MOVIES: Of Gods and Men

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Can’t wait to see it anyone else? It looks like one of the few prochristian movies to come out in awhile. sonyclassics.com/ofgodsandmen/

It’s opening and some US cities this weekend…sadly though not in mine. Hope it does soon. :cool:
 
It only opens in NY/LA this weekend. Our local art house theatr has it on their coming soon list.🙂
 
Paul1Up said:
This looks like a very good movie, and it’s already been receiving a positive reception among critics.
Here’s another upcoming movie that looks good: trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/therebedragons/
It’s from the director of The Mission, and it’s about the founder of Opus Dei, Josemaría Escrivá. In case you have doubts about the director’s good intentions, you can also read about it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Be_Dragons
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Thanks I’m always on the look out for good movies these days as they are so few and far between.
 
We went to see the film last night and shall post further later when I am in a better state because I am still overwhelmed with anger at the assassination of Dom Christian de Chergé, Brother Luc Dochier, Father Christophe Lebreton, Brother Michel Fleury, Father Bruno Lemarchand, Father Célestin Ringeard, and Brother Paul Favre-Miville.

The anger is further stoked by the continuous political posturings by the French and Algerian governments in this matter.

users.skynet.be/bs775533/Armand/wri/hypothesis.htm
english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2010/11/2010118122224407570.html
 
I have not seen the film, but I am glad that it has refreshed the memory of the world about the monks of Tibhirine.

I do have a question, which perhaps those who have seen the film can answer. In a couple reviews, the reviewer expressed regret that the name of the film was changed. In the French original, it was called Des hommes et des dieux which translates as Men and gods. Yet the English language version reverses the title, putting the emphasis on Gods, rather than on men. The difference, claimed the reviewers, is that the French title focuses on the conflict between human understandings of god. My question for those who have seen the film: does this seem like an important distinction?

BTW, an important piece of the story seems to have been lost from the discussions about the film and the events it describes. The Testament of Dom Christian De Cherge, OCSO, was written by him a couple years before his murder. It was only published after his death. I think it is essential reading to understand events there.
If it should happen one day—and it could be today—that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to encompass all the foreigners in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to this country. To accept that the One Master of all life was not a stranger to this brutal departure. I would like them to pray for me: how worthy would I be found of such an offering?
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I could not desire such a death. It seems to me important to state this. I don’t see, in fact, how I could rejoice if the people I love were indiscriminately accused of my murder. It would be too high a price to pay for what will be called, perhaps, the “grace of martyrdom” to owe this to an Algerian, whoever he may be, especially if he says he is acting in fidelity to what he believes to be Islam.
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I know the contempt in which Algerians taken as a whole can be engulfed. I know, too, the caricatures of Islam which encourage a certain idealism. It is too easy to give oneself a good conscience in identifying this religious way with the fundamentalist ideology of its extremists. For me, Algeria and Islam is something different. It is a body and a soul. I have proclaimed it often enough, I think, in view of and in the knowledge of what I have received from it, finding there so often that true strand of the Gospel learned at my mother’s knee, my very first Church, precisely in Algeria, and already respecting believing Muslims.
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My death, obviously, will appear to confirm those who hastily judged me naive or idealistic: “Let him tell us now what he thinks of it!” But these must know that my insistent curiosity will then be set free. This is what I shall be able to do, if God wills: Immerse my gaze in that of the Father, to contemplate with Him His children of Islam as He sees them, all shining with the glory of Christ, fruit of His Passion, filled with the Gift of the Spirit whose secret joy will always be to establish communion and to refashion the likeness, playing with the differences.
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monasticdialog.com/a.php?id=497

There is more at the link.
 
Not sure if this is coming to my city but I’ll try and see it if it does. Looks interesting.:cool:
 
Dale_M said:
I have not seen the film, but I am glad that it has refreshed the memory of the world about the monks of Tibhirine.

I do have a question, which perhaps those who have seen the film can answer. In a couple reviews, the reviewer expressed regret that the name of the film was changed. In the French original, it was called Des hommes et des dieux which translates as Men and gods. Yet the English language version reverses the title, putting the emphasis on Gods, rather than on men. The difference, claimed the reviewers, is that the French title focuses on the conflict between human understandings of god. My question for those who have seen the film: does this seem like an important distinction?

BTW, an important piece of the story seems to have been lost from the discussions about the film and the events it describes. The Testament of Dom Christian De Cherge, OCSO, was written by him a couple years before his murder. It was only published after his death. I think it is essential reading to understand events there.

monasticdialog.com/a.php?id=497

There is more at the link.
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The film is in French with English subtitles, so it was still *Des Hommes et des Dieux *. So, I do not understand why they changed the title in the first place. But, yes. There is a distinction if the reason for the English title is to distract from *conflict of human understanding of God * i.e. a tendency to promote the film as one dealing with comparisons between Christianity and Islam, which is not the intention of the film. It was a story about Dom Christian de Chergé, Brother Luc Dochier, Father Christophe Lebreton, Brother Michel Fleury, Father Bruno Lemarchand, Father Célestin Ringeard, and Brother Paul Favre-Miville i.e. who they were, what they did and what happened to them.

Thanks for the link to Dom Christian De Cherge’s letter. I find it all the more moving reading it and, to some extent, the film managed to capture what he stated therein.
 
Luvz2travel said:
Not sure if this is coming to my city but I’ll try and see it if it does. Looks interesting.:cool:
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Here is the list of currently scheduled dates and theaters for the US.
sonyclassics.com/ofgodsandmen/dates.html

Unfortunately, the closest for me is more than 100 miles away and won’t open for another six weeks. 😦
Santi2 said:
The film is in French with English subtitles, so it was still *Des Hommes et des Dieux *. So, I do not understand why they changed the title in the first place. But, yes. There is a distinction if the reason for the English title is to distract from *conflict of human understanding of God * i.e. a tendency to promote the film as one dealing with comparisons between Christianity and Islam, which is not the intention of the film.
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Okay, thank you for that perspective. I may have to buy the DVD, but I am looking forward to seeing the lives of these men portrayed on screen…
 
I absolutely loved this movie and have been busily recommending it to everyone I know.

Review by Steven Greydanus: ncregister.com/daily-news/sdg-reviews-of-gods-and-men/
Release dates: sonyclassics.com/ofgodsandmen/dates.html

The movie Of Gods and Men is based on a 1996 incident when nine Trappist monks in Algeria were murdered by insurgents during Algeria’s civil war. The movie isn’t so much about the fact of the monks’ martyrdom as it is about how they faced the possibility, the questions surrounding it, and the different choices they ultimately had to make.

I haven’t seen a movie in the theater that left the audience more audibly “awestruck” since The Passion of the Christ. As I left the theater, I overheard one woman saying to a friend, “It makes me want to learn more about them [the monks].”

If you get a chance to see it, GO! I plan to see it at least once more this Lent.
 
What I drew from these characters is that under every circumstance whether trivial or serious they always drew there strength from their daily encounters with the Lord in prayer.

It was a very good movie,
 
Lucky you! 🙂

Over here in the US (and Canada, too, I think), the DVD is not yet available.

Fortunately, the film is still in the theaters, however, the distribution is very limited. Here is a listing of theaters and dates for the US:
sonyclassics.com/ofgodsandmen/dates.html
 
I would also highly recommend this movie. It is in our local “arts” theater in Dallas, TX. It is a beautiful film with realistic portrayal of dedication, love of God and neighbor, sacrifice but not without trepidation. The featured actors are unfamiliar but have wonderful faces expressing each nuance. See it if you can!
 
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