Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies [Paperback]

Roy M. Anker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

Films have come to not only entertain modern minds but also inform and shape them. Many of the best cinematic works have profound religious elements--some obvious, some more subtle. In Catching Light Roy Anker examines nineteen popular films, showing how they convey a range of striking perspectives on the human encounter with God. These selected films portray God showing up in different, surprising ways amid the messy circumstances of life. Anker looks closely at the plot of each film, especially at how characters, through their experiences, ultimately move toward Light, toward recognition of a loving, redemptive deity. In addition to focusing on the theological dimension of each film, Anker comments on its merits both as story and as cinema. Also included are sidebars that discuss each films history and significance as well as the quality and special features of DVD editions. For anyone interested in the intersection of religion, art, and culture, Catching Light offers a unique view of contemporary faith.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most books about "God in the movies" promote methods for finding God in the medium. This book instead illustrates the search for God in film, a subtle choice Anker says he made to "avoid any note of the triumphalism that so often colors discussions of religion and film." It works well, allowing Anker, a professor of English at Calvin College, the freedom to address a pluralistic audience even while capitalizing on his connections from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Anker pores over more than 15 films, including the Godfather trilogy, The Mission and American Beauty. While not overlooking the importance of set design, lighting and other building blocks that make a film, Anker's passion is plot and character development, dissecting scenes that show rather than name the mystery we call God. These scenes become for Anker a window into the sacred, much as an icon functions for an Orthodox Christian. Readers will want to see the chosen movies in order to appreciate the analysis, since little plot summary is provided, and Anker gives no explicit guidance as to how readers might do such analyses on their own. However, anyone seeking a collection of rich reviews by a man devoted to film and its ability to point us to an awareness of God will be satisfied.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 402 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802827950
• ISBN-13: 978-0802827951
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #787,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars catching light: deep reading, August 31, 2005

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G. Rossi "reader" (Boston) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies (Paperback)

CATCHING LIGHT beautifully explores the capacity of film to articulate human experience. This is done through the Christian perspective but does not, as many Christian interpretations do, simplify its films. Anker touches on all the grey areas--the intoxicating darkness and the radiant light that seems to shroud all of human experience.

This book plunges in deep and is by no means a mere overview. If one desires brevity, resort to minimalistic news reviews. CATCHING LIGHT carries readers along with the interpretation, avoiding the bombast of so many film reviewers.

A must read to all who enjoy meditating and thinking deeply about film, limited not to Christians, but all who actively partake in life and the it contemporary reflections.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Triple Crown, March 10, 2009

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Junius E. Updyke "Teacher" (Bristol, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies (Paperback)

Professor Anker has written a classic book about how some of the film classics deal with the classic search for God. Hence, it deserves a "Triple Crown" among books on this subject. I have used it to liven up my ethics classes at the Bristol,TN, campus of the National College of Business and Technology and plan to use it this summer as the basis for a Spiritual Film Series at Central Presbyterian Church.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but way overwritten, April 21, 2005

By 

Barbara Curtis "Barbara Curtis" (Bluemont, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies (Paperback)

I love movies and was looking forward to reading about some of my own favorites in this book. What was disappointing was the writing, which was pedantic, redundant, and lifeless. As a writer myself, and a writing teacher, I kept wondering why in the world Anker's editor didn't get him on track. This book could have conveyed the same information and ideas in half the words. No kidding. As Mark Twain said, "I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time." I'm on my way to reading a couple other Christian perspectives on movies and hoping they are a little more lively.