Andrei Rublev [Андрей Рублёв] (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966)
"What is praised today is abused tomorrow. They will forget you, me, everything".
Following the renowned icon painter through his life in medieval Russia, Andrei Rublev depicts faith in one of the most vivid and detailed cinematic historical ways. From a naive faith in human nature to the anguish that leads Andrei to quit painting for 15 years, the film takes you through a series of poetically connected scenes: pagans running through the forest with torches, snow falling inside of an unfinished church, and a boy leading men towards the creation of an enormous bell. A tortured soul struggles to preserve his integrity as an artist and priest.
After every viewing of this film, I will find myself a different person than at the start. No matter where I am in my faith, this film has the power to move me towards the truth that God has to offer. Not only is this film theologically profound, but it is unquestionably one of the greatest films in history.
A Hidden Life (dir. Terrence Malick, 2019)
"Better to suffer injustice than to do it."
While tackling the same theological question as Martin Scorsese's Silence, based on the novel by Endo, Malick seeks to answer the question "What does Jesus want from us." When your faith in Christ is the difference between being tortured and killed or living peacefully, what is the correct answer?
Set in Austria during World War II, farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis because of his faith. Although Silence is a phenomenal film, Terrance Malick answers the theological dilemma in a more biblically founded way. This film showed me what it was like to suffer righteously and resembles the teachings of 1 Peter in an exciting way. Silence and A Hidden Life are perfect introductions to theological cinema.