In this fourth installment in the saga of not-so-related tales, we tackle the theme of... Religion and faith!

I've made an entry for this one once before, and I'm about pooped out of movielogging, so this one will be a bit brief.

Whether or not you believe in some, all, none, or a different variation of the Biblical system, what makes this movie compelling is that all the characters, be they Heavenly, Earthly, or inhabitants of the pit of Hell, are easily accessible, sympathetic beings. Each has their own motivations, feelings, and ideas. The story of these religous figures is not told as if they are all merely plot-driven automatons created to illustrate some particular great moral teaching. They have personalities, ideas, and are portrayed -- crudely so -- in such a way as to be readily understood as genuine, rather than some mythical, far away, "shepherds on a hillside".

Pardon the Mulder expression, but after watching this movie, at least for a faint glimmer of a microsecond, I could honestly say, "I want to believe." This despite the sheer, obvious idiocy of it all. This is something that years of attending church as a child never managed to inspire. Even though there were a lot of nice people there, nice people are not enough to make you want to buy into a belief structure. Certainly not beyond the age of ten.

I suspect that a prerequisite to fully appreciating this movie is a Christian background of some sort. It was made by a Catholic, with a Catholic perspective, so it would be easy to conclude that the people most apt to "get it" are those who grew up Catholic. Speaking as someone who grew up in a non-Catholic (but very Christian) denomination, I can still say that a lot hit home.

Well, I think I have rambled on enough. This was a good way to wrap up a long afternoon/evening of movie watching. I should do stuff like this more often.