tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3943366568013445284.post5308976717040606610..comments2024-02-09T06:15:27.088-08:00Comments on josh barkey: thoughts on CALVARY (a film review)JOSH BARKEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02056229250824359708noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3943366568013445284.post-63181290679378493572015-01-15T17:18:54.244-08:002015-01-15T17:18:54.244-08:00Agreed. And I especially like the way his sacrific...Agreed. And I especially like the way his sacrifice doesn't make a lot of sense. Confounding the wise, eh? :-)JOSH BARKEYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02056229250824359708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3943366568013445284.post-73040353217242694122015-01-12T13:25:31.383-08:002015-01-12T13:25:31.383-08:00I just saw the film so I'm coming late to this...I just saw the film so I'm coming late to this post, Josh, so thanks for posting on my blog to bring me here. I echo Darren's thoughts. <br /><br />[Spoiler alert]<br /><br />I saw atonement themes in the final moments of the movie, the death of an innocent man to atone for sins, even the sins of his killer. That's huge for me. How was Jack--both victim and killer--going to be saved? <br /><br />In a wonderful display of Christian atonement theology, Father James, an innocent man, gives his life to atone for the sins of the guilty, not just for the guilt of bad priests but also the guilt of his killer. Richard Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06500628452135216019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3943366568013445284.post-82372426551721184912014-08-22T08:15:29.922-07:002014-08-22T08:15:29.922-07:00Great thoughts, Darren. I should've let YOU wr...Great thoughts, Darren. I should've let YOU write the post :-)<br /><br />Embarrassing truth: I hadn't quite made the mental connection to the thematic centrality of Father James as Christ-figure. I'd allowed that to shade my experience, yes, but I'd not quite focused in on it. When I think about the film in that way, it becomes yet another reminder of why I'm so fond of Jesus... and why those who are deeply invested in power structures would rather hold another Inquisition for him, a-la-Dostoevsky.<br /><br />While I hope I don't end up following Father James to such an end, perhaps his example will color the way I live forward into my life, writing and otherwise.JOSH BARKEYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02056229250824359708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3943366568013445284.post-86300929145947106982014-08-22T07:47:21.540-07:002014-08-22T07:47:21.540-07:00Well done Josh - a fine rental of your skills and ...Well done Josh - a fine rental of your skills and insights I have made. [Spoiler Warning] While I absolutely loved this film, I had a similar reaction to some of the plot devices, wondering why Father James would not react differently to his threatening accuser, and also seeing some of the characters as somewhat caricatures of several particular different ways of being with different reasons to feel hostility to the church in general. What I loved was how Father James moved past their various hostilities and accusations without being dismissive, but by incisively getting to the heart of an issue and graciously offering guidance to even the cruelest accusers among them - very Christ-like. Father James, being a Christ figure in the film, was condemned to die for the sins of the church and I think this narrative explains why he reacted so unhumanly to the man (whom he knew) threatening his life. He carried on with his mission to these people, even with the spectre of his own murder looming, and he did it mostly with compassion and acceptance with a few well placed shots when needed to cut through the bs. He experienced his Gethsemane moment at the airport, and ultimately seemed to accept his fate as almost necessary as he went back to face it. I think the difficulty in seeing the humanness in Jesus as he willingly chose to stay and face what came is what the screenwriter here faced in portraying the "unhumanness" of Father James committment to his parishioners and to his ethic of love and forgiveness over all else. These attributes actually demonstrate to us how to truly be human, but are so uncommon we see them as unhuman. I felt like the movie was a picture of Christ in contrast to the church. So many people have a solid grievance against the church and every reason to hate everything to do with it, and yet, here is this person who seems to represent the church, but is so much more. People in the parish heaped the scorn on Father James (some with more subtlety than others) for the sins of the church, sins that Father James ultimately died for, but he transcended the accusations by his life of service and ethics of love and forgiveness - and even his most ardent accusers could see the difference even if they didn't want to. <br /><br />Thanks for writing this Josh, I really enjoy reading your stuff and am confident that someday because of you, the Barkey name will be a little less odd and obscure. Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06549528575133755181noreply@blogger.com