ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

based on stage play

Gun and a Hotel Bible – The Word Speaks

by Leave a Comment

“Don’t most hotels have the courtesy to leave you in the drawer? Jesus Christ!”

Sometimes, I miss those all-night bull sessions I would have with roommates in college. We would delve into deep questions about God, morality, and the meaning of life. We would sometimes pick a perspective just for the sake of seeing where it would lead the discussion. Such is Gun and a Hotel Bible, directed by Alicia Joy Leblanc and Raja Gosnell. The film is based on a film festival play developed by the two actors in the film.

We first meet Pete (Bradley Gosnell) as he reflects on his relationship with his wife and the love they shared. But something has gone wrong. The rest of the play takes place in a seedy Chicago hotel room where he has gone to wait. He plans violence because of his wife’s affair. In the hotel room, he encounters Gid (Daniel Florin), the personification of the Gideon Bible. At first, their banter is banal. We discover that Gid loves baseball and is positively rapturous over learning that the Cubs won the World Series a few year ago. Gid is a bit behind on things because he’s been in this hotel room since 1953.

Pete is drawn to the Bible (and hence Gid), but doesn’t really want much to do with it. As Gid tries to interest him in diving in, we discover that Pete is pretty knowledgeable about the Bible, but he rejects its teaching. The ensuing conversation between Gid and Pete covers areas of the nature of scripture, its authority, interpretation, and the very existence of God.

I entered this experience with some trepidation. It would be very easy to see this as an opportunity for cheap grace in the form of a doubter giving in to the Word of God. I usually classify such views is Bibliolatry—making an idol out of the Bible. Making it seem that the Bible is the most important thing, not the messages within it. And to be sure, there were times in the film that I thought it might be going that way.

But in the end, what we have is two different perspectives on religion and faith that struggle to understand each other and to be understood by the other. While it often seems like the kind of theoretical discussions we would have late at night in college, in this setting it is of the utmost importance for Pete’s life. And in the end, there is no definitive answer to any of the questions.

I have to admit that Pete has by far the more interesting questions and opinions.  Gid struggles to hold his own. That may be because Gid (and thus scripture) seems to present answers that are a bit to osimple, or that can easily be set aside because of context or interpretation. If one fails to acknowledge the authority of scripture (and that term itself is open to a wide range of interpretations), why should one even listen to what Gid has to say? I would also say that Pete is far more interesting because he is the one who has to deal with his doubts—and maybe his faith. Gid is nothing but faith.

The discussion between Gid and Pete is not nearly involved as delving deep into the Bible or theology. But it does serve as a nice primer to give people a chance to think about some of these issues. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if the story serves as a Rorschach test that will affirm the importance of scripture for some, and the validity of skepticism and doubt for others.

Gun and a Hotel Bible is available digitally.

Photos courtesy of Freestyle Digital Media

Marjorie Prime – Do You Remember?

by 1 Comment

Think of an important event in your life. Do you remember it the same as someone else who was there? Do you remember it the same as you did a few years ago? Marjorie Prime is about the relationship between reality and memory. Based on a Pulitzer-nominated play, the film is a cerebrally challenging encounter between the past and what it means to us.

Marjorie (Lois Smith) is a woman in her 80s whose memories are quickly fading. We see her talking to a much younger man, Walter (Jon Hamm). But this is set in the near future and Walter is an artificial intelligence hologram of her late husband. He has been programmed to tell her the story of her life. Of course, his understanding is only as accurate as the memories that have been fed into his program. In the interaction between Marjorie and Walter, he is able to adjust his memory to accommodate new facts or perspectives. Perhaps he can even change the story to make it better. Marjorie’s daughter Tess (Geena Davis) finds it a bit creepy that the hologram represents her father as a young man. Her husband Jon (Tim Robbins) believes this is a chance to help Marjorie remember and to continue to have a bit of joy in her final years. In time, both Tess and Jon find new ways of using the technology in their own lives.

The stage play character of the film make this really about the conversations between the various characters. Some of those are about past memories, but some are also about the nature of memory itself. At one point it is mentioned that when we remember something, we are really remembering our last remembrance of it. Each time we may remember it slightly differently, so the cumulative effect of repeated remembrances could actually be much different from the reality. But if that is so, which is more important, the actual event or the evolved memory that we hold? This is especially relevant when our memories are sometimes unpleasant. Do we really want to remember them? Do we never want to forget them?

As I said, this is an intellectually challenging film. (To me, that is a good thing.) When my wife and I saw this with a friend, it led to quite a bit of discussion after the film. This kind of slightly esoteric questioning may not appeal to some. But for those who want to be jarred into thinking about the things you remember (or think you remember), Marjorie Prime will be well worth the time. It’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year.

