Movies that Moved Me

Every once in awhile we’ll do companion articles here at The Broken Telegraph, and Brian’s great read earlier this week inspired me to use the topic of “movies that inspire” as our first attempt. So here are a few films that I’ve personally found to be really thought-provoking. Rev up your Netflix queue if you’re in the mood for some recommendations.

‘The Lives of Others’ won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film a year or two ago, and for once it was deserved. Besides the fact that the story, direction, cinematography, acting and script are all tight, the film is surprisingly penetrating. It tells the story of a few artistic Germans trying to live while under the surveillance of the Stasi in the 1980s. I was surprised to feel that oppression is always near its ugliest point, even when the process is polished and polite (as the Stasi were). But the film also serves as a reminder that hardened hearts can find redemption, and that hope persists in bleak and muted times. How does one character turn away from being a government stooge? By listening in on the contents of artistic lives- music, conflict and passion. He no longer wants to fight off humanity, and has lost the will to govern it.

I grouped ‘The Insider’ and ‘The Winslow Boy’ together because they are different takes on a theme that captures my attention: fighting for good against extraordinary odds. ‘The Insider’ is the mostly- true story of a Big Tobacco ex-employee and whistle-blower who wants to expose the truth. ‘The Winslow Boy’ is from the great playwright David Mamet, who actually managed to pull a G-rated family drama out of his decidedly R-rated hat. A young son in a wealthy family is accused of stealing a postal order at school. The father calls the boy into his study and asks him three times: “did you steal this postal order?” As calmly as he is asked, the boy replies “no” each time. That’s all the father needs to hear, and he becomes willing to take great risks (and lead the family through turmoil) in order to defend his son. As you can assume, things go poorly for the whistle-blower, and for the Winslow family. But that isn’t the point, is it? The point, as demonstrated, is the purity and worthiness of what’s good and truthful, not what is sacrificed to defend it. “Let right be done,” says one earnest character in ‘The Winslow Boy.’ What a motto.

‘Grizzly Man’ is a complicated, haunting and brilliant documentary from Werner Herzog about Timothy Treadwell’s last days (he and his girlfriend were killed by a bear). Treadwell was famous for living in Alaska with those bears, and this film presents lots of his own video footage along with commentary from Herzog and those who knew him. Though one might be expecting a eulogy, ‘Grizzly Man’ is actually a pretty harsh examination of Treadwell’s mind and actions. From defiantly daring God to make it rain (it soon pours), to saying that anyone else would die if they tried what he was doing- the irony of the inevitable outcome and the astute observations of Herzog make this an unforgettable (and uncomfortable) study on arrogance and self-delusion. It feels like you’re watching a parable.

I came to ‘The Apostle’ on a recommendation from Brian. The film is bittersweet but it’s packed with heart, too. It also did something while I was watching it. The “nutty” characters in the movie (charismatic Christians) began to convict me. I started wondering if theirs is a pure and bold faith, and if I was the fraud. In one scene, Duvall’s disgraced preacher says warmly of some nearby Catholics in worship: “we do it differently, Brother, but we sure do get it done.” This movie made me question some of my long-held assumptions. It reminds me of this great line from a prominent religious person who went to hear Bono speak. He said of the event “I walked in questioning if Bono was really a Christian and walked out questioning if I really was.”

What about you? What films have kept you thinking or changed your perspective?