Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

The Tree of Life may well be the greatest movie ever made. Heavily inspired by the book of Job and St. Augustine's Confessions (and even including some lines about nature and grace seemingly derived from The Imitation of Christ), director Terrence Malick gives profound spiritual and cosmic scope to the story of an ordinary family in 1950s Texas. The film begins with the death of a son, detours to the creation of the universe, and then flashes back to a richly observed sequence of childhood in all its beauty along with the tragic effects of sin - seen through the memory of a present-day narrator seeking the traces of God in his past. The greatness of The Tree of Life lies in its unmatched poetic power. Unless you've seen another Terrence Malick film, it will be unlike anything you've seen before. Though it has a story, it is less focused on plot development than on an archetypal yet vivid picture of family life and how we gain, lose, and recover our awareness of "love smiling through all things". The film does not follow typical rules of chronological or visual continuity (one could say it is almost entirely montage), but its improvisational freedom and fluidity in acting, cinematography, and editing make for a kinetic and exhilarating viewing experience. The portrayal of childhood is surely the most beautiful ever put on screen. Nathan Douglas joins as guest host in this continuation of our series covering Malick's filmography. SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

The Sound of Music is rightly beloved by Catholics. James and Thomas discuss the movie's all-around excellence, break down Julie Andrews's virtuosic performance, and explore what the film says about the freedom and openness necessary to discern and pursue one's vocation in life. DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Br. Joshua Vargas, a seminarian in the Philadelphia Oratory known for his artistic contributions, joins the discussion on the latest season of The Chosen. The conversation dives into the season's pivotal moments, from John the Baptist's execution to Lazarus' resurrection. They critique the show's shift towards fictional subplots that might distract from biblical truths. Jonathan Roumie's portrayal of Jesus shines, but concerns about character development and narrative integrity arise, alongside reflections on emotional depth and historical accuracy.

Thomas Mirus and Nathan Douglas's mini-series on magisterial documents about cinema comes to a close with an episode covering the Vatican II era - specifically between 1963 and 1995, spanning the pontificates of Pope St. Paul VI and Pope St. John Paul II. This was, frankly, an era of decline in terms of official Church engagement with cinema. Where previous pontificates had dealt with film as a unique artistic medium, Vatican II's decree Inter Mirifica set the template for lumping all modern mass media together under the label of "social communications" - discussing them as new technology and social phenomena rather than as individual arts. That said, even if it leaves something to be desired artistically, boiling everything down to "communication" does result in some valuable insights. And every once in a while in this era, a pope would deliver a World Communications Day message specifically about cinema. Important themes in the documents from this time include: -Artists should strive for the heights, not surrender to the commercial lowest common denominator -Communication as self-gift -Film as medium of cultural exchange -JPII: “The mass media…always return to a particular concept of man; and it is precisely on the basis of the exactness and completeness of this concept that they will be judged.” -The necessity to train children in media literacy so they can properly interpret, not be manipulated by, images and symbols -The role of critics Documents discussed in this episode:  Vatican II, Inter Mirifica (1963) https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19631204_inter-mirifica_en.html Address of Pope Paul VI to artists (closing address of Vatican II, 1965) https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651208_epilogo-concilio-artisti.html Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Communio et Progressio (1971) https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_23051971_communio_en.html Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Aetatis Novae (1992) https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_22021992_aetatis_en.html Pope Paul VI, First World Communications Day address (1967) https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/messages/communications/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19670507_i-com-day.html Pope John Paul II, 1984 World Communications Day address https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/communications/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_24051984_world-communications-day.html Pope John Paul II, 1995 World Communications Day address on cinema https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/communications/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_06011995_world-communications-day.html SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

