"Man and God": a religious story with the main theme version

Kristina 2022-01-19 08:01:31

When Westerners shoot religious subjects, whether it is about Jesus or priests, their themes are often focused on the sharp conflict between the human needs and professional requirements of this person. Saying that human nature overwhelms divine nature is often critical and reflective, such as "Demons" and "Under the Sun of Satan"; saying that divine nature is greater than human nature is often a version of the theme that conforms to popular tastes.

In fact, the literary works that speak ill of priests can be traced back to Dante in the Renaissance. In his masterpiece "The Divine Comedy", he portrayed a group of licentious, greedy, shameless, and treacherous priests, which is almost what people can think of. The bad things have been settled on the priests. Perhaps people at that time were suffering from religion and had skin pains, so they began to speak and gritted their teeth. Later, the power of religion became weaker and weaker, so that it is now like a charity organization, so people began to talk good things about it, such as this film. However, in the six or more years of last century, the famous director and loyal Marxist Pasolini also filmed a "Gospel of Matthew" approved by the Vatican, which was even the stubborn and fussy Vatican. It is about the story of Jesus. Here, Jesus is a man. The five kind young people who are merciful and compassionate. His thoughts on salvation and dedication have moved me, who have no religious beliefs. This film is the same way. But the film also made some innovations: it moved the priest’s mission area from the West to the Arab world, and added the priest’s self-reliance plot. Of course, the main body of the film is still struggling with divinity and humanity, but in the end Divinity defeats humanity. This is a religious story with the main theme version.

As the mission site moved from the West to the Arab world, it also reflected the tension and complex situation in the Middle East. This is not the content of the positive performance in the film, but the incidental side conveyed. It is either a simple insertion of a stroke, or in the priest's activities, or in the priest's conversation, it is expressed by knocking sideways. As a result, we have seen such a fiery reality: the West wants to continue colonization, the local government and local armed forces are desperately choking, the material living standards of the local people are low, and the beautiful local natural scenery. This opened up a rare realm of social reality for this subject. These forces are kinked together to form a map of political power in the Middle East, and it is these gentle-eyed priests who are at the cusp of the storm. The French government hopes that they will return home safely. The local rebels want to take them as hostages. The local government also thinks they are getting in the way and hopes that they will leave as soon as possible. But they overcame the weakness of their hearts, responded to God's call, and decided to stay.

This is a group of gentle and kind-hearted priests who are full of great salvation ideas and dedication. They support themselves, cultivate their own food, and sell their homemade honey to the market. They practised medicine for free, and also donated clothing for the local poor civilians. They are like the contemporary Red Cross. In the last three quarters, this story pulls the clues from the outside to the inside, showing the inner shouts and whispers of these priests before death. There are a total of eight priests, with different attitudes, some advocates staying, some advocates leaving, and some are ambiguous. Most of the film is used here. It mainly depicts the delicate psychological transformation process of those who remain more determined to stay, those who are ambiguous have firm beliefs, and those who leave decide to stay. Death is also great. It is not easy to go to justice generously, but it is even more difficult to go to death calmly. In the face of death, people's survival instinct will always be shown tenaciously, which is human nature. To overcome the fear before death, the weapon of the priests is God. When God gradually takes over the hearts of the priests, these gentle priests have become warrior-like brave and strong, which is divine.

The lives of the priests are always peaceful. Their daily life is as calm as the surface of a lake: getting up in the morning and singing hymns, studying the Bible, working in the fields, going to the market to trade, going to the clinic, hearing people's confession, and so on. The whole film is also quiet, delicate and simple, without sensational out-of-picture music, without metaphorical montages, but just a combination of simple and unpretentious daily life. However, the life pictures that have been carefully refined by the directors have a strong sense of beauty, because it records the loving lives of a group of kind and upright people, and it is a poem of daily life. By the end of the film, the priests unanimously decided to stay, be with the locals and be with God. This group of gentle and kind priests became romantic. They took out the wine and put on Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" "The tune of melancholy, sentimental, and melancholy is the cry and whisper of the divine souls of the priests, and it is God's presence and sigh of the suffering earth.

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Extended Reading

Of Gods and Men quotes

  • Christian: [Voice-over] Should it ever befall me, and it could happen today, to be a victim of the terrorism swallowing up all foreigners here, I would like my community, my church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to this country. That the Unique Master of all life was no stranger to this brutal departure. And that my death is the same as so many other violent ones, consigned to the apathy of oblivion. I've lived enough to know, I am complicit in the evil that, alas, prevails over the world and the evil that will smite me blindly. I could never desire such a death. I could never feel gladdened that these people I love be accused randomly of my murder. I know the contempt felt for people here, indiscriminately. And I know how Islam is distorted by certain Islamism. This country, and Islam, for me are something different. They're a body and a soul. My death, of course, will quickly vindicate those who call me naïve or idealistic, but they must know that I will be freed of a burning curiosity and, God willing, will immerse my gaze in the Father's and contemplate with him his children of Islam as he sees them. This thank you which encompasses my entire life includes you, of course, friends of yesterday and today, and you too, friend of the last minute, who knew not what you were doing. Yes, to you as well I address this thank you and this farewell which you envisaged. May we meet again, happy thieves in Paradise, if it pleases God the Father of us both. Amen. Insha'Allah.

  • Christian: We are martyrs out of love, out of fidelity. If death overtake us, despite ourselves, because up to the end, up to the end we'll try to avoid it. Our mission here is to be brothers to all. Remember that love is eternal hope. Love endures everything.