Fences – If I Do Not Have Love

by Leave a Comment

“Some people build fences to keep people out; other people build fences to keep people in.”

Fences is a film version of an August Wilson stage play which won both a Pulitzer and a Tony. (The screenplay was adapted by Wilson before his death.) Set in an African-American working class neighborhood in the 1950s it is the story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington, who also directs) and his family.

fences3

Troy is a hardworking man. He is a garbage collector, but he sees no shame in hard work that provides for his family. His wife Rose (Viola Davis) maintains their home. They have a teenage son Cory (Jovan Adepo) and an older son from earlier in Troy’s life, Lyons (Russell Hornsby). We soon see that there is a hard edge to Troy. He is responsible and expects others to live up to their responsibilities. He is hard on his sons when they do not measure up to his expectations.

There is frustration in Troy’s life. At one time he was a pretty good baseball player, but feels that “the white man” never lets someone like him succeed in sports. At work, all the truck drivers are white, but the blacks work the back of the truck. (When Troy files a grievance, he becomes a driver.) His life has been hard, but he feels that he has made a good life for himself and his family. So he is demanding of those who he is responsible for.

Because of the stage origins, the film has a number of extensive speeches. That may seem to make the film a touch preachy at times; however, those speeches are what makes the film interesting and thought-provoking. Many of them are very good expositions of the work ethic and the American Dream, even though for Troy that dream may be blocked off because of social realities of race.

fences1

One of the speeches he makes is directed toward Cory about “doing right by” someone. Cory asks his father why he never liked him. Troy responds “liking” doesn’t matter. Troy provides for him, that is what matters. He tells Cory not to worry about whether someone likes him, but whether they are doing right by him. While Troy rarely talks of racism (and mostly in regards to sports), we know that society is not “doing right by” Troy and people like him.

As the film progresses, we learn more and more about Troy. At the beginning he seems like a friendly, well-spoken, pillar of working America. Perhaps his job is low on prestige, but he approaches it with pride. He faces his responsibilities fully. But bit by bit we discover that Troy may be less than we have come to believe. For all his work ethic and responsibility, it seems that at his core Troy is unable to love. He may provide for Cory’s needs and encourage his education, it is never clear that he loves his son. He is affectionate with Rose and turns over his pay each week, but is that the same as loving her?

The Apostle Paul in his discussion of spiritual gifts includes thoughts about love that begins:

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor. 13: 1-3, NRSV)

Those words came to mind for me as I reflected on Troy’s story. He is a steadfast worker, husband, father, and friend. But if he has no love, does all of that lose its meaning? All of his good qualities amount to much less than we first perceive because of his lack of love. Without that important virtue all else loses its meaning.

fences2

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Last Cab to Darwin: “Cab Driver’s Death Drive”

by Leave a Comment

“I’m a cab driver. I’m going to drive my cab till I can’t drive it no more.”

When mortality suddenly becomes a reality, a cab driver in the Australian Outback decides he wants to face death on his own terms. Rex Macrea (Michael Caton), a crusty loner in Broken Hill, New South Wales, learns he only has three months to live. When he learns that a Dr. Farmer (Jacki Weaver) in the Northern Territory wants to test a new euthanasia law, he starts off on a 1,900 mile journey, hoping to use her suicide machine to end his life. But is it that easy?

Last Cab_Day 11_Broken Hill_2014

Rex has tried to live his life without attachments. He has his mates at the local pub, but he doesn’t figure they’ll miss him. He doesn’t want his indigenous neighbor (and lover) Polly (Ningali Lawford-Wolf) to have to take care of him. So without telling anyone, he sets off on his trek across the continent. Along the way he manages to collect Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), a young indigenous footballer who has let fear stand in the way of a possible career, and Julie (Emma Hamilton), a nurse from London who is backpacking Australia. When he arrives in Darwin he discovers that there is more to dying than he had expected. He also, in making the journey, discovers that there is more to life than he ever realized.

It is easy to miss the joys of life when we are in the midst of the day to day. For Rex, who has lived his whole life in Broken Hill, it is a wonder to see the various landscapes of the Outback. He marvels at the beauty of sunsets. He meets new people. Finally, he comes to discover that those he has left behind are far more special than he knew.

Last Cab_Day 36_Darwin_2014

The writer of Ecclesiastes sets his reflections within a framework of considering mortality. What do all our works, our strivings, our desires, our accomplishments really mean if we are all going to die anyway? What of the daily grind of life? Is it just one thing happening after another, or does it have rewards for us if we just recognize them?

It is just such questions that Rex faces on his trip to Darwin. He thinks he is going off to take control of his life by controlling his death. But in the end, he discovers that there is beauty and love in his life that he’s just not willing to let go of one second too soon.

Photos courtesy of First Run Films