There’s nothing wrong with watching a relaxing movie that will be quickly forgotten. However, it would be a pity to stop there. Below I propose four films that I not only enjoyed artistically, but which also left me with an important message.
Romero (1989)
This movie is really good, although I might be a bit biased, because I have a huge admiration for its main character – Archbishop Oscar Romero, recently canonized by Pope Francis. Archbishop Romero in El Salvador spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents. In 1980, he was shot by an assassin while celebrating Mass.
Watching the film, it is hard not to feel anger, grief and solidarity with all those who are despised and marginalized. There are no easy answers, but we must never stop looking for the solutions.
“Les Misérables” (1998)
The movie is based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name. The storyline follows the life of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict (imprisoned for stealing bread), who was paroled following 19 years of hard labor. He is being pursued by inspector Javert who fanatically pursues a very specific notion of justice, which doesn’t take mercy into account.
Sometimes it takes a while to get drawn into a movie, but in this case even the first scenes are absolutely mind-blowing. The characters are portrayed multi-dimensionally and force us to pose questions about the true meaning of morality as opposed to pure “moralism.”
The Human Experience (2008)
This is the documentary produced by Grassroots Films which tells the story of brothers Clifford and Jeffrey Azize as they travel searching for answers to the most elementary questions, “What does it mean to be human?”, “Who am I?”, and “What am I supposed to do”? The movie is divided into three sections, covering their experiences of living with homeless people in New York, visiting disabled children in an orphanage in Peru, and helping in leper colony in rural Ghana.
There is nothing naïve about this movie, but it perfectly shows the spirit and beauty of human person in the most dramatic circumstances. Definitely, a must-watch.
A Hidden Life (2019)
The plot unfolds slowly, yet you can’t pull yourself away from the movie. It depicts the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer and devout Catholic, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler and fight in the German army during World War II. His heart is torn apart – on the one hand he knows he cannot do what is wrong and what his conscience does not allow him to do, and on the other he sees his wife’s suffering and misses her while in prison.
The movie is based on the true story of Jägerstätter, who was beatified in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. The director shoots the movie in beautiful mountain landscapes, and the whole picture is complemented by delicate music. Watching it might become a meditation on conscience, moral courage and virtues of faith, hope, and love.
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