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A New York Times profile of French blockbuster filmmaker Luc Besson;

And his growing film company Eurocorp.

Myth is alive, barely. But it is alive and exists in America through the medium of film. It is Hollywood who captures and exhibits our myths in DLP and anamorphic widescreen to be viewed for $10 on Friday night. It is through the medium of film that we view the narratives that embody the values of our society. For that is what myth is: narrative that expresses the values of a society often employing supernatural or fantastic elements to do so.

These elements are designed not to provide an escape from reality but to better express a cultural value through the fantastic element surrounding the person or events of the film. The fantastical element of myth is not present to provide a pleasurable escape for the reader, but instead to provide a world far enough removed from the world of the reader to give perspective on that world.

If the values of a society are pictured as different shades of light, what myth does is move both positive and negative values of society to the extreme ends of the spectrum so that by the exaggerated nature of said values we can see more clearly our own. Myth then is helpful not simply because it is engaging and funny but because it is self-expression of a society. And it is helpful because more often than not it is only a semi-conscious expression.

Those who create the most compelling myths, or the most truthful myths, are those who actually believe on some level that the myths they are telling are true. They are not merely crafting a story; they are telling a truth. Today those who craft our great cultural myths are filmmakers.  And it is through the medium of film that our greatest narratives of self-expression are told.  Read More »

It is difficult to know if Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger intended on making any great exploration of the Christian faith when they set out to make their 1947 film, Black Narcissus. They had read, and purchased the rights to, Rumor Godden’s 1939 eponymous novel, and felt the story would translate successfully to the screen.

Out of that book they created a lush, beautifully colored, exotic soap opera full of sex-starved nuns and bare-chested men. Its wild tone and perverse nature don’t immediately point toward any deep meditations on the relationship between the sacred and secular worlds, but beneath the hysterics lies one of the most complex film documents to touch on matters or religion.

The film traces the trials and tribulations of a group of five Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), as they open a dispensary and school for young girls in Mopu, a remote region of India marked by the grand vistas of the Himalayan Mountains. Powell and Pressburger structure their film in an almost didactic fashion, with each scene and character bouncing off of one another. Ideas, morals, and worldviews clash as the Sisters try to make their way. Read More »

Hello to all fellow imbibers of The Brew. Due to the economy and some other issues, The Brew will be changing it’s recipe a bit.

We won’t be releasing  new batches every month but instead will be opening up all our past Brews for writers to add a new spice or a some extra hops for sturdiness. Any new article can be added to any older Brew (Emergent Church, Sex, Depression, etc.) at any time to change the flavor of that batch (a.k.a. No More Deadlines). So feel free to experiment until you get The Brew that tastes best.