Film Selected
The film selected for this particular film analysis is The Apostle, which revolves around the story of Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey, who is a Pentecostal preacher in one of the churches in Texas. Sonny discovers that his wife was involved in an extramarital affair with one of the youth ministers, Horace. Sonny tries to reconcile with his wife with his wife rejecting all efforts for reconciliation, instead, highlighting that he would not deny Sonny his right to see his children at any time (Barnes, 2015). However, at a Little League game, Sonny confronts Horace and beats him with a bat putting him in a comma after which he died of the injuries (Shelley, 2013). Sonny then decides to flee to Louisiana where he begins a new church before his eventual arrest leading him to become a chain gang preacher while working on a highway.
Religious Themes
A review and close analysis of the film highlights several critical religious themes, which play a central role in establishing a Christian connection about the intended message of the film. The first religious theme highlighted in the film revolves around the concept of death, which remains a crucial theme in every religious perspective. From a religious point of view, death is considered as being the center of humanity, as it brings about a connection to God. Through death, one achieves a new form that allows him or her to connect at a more personal level with God. In this film, the concept of death is brought about following the eventual death of Horace from the beating by Sonny (Edmondson, Park, Chaudoir, & Wortmann, 2006). Horace’s death seems to suggest that death remains an essential part of humanity, as every individual would go through a phase of death regardless of one's social positioning.
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The second notable theme, brought about by the film, is apostasy referring to the abandonment of religious practices by an individual regardless of his or her understanding of the values of beliefs expected. In Christianity, Apostasy results from a situation where individuals tend to focus more on adverse actions while ignoring the teachings brought about in the Bible, which is the word of God (Fleming & Lovat, 2014). In this case, Sonny, who had worked as a charismatic Pentecostal preacher, portrayed apostasy in several instances within the film. His idea of engaging in intake of alcohol may be viewed as a sign of apostasy, as well as, as his rage towards Horace regardless of him being a preacher. On the other hand, Horace also exhibits apostasy due to his engagement in adultery regardless of the fact that the Bible seeks to disown this idea based on the Ten Commandments.
The theme of apostasy is brought out further in the film during the time where Sonny’s wife rejected his efforts for reconciliation, instead, focusing more of her efforts towards creating an adulterous relationship with Horace. The third religious them suggested from the film is Christianity, which is one of the fundamental themes projected from this particular film. From the beginning of the film, it is evident that the director revolves around a Christian theme considering that Sonny works as a religious leader in one of the churches (Napier, 2013). At the end of the film, Sonny, who has been incarcerated for the murder of Horace, is also seen preaching to fellow inmates as they work in a chain gang beside a highway.
Lastly, the film exhibits the religious theme of repentance, as it works towards highlighting the need for individuals always to be ready to repent of their sins regardless of the offensive nature of their actions. Repentance is a theme that remains at the center of any religious setting, as it seeks to create that general platform from which God would forgive one’s sins (Himma, 2017). In this case, Sonny’s move from Texas to Louisiana provided with an ample platform from which to consider the consequences of his actions. When the police finally catch up with Sonny while preaching in Louisiana, the sermon he gives in the presence of the police touches on the need for people to own up to their own mistakes. Sonny, on his part, owns up to his mistakes of beating and killing Horace leading to his eventual incarceration.
Communication of Themes
The themes, discussed in the previous section, are communicated in several ways as a way of ensuring that the audience gains that basic understanding of the religious nature of the film. Firstly, the director brings out the themes through the arrangement of the scenes in a manner suggesting that the scenes need to portray a give religious message to the individual audience. A review of how the scenes are arranged indicates that the director understood the religious nature of the film and intended to bring out these themes based on the expected impact of the film (Williams, 2007). Secondly, the director brought about the themes based on the characters themselves, as well as, their roles in their respective communities. For example, Sonny, who is a preacher, engages in actions that dishonor his position, thus, plays a central role in bringing out the respective themes (Harrison, 2006).
References
Barnes, L. P. (2015). Humanism, non-religious worldviews and the future of Religious Education. Journal of Beliefs & Values , 36 (1), 79-91.
Edmondson, D., Park, C. L., Chaudoir, S. R., & Wortmann, J. H. (2008). Death Without God: Religious Struggle, Death Concerns, and Depression in the Terminally III. Psychological Science , 19 (8), 754-758.
Fleming, D., & Lovat, T. (2014). When encounters between religious worldviews are a threat: Applying Triune Ethics Theory in a religiously diverse landscape. Journal of Moral Education , 43 (3), 377-393.
Harrison, V. S. (2006). Scientific and religious worldviews: Antagonism, non ‐ antagonistic incommensurability and complementarity. The Heythrop Journal , 47 (3), 349-366.
Himma, K. E. (2017). An Unjust Dogma: Why a Special Right to Religion Wrongly Discriminates against Non-Religious Worldviews. San Diego L. Rev. , 54 , 217.
Napier, J. (2013). Translating Worldview: Incorporating Religion in Public Discourse. International Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Society , 3 (1).
Shelley, C. (2013). Beating Children Is Wrong, Isn't It? Resolving Conflicts in the Encounter Between Religious Worldviews and Child Protection. Ecclesiastical Law Journal , 15 (2), 130-143.
Williams, K. (2007). Religious worldviews and the typical school: The French dilemma. Journal of Philosophy of Education , 41 (4), 675-692.
