Moral movies awarded
2005. The Passion of the Christ (Pictured) and The Incredibles feature in the Arts and Faith Film Critics Circle winners for 2004 film releases.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dogville, and Vera Drake also feature prominently in the end of year list voted by Christian print and Internet movie critics.
The Critics Circle’s facilitator Jeffrey Overstreet says on matthewshouseproject.com that 2004 offered “an amazing variety of films to consider, many of which were very controversial and contained volatile elements that drew us to respect and praise titles that we might not exactly recommend to all audiences.”
The Arts and Faith Film Critics Circle seeks to encourage revealing and intelligent dialogue about the human experience by applying Christian perspectives to film through reviews and discussion.
The group strives to develop “a stronger presence of mature, intelligent film criticism by Christian writers in the cultural dialogue on cinema”, including in print and the Internet, and to provide community, resources, and challenges to Christian film critics on the Internet.
The Passion of the Christ, which retells the 12 hours up until Jesus Christ’s death, was runner up in the category of Most Significant Exploration of Spiritual Issues which was won by Dogville.
Maia Morgenstern, who played Mary, won second place in the supporting actress category for The Passion of the Christ.
Mr Overstreet wrote in his review that Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern is a strong, believable, sympathetic Mary. “The intuitive mother/son bond between her and Christ plays more intensely than I have ever imagined it.” The Passion of the Christ also came away with Best Cinematography.
Dogville, centering a story on a woman on the run from gangsters, who finds solace in a small town, garnered Best Director and runner-up for Best Ensemble and Best Supporting Actor John Hurt.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about lovers who have the memory of their life together wiped away by a psychiatrist, won for Best Narrative Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Best family film went to the three-dimensional computer-animated Pixar production The Incredibles and runner-up, the multiple Academy Award nominated Finding Neverland.
By Peter Veugelaers
Published 2005, Challenge Weekly
Pete's Eclectic Flying Machine 