Why Dear Movies?

Jesus told stories. He entered into our ordinary lives and taught us something deeper: family inheritance, care for the battered, labourers looking for work, a widow pestering an unjust judge…  We have always liked this kind of storytelling.

We look for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theatre, in poetry and novels. What about, Lights…, Camera… Faith? How can the movies we enjoy contribute to our exploring values, gain insights into the spirituality of daily living and of more demanding challenges?

The 20^th century was the movie century.  Then it had to make allowance for the screen in the home, television. Then video cassettes, DVDs, a greater availability of movies. And now, at the touch of a tip of the finger, we have more movies than we can watch, movies and series streaming, movies whenever we want them.

101 movies have been chosen and the author writes to them, begins a conversation with each of them, opening up some of their themes, their way of telling stories, their role as fables and parables. He also shares what each movie means to him – then this could mean something more to the reader, discovering their dear movies, whether the movie can be described as ‘art-house’ or as multiplex entertainment.

There has been a great tradition of Lectio Divina (Godly Spiritual reading) throughout the Christian centuries.  Somebody coined the term Visio Divina (Godly Spiritual watching). This is what Dear Movies invites us to share.

From the back cover:

In Dear Movies, Peter Malone draws on his long experience of film reviewing and of writing and leading workshops on films and values.  He has often been asked, 'What's your favourite film?'  Dear Movies is part of his answer.

He has chosen to write letters to over 100 movies, each letter beginning a conversation with the film, opening up some of their themes, their ways of telling stories, their roles as fables and parables.  He also shares what each movie means to him, inviting us - the readers - to discover our dear movies: how the movies we enjoy help us to explore values, offering insights into the spirituality of daily living and more demanding challenges.

He remembers that Jesus told stories about the ordinary, familiar things of everyday life - stories that still teach us to look more deeply into ourselves and identify what is real, lasting, precious, encouraging, difficult and demanding.

This is the kind of storytelling we look for in films.  Dear Movies reminds us that while we have always looked for values and spirituality in music, in the visual arts, in theatre, in poetry and novels, movies too invite us to share experiences and to connect film with our understanding of God's purposes for our lives.

‘Reading Peter's Dear Movies is more than a joy and revelation.  It is a reminder of the power of pictures, and the important role movies still play in all our lives today’ - Foreword by Jan Epstein.

Available in Australia from the Coventry Press website, coventrypress.com.au