We are in the middle of the Year of Faith. When it started, I saw a lot of bloggers pondering what books to read. I agree art is a great vehicle to help us understand Catholicism. What about movies? Are there certain movies we can watch that will help us grow in our faith during the Year of Faith?
I found a list with the Fifty Best Catholic Movies of all time. When I read the title, I assumed they would be very pious movies like the ‘Song of Bernadette‘ and ‘Into The Great Silence‘. That was not the case. I will share the first ten movies on the list:
- The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorcese, 1993)
- Angels with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz, 1938)
- The Assisi Underground (Alexander Ramati, 1984)
- Au Revoir, Les Enfants (Louis Malle, 1987)
- The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1936)
- Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987)
- Bachelor Mother (Garson Kanin, 1939)
- Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1947)
- Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1992)
- Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
You can find the entire list, with short excerpts of what the movie is about on Catholic Culture.
I have to admit I only have seen one movie out of these ten. Babette’s Feast is an awesome movie, set in Denmark after the French Revolution. Two spinsters, who are very Protestant, hire a French cook to commemorate the 100th birthday of their father, who was an important Protestant minister founding his own branch of Lutheranism, if memory serves me correctly. Slowly, but surely we find out that not everything is what it seems.
Since I liked ‘Babette’s Feast’ a LOT, I can’t wait to watch the others on the list. Is there a Catholic movie you loved, but isn’t on the list? Share it in the comments below!
The Mission and John Bosco (2004) are definitely the best ones.
I can’t believe I forgot “Becket” (1964, with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole). Great movie!
I agree that “The Mission” should be on the list, really excellent movie! ” Of Gods and Men” was very good, too. I also agree with Jim that “Monsieur Vincent” was good even though it is an old movie and in French!
Watching “Into Great Silence” is really a challenge, but a tribute to the film-makers and subject that we could sit through (and actually like) a movie that lasts three hours but has at most 10 minutes of dialogue!
For me my two favourite Catholic movies were Monsieur Vincent, from 1947 and the more recent Of Gods and Men. Incidentally, both of these films are from France.
Bachelor Mother is fantastic (as is the remake, Bundle of Joy). I never thought about it as being a Catholic film but I can see how it would be considered one.
Au Revoir, Les Enfants is a great film as well. It’s in French (as you might’ve guessed from the title) and it takes place during WWII. Most of the film takes place at a Catholic boarding school. Tissues are needed for this one.
The Rite. Had to see it after the news article in The Criterion.
Bad Lieutenant
I’m glad that some of my favorites are on the list, like the Hitchcock, De Sica (Bicycle Thief is one of my all-time favorites) and Rossellini films, but I would have liked to see Of Gods & Men, The Keys of the Kingdom, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, The Mission and The Bells of St. Mary.
It looks like a list in which Catholic virtue is instilled within a secular framework (Marriage is sacred, care for less fortunate…).
CASABLANCA, of course, is one of the greatest movies ever made. Be prepared that it has a good ten minutes of exposition before Bogart enters the film.
That said, BACHELOR MOTHER is a complete hoot!!! A new (to me) Christmas classic! David Niven at his most klutsy! An absolute riot.
I’ll check out the rest later.