Films: Violence & the Sacred

St Ethelburga's

Centre for Reconciliation and Peace

to inspire and equip people to pursue reconciliation and peace-making in their own comunities and lives

violence & the sacred

“Violence is the heart and secret soul of the sacred” René Girard.

Cinema can open our eyes (as well as dull them) to the reality of violence. We’ve chosen five exceptional feature films to help us explore the nature of violence, in the world around us, and in ourselves..

Each screening will be introduced by a guest speaker, drawing on ideas from Girard, Walter Wink and gender perspectives. A key part of each event will be a discussion about how participants relate the violence on screen to their own life experiences.

A Season of five CONTROVERSIAL FILMS ABOUT VIOLENCE

High Plains Drifter Thus 1 November Revenge: An avenging angel (Clint Eastwood) paints the town red, literally, in an enigmatic western drawing on the Book of Revelation.	Dir. Clint Eastwood (1973) 105 mins

Nil by Mouth Thurs 15 Nov Anger: Unable to express himself (“nil by mouth”), can a brutal husband (Ray Winstone) find the self-knowledge to break his terrifying cycle of abusive anger?	Dir. Gary Oldman (1997) 128 mins

The Passion of The Christ Weds 21 Nov The scapegoat: The extreme brutality of Jesus’ crucifixion reveals “the enormity of the sacrifice”, according to Gibson. Why was such violence necessary?	Dir. Mel Gibson (2004) 121 mins (Sub-titles)

Bad Lieutenant Thurs 29 Nov Redemption: A nun is raped and forgives her assailants, triggering existential crisis for the corrupt cop on her case (an astonishing performance from Harvey Keitel).	Dir. Abel Ferrara (1993) 96 mins

The Killer Thurs 6 Dec Mimesis: If The Cop and the Killer in Woo’s dazzlingly-choreographed thriller are “mimetic rivals”, what is their mutual desire?	Dir. John Woo (1989) 106 mins (Sub-titles)

Warning: All films are classified BBFC Cert 18 and contain disturbing images.

Violence and the Sacred

This experimental series of screenings aims to explore whether it is possible to gain insight about violence in the real world, and in our own psyches, by studying cinematic representations of violence

We will be drawing particularly on the work of René Girard and Walter Wink.

Each screening has a theme ("revenge", "scapegoat" etc) to guide our discussions. Programme notes will be available in advance of each screening which will attempt to relate the film to its theme.

Screenings are free of charge - donations towards our costs would be most welcome