun tries to kill him. Since when does a nun consider such vows to be more holy than saving a human life!?
In the end it turns out that it's the other priests and clerics that are the real scums of the series. Of course it is the men who are the bad guys after all. The nuns learn that the priest they are holding captive is actually a pretty decent guy (but first he has to 'become a sister', one of them and his even called 'my daughter' by one of the elderly nuns). The priest starts to like the nuns aswell though. The priest and the youngest nun even have some makeup sex in the end. Lovey-dovey.
The only really sane people in the series is the priest's sister who tries her best to find him when he goes missing, and the policeman helping her.
The series is utter NONSENSE! It was hard to care about any of the characters. Almost everyone seems crazy, depressed, selfish, confused and ignorant.
Personally I'd much rather see a nice hotel with a fantastic convent ruin at that beautiful island than preserving some odd, blood-drinking religious order. The nuns could just have moved some place else (as they were offered when the priest first arrived to the convent). But then, it would've been hard for them to sacrifice sheeps and drink their blood in some other 'normal' convent. Idiots.