The 1991 film A Brighter Summer Day, directed by Edward Yang, is considered by many one of the best movies ever made. The film is set in Taiwan, shortly after the Chinese Civil War, when the country was under martial law, with a political and cultural pressure felt at every level of society. At the center of this intricately plotted four-hour drama is the family of fourteen-year-old Xiao Si'r, whose strong sense of honor and justice is pulled in various directions as he gets caught up in a youth gang and romantically entangled with the girlfriend of a disappeared gang leader. But more than that, this incredibly textured four-hour drama gives the sense of a whole uneasy social fabric. As this is the first Chinese-language film the Criteria hosts have covered, they are joined by film festival programmer Frank Yan, who provides crucial historical and cultural context about Taiwanese history and cinema. SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Thomas Mirus and Nathan Douglas continue their discussion of Pope Pius XII’s apostolic exhortations brought together in the 1955 document “The Ideal Film”, which remains the high water-mark of official Church engagement with the art form. They also touch on his 1957 encyclical Miranda prorsus, on radio, films, and television. In the first audience, Pius XII had discussed the ideal film in its relation to the spectator. In this second audience, he discusses the ideal film both in relation to its content, and in relation to society. He makes general observations on the legitimate range of subjects which a film may take on as matter for its plot, and offers principles for films which deal with religious subjects and for the portrayal of evil. Pius XII puts his finger on one of the biggest problems with many Christian movies: “Religious interpretation, even when it is carried out with a right intention, rarely receives the stamp of an experience truly lived and as a result, capable of being shared with the spectator.” Two years after The Ideal Film, the encyclical Miranda prorsus (on radio, films, and television) reiterated much of the moral teaching of Pius XI’s Vigilanti cura, but with more detail for particular occupations within the film world—directors, producers, actors, theater owners, etc. Of particular interest is the teaching about the moral obligations of Catholic film critics. Links Pope Pius XII, Apostolic Exhortations on The Ideal Film https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-xii_exh_25101955_ideal-film.html Pope Pius XII, Miranda Prorsus https://www.vatican.va/content/pius- SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Pope Ven. Pius XII, a key figure in the Catholic Church known for his insights into media and cinema, explores the intersection of faith and film. He discusses the psychological effects of cinema on viewers, emphasizing their active role in interpreting stories. Pius outlines qualities of the ideal film that respect human dignity and encourage self-expression. He even addresses the legitimacy of escapism in film, asserting that both deep and light narratives have their place, reflecting the full spectrum of human experience.

In 1936, Pope Pius XI published his encyclical on the motion picture, Vigilanti cura. The encyclical deals with the grave moral concerns raised by the cinema, which had by then become a ubiquitous social influence (though it was also a still-evolving medium, as the transition from silent film to talkies had only recently been completed). Pius holds up for worldwide emulation the initiative that had recently taken by the American bishops to influence the motion picture industry in a moral direction, as well as to protect their own flocks from immoral movies. Vigilanti cura was ghostwritten by the American Jesuit Fr. Daniel Lord, a prolific pamphleteer involved with Catholic Action. Fr. Lord had written the original draft of the Motion Picture Production Code, and helped to found the Legion of Decency. He had also worked in Hollywood as a consultant on Cecil B. DeMille's silent Biblical picture, The King of Kings. This is the first of three episodes in which Thomas Mirus and Nathan Douglas survey the body of magisterial documents related to cinema, and discuss what we can take from these teachings today. Links Vigilanti cura https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_29061936_vigilanti-cura.html SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Joshua Hren discusses the biopic Wildcat, delving into Flannery O'Connor's faith and artistic journey. The film portrays the complex relationship between artistic ambition and faith, inspiring Catholic artists to navigate external pressures. The conversation explores the challenges of adapting O'Connor's narratives into film while highlighting the aesthetic qualities and transformative impact of a Catholic MFA program.

The Criteria crew continue their journey through the works of today's most significant Christian filmmaker, Terrence Malick. The New World is an underrated masterpiece about Pocahontas and the founding of Jamestown in 1607. Starring the 14-year-old Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahontas, Colin Farrell as John Smith, and Christian Bale as John Rolfe, Malick's retelling of the story remarkably combines realism and historical accuracy with poetry and romance, as all three protagonists explore not just one but multiple new worlds, geographical and interior. With The New World, Malick definitively entered a new stage in his career, particularly in his unforgettable collaboration with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The result is an aesthetic that is humble and receptive rather than magisterial. Rather than dominating reality, the camera seems to enter into it, so that we can contemplate something the camera cannot exhaust. James, Thomas, and Nathan discuss Malick's style extensively in this episode, and make the case for why Catholics studying or making art should not focus only on "themes" to the neglect of form, because style itself conveys a vision of reality. Note: make sure you watch the extended cut or the 150-minute "first cut", not the theatrical cut. This film contains brief ethnographic nudity. DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters Music is The Duskwhales, “Take It Back”, used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com