Film and Religion as Artistic Narrative

Hamner, M. Gail. “Religion and Film: A Pedagogical Rubric.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 81, no. 4, 2013, pp. 1139–1150. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24488118.

This is one of the most interesting readings I’ve found on the field of religion and film, as Hamner focuses on the teaching or religion and film and ensuring their relation is expressed properly to their students. When teaching to students, Hamner takes a multifaceted approach on the subject. First, they approach the evental character of religion, summed up succinctly by a quote from Jonathan Z. Smith, “Religion is not an object of analysis but an occasion for analysis.” No single object, person, or text can represent religion in any essential manner. Instead, religion is a series of specific events and happenings that present a narrative of the spiritual. Once the understanding of religion as a narrative is set in place, analysis of film as a visual and auditory narrative coincides nicely with the students new understanding of religion. To create a groundwork for understand the cinematic artforms, technical aspects of film are analyzed, such as editing, cinematography, and lighting among others. By breaking down the pieces that make film, we are able to rebuild them with a better appreciation of the overall artform. Finally, the third step marries these two new understandings. By combining our understanding of religion as narrative and film as narrative art, we can analyze the religious and cultural importance of cinematic art. Now, Hamner’s student can look to their understanding of religion and of film and marry them in a study of film as religious narrative. 

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