Spirituality & Practice: Film Feature: The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2000, by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2000

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Films
The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Foreign Language Films
Ten More Spiritually Literate Films

Films can be appreciated on a number of levels. Some people look for production values — the quality of the acting, directing, cinematography, special effects, or writing. We're partial to the latter, we admit, and especially to those stories that reveal us to ourselves, showing us the whole range of human possibilities. We like movies even better when they shed light on the spiritual practices, such as hospitality, questing, or transformation, that help us discover the meaning and purpose of life. On that score, here are the best of 2000.

Click on the title of the film to read a full review.

The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Films

GRACE

The Legend of Bagger Vance (DreamWorks) focuses on the mythical journey of a golfer, battered by war and personal tragedy, who must give up his depression, confront his demons, cope with his fears, and learn to trust his inner voice. A spiritual guide, the personification of grace, helps this young man discover his authentic self.

HOPE

Cast Away (20th Century Fox) follows the adventures of a time-obsessed FedEx systems engineer who is stranded on an uninhabited South Pacific Island for four years. Hope is the faculty that keeps his soul alive and enables him to give up the illusion of control and open up to the mysteries of the present moment.

HOSPITALITY

Chocolat (Miramax) is a charming comic fable about a free-spirited woman who brings life and vitality to a repressive and stultifying small French community. This buoyant drama challenges us to love diversity and respect the differences we find in one another.

MYSTERY

Unbreakable (Touchstone) deals with the inner transformation of a sad and confused man who is blind to his own powerful, exceptional, giving, and loving self. Within each of us a unique and glorious being awaits awakening. Here the one who compels the protagonist to consider the mystery of his goodness is another wayward soul.

QUESTING

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Touchstone/Universal) is a zany and hilarious bluegrass version of Homer's Odyssey set in the South during the Depression. Three escaped convicts go in search of one treasure and find another they didn't expect. The movie is a wonderful conglomeration of comic bits, American folklore, religious rituals, political satire, and cinematic tributes.

SHADOW

Gladiator (DreamWorks) is a spectacular action drama that brings us face to face with our own blood lust. Through a series of engaging and interesting characters — from an admired warrior to an envious son — we are forced to square off with the powerful emotions that animate the best and the worst in us.

TEACHERS

Spring Forward (IFC Films) revolves around the unlikely friendship between an ex-con who has just been hired by the parks department of a New England town and his partner, an older man just a year away from retirement. These two turn out to be lifelines to each other, sharing what they know about the most important things in life.

TRANSFORMATION

Nurse Betty (USA Films) is an inventive comedy about the surprising ways in which a person can be transformed. In this case, a waitress and avid soap opera fan is severely traumatized and set on a new path that completely uproots and changes her life.

YEARNING

Billy Elliot (Universal) tells the inspiring story of an eleven-year-old boy from an English mining community who uses ballet as an outlet for all the mixed feelings of anger, loss, and rebellion stirring in his adolescent soul. Heeding the advice of his deceased mother — to always be himself — he turns all his yearning into a passionate commitment to dance. Eventually even his conservative father comes to see that this is Billy's way out of the mines and into a bright future.

YOU

Erin Brockovich (Universal) explores the idea of calling and vocation in the true story of a brash young woman who finds her chance to make a difference in the world. She champions the cause of a community suffering from the poisoning of their water supply by a gas and electric plant. Here is a film about a person who learns the words to her own song and winds up singing from the bottom of her heart.

The Ten Most Spiritually Literate Foreign Language Films

The breadth and depth of this year's releases has compelled us to stretch our best list by putting the foreign language films into a separate category. We don't mean to imply that these movies are any less wonderful that those described above; just check on the links to read our full reviews.

In addition, special mention must go to The Decalogue, ten one-hour stories originally created for Polish television by director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Finally available in the United States on video, these modern stories inspired by the Ten Commandments were truly one of the high points of 2000.