Movies with a clear moral theme

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I’m teaching 9th grade CCD and this year’s theme is Morality. This coming week’s topic is Happiness. I’d like to give examples of movies with a clear sense of moral life/non-moral life. The only one I can think of is It’s A Wonderful Life. Remember where George sees Bellows Falls if he had never lived and it was Pottersville, a seedy-looking town?

Can anyone think of other movies? Maybe more current ones? 😛

Ooo, I just thought of Narnia. Any others?
 
CatQuilt,

Would “Spitfire Grill” be appropriate? It’s PG-13, though, but it is about redemption.

“Bells of St. Mary’s” (I think that’s the title) is quite old and is not entirely about morality, although it does have a subplot about a ruthless businessman who is planning to close the Catholic school down so he can put a parking lot in its place.

How about “Casablanca”?
  • Liberian
 
Heh, I kind of think that City of God is pretty clear overall. But you probably wouldn’t want to talk to 9th graders using that example.

That said, I’d try to get away from the overly old and sappy stuff. Human life is so much more real than that most of the time in it’s nuances. It needs to connect on a very real and non preachy/obvious level. Even if you just played a tape of Tosca for them or something, that would work. But, more likely, find something contemporary. Maybe a Francis Ford Coppola flick. Or that Polish filmmaker who did expeiencial vinettes on the ten commandments. Among older stuff, try Hitchcock.
 
Hitchcock’s Rope. It’s a discussion between moral relativism and reality.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
“I Confess” with Montgomery Clift.

A favorite of mine, the ORIGINAL “Twelve Angry Men” with Henry Fonda.
 
another oldie, the OxBow Incident, also w/henry Fonda about vigilantes hanging an innocent man accused of a crime.

A Man for All Seasons, about politicians making personal moral choices that have an effect on their public life, and willingness to die for the Truth.

Manchurian Candidate (the original, but too heavy for high school kids, would work in college).

One of my 9th grade teaches shows Simon Birch every year. Our diocese media office has study guides for many such “secular” movies, you might try there for suggestions.

the Magazine Group is put out by a protestant YM group but has some excellent suggestions for using pop culture movies, songs, TV etc. as discussion starters and lead-ins to bible studies and so forth.

you might try to find one movie for each commandment, not show the whole thing, but find the spots where the commandment is broken, and then FF to where the consequences or resolution is made, and use it to start discussion.

the movie about Corrie ten Bloom the Dutch woman who hid Jews in her home from the Nazis, I think it is called the Hiding Place, is another good one.

Dorothy Day, Entertaining Angels is about a modern-day saint whose cause for canonization is in the works.

The 4th Wise Man w/Martin Sheen is another one about serving God through serving neighbors.
 
Crash - 2005
if you could find/make an edited copy, it’s definitely mature material
 
The Mission, with Jeremy Irons and Robert Deniro. One of the best movies, ever.
 
It’s a comedy, but with a strong message regarding how we should live our lives: Groundhog Day.
 
Many, many great ideas! Sorry I couldn’t check back sooner…work got in the way. 😛 I especially like puzzleannie’s idea about fast-forwarding to highlight specific points…our class is only an hour…
 
CatQuilt said:
I’m teaching 9th grade CCD and this year’s theme is Morality. This coming week’s topic is Happiness. I’d like to give examples of movies with a clear sense of moral life/non-moral life. The only one I can think of is It’s A Wonderful Life. Remember where George sees Bellows Falls if he had never lived and it was Pottersville, a seedy-looking town?

Can anyone think of other movies? Maybe more current ones? 😛

Ooo, I just thought of Narnia. Any others?
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“It’s A Wonderful Life” is one of my favorites! But be careful–there’s a lot of darkness behind it that people typically don’t see. Just for starters, Mr. Potter keeps the money and suffers no ill consequence of it. Among the movie review people/censers(/whatever they were called), this was actually a point of concern when the movie was first screened. (Of course, now nobody even notices that aspect of the movie…)

Other suggestions… What about something like (another Jimmy Stewart/Frank Capra film) “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?” A few more that come to mind: “How the West Was Won,” or even some of the “Sherlock Holmes” movies starring Jeremy Brett? (The one re: Charles Augustus Milverton is a great one!) More currently, “Narnia” is a good choice, but I think that “Big Fish” would be an interesting, somewhat offbeat choice as well…

Let us know what you decide!

Pax tecum,
Alberich
 
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