A Brief Movie Review: Unfinished Song

We recently watched the 2012 film, Unfinished Song, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams, starring

Terence Stamp as Arthur and Vanessa Redgrave as Marion.

   Marion is dying of cancer and wants to live life to the fullest by singing in a senior’s community choir. Her husband, Arthur, comes across as a curmudgeon, not at all supportive of Marion’s passion for music.

   However, after Marion dies, Arthur, to honour Marion and process his grief, joins the choir.

   Arthur and his son James are alienated from one another. Eventually, through Arthur’s involvement with the choir, they are reconciled.

   One of the brilliant, thought-provoking lines in the movie, spoken by Marion is: “What makes a song beautiful is not always the quality of the voice but the distance that voice has had to travel.”

   I appreciated this film because it is, simultaneously: a love story, a spiritually edifying tale of marital and family dynamics and relationships, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation, a realistic portrayal of death and grief, the joy and healing potential of music, and the significant contribution that seniors make to society. This film should be of interest to seniors and those who care for them.      

At the movies: Son of God

Tonight my wife and I went to see Son of God. I must confess that I haven't read the reviews of it, although I've spoken with one movie-goer I know who said he liked it. Of course by now there's a whole genre of Jesus movies. In relation to others that I've seen, I'd rate it about average or perhaps slightly above average in a couple of areas. 

   First though, the critique: Movie directors, producers and actors-and likely those who are providing the funding-usually have their agendas and exercise "artistic license" by employing their creative juices to make the movie's plot "work." So in this movie you've got characters-including Jesus-who say or do things that are either out of the context in which the gospels record certain events or they are not recorded in the gospels at all. A factor related to this may be that the movie is not based solely on the Gospel of John; rather it is a strange combination of the Gospels along with "artistic license." 

   One example that occurs more than once in the movie is scenes involving the high priest, Nicodemus and other Jewish leaders. The scenes may function to spice up the storyline a bit, even though they are not recorded in the gospels.

   Another example was raising Lazarus from the dead. In the Gospel of John, Jesus does not speak to Lazarus the words "I am the resurrection and the life" inside the tomb. Rather, these words were spoken to Lazarus' sister Martha prior to Jesus raising Lazarus, which may well function to heighten the drama of the actual miracle and reaffirm the authenticity of Jesus' identity. In this movie scene, neither does Jesus weep; a mistake I think, since this is the shortest verse in all the gospels and also adds to the drama of raising Lazarus and underscores Jesus' human solidarity with Lazarus' family and friends. 

   On the upside, I did like the acting, especially: Jesus, Mary, Peter, John, Mary the mother of Jesus, Nicodemus, all performed their roles well. The clothing and some of the props, like the Galilean villages, Jerusalem and the temple looked quite authentic. Although the Passion portion of the movie seemed like it could have mirrored Mel Brook's movie, with all of the closeup shots of the blood-covered Jesus (a bit too Hollywoodish for my liking), it was emotionally and spiritually moving. All-in-all, if those considering going to this movie are looking for a historically accurate portrayal of Jesus, then they will be disappointed. This movie, like others in the genre of Jesus movies, may however spark some interest in exploring further who Jesus was and is. For that I'd encourage the reading of the four Gospels themselves, and perhaps a visit to a neighbourhood church to engage in a conversation with the pastor and parishioners.