Movement 105

inrages of the film comes when Ricky
shows Jane Burnham his filnr of a
discarded plastic bag being blown in
the wind: a film that he describes as
being so beautiful that he felt like his
heart would burst. This could easily
have fallen flat. However,
ntarvellously, the filnr does convince
us that this plastic bag is truly
beautiful. lt manages to do so chiefly
because the director shows us that he
really can find beauty in the ordinary.
Many of the scenes are contPosed
with the sort of simplicity that it seems
anybody who tried ought to be able to
achieve; the sort of simplicity that
characterises the highest art.
ln addition, the filnr does question
its own message. ls the ability to find
beauty even in death not nrorbid?
Ricky's character never ceases to
seem slightly deranged, and even
Lester's rejection of conventional
values is occasionally abusive.
Despite nry reservations about the
film's sexual politics, this is a truly
great film: warm, funny, thoughtprovoking
and often achieving
sublimity. And you will never look at
discarded plastic bags in the same
way again.
TxE Eruo oF THE AFFATR
directed by Neil Jordan
tr$*i.,','lm'*
(which I haven't read) set in World War
ll. A woman pronrises God that she
will give up her lover if God saves his
life in the Blitz. The three principal
characters, Sarah, played by Julianne
Moore, her husband, played by
Stephen Rea, and her lover, the
novelist Maurice Bendrix, played by
Ralph Fiennes, are all very well acted.
The film starts out well, as Bendrix
hires a detective to discover whether
Sarah is having an affair with
somebody else, and discovers why
Sarah ended the affair two years
before. However, to my mind the filnr
falls flat in the second half, as it alters
the book in a rewrite which almost
rivals the version of King Lear with the
happy ending.
ln the film, Bendnx learns the truth
by reading Sarah's diary, and
confronts her. They then resume their
affair before they discover that Sarah
is dying. Modern film seems to have
no language to express the idea that
two people love each other except
through the vigour of their sex scenes.
(American Beauty is an exception). ln
addition, there seems to be a secular
discomfort with the idea that
sympathetic people could ever act
because they believed in God. The
effect of this on the film is to reduce
God from an Old Testament figure,
disturbing and possibly amoral, who is
in serious competition with worldly
love, to a figure who can be
comfortably contained within purely
religious categories. This removes
some of the film's earlier ironies
against secularisnr. For exanrple, the
private detective interprets all of
Sarah's relations as almost certainly
leading to 'intimacies.' But it also
makes the religious elements less
morally ambiguous. For example,
Bendrix' jealousy of God seem more
petty ifSarah has not given hinr up for
God.
The first half of the film is based
upon Greene's pre-Vatican ll
Catholicism. Like American Beauty,
the filnr nrakes it plain how ideas of
salvation can be nrarginal in relation
to our ideas of sanity, how they can
break in and disturb our lives. But the
filnr as a whole, after starting to raise
questions, decides hastily to bury
them again.
David Anderson is doing a PhD in
English Literature at the University of
Sussex.
History reveals itself
CrLrgRRnlc THE CHRtsrRru CrmrRtrs
by Andrew D. Mayes (SPCK)
T0 BE HoNEST I wanted to read this
book wearing my (mEtaphorical)
historian's hat and criticise. From
that point of view I was disappointed,
but I ended up reading a really great
book and finding an excellent prayer
resource. So lwasn'ttoo miffed!
Andrew Mayes is a Christian with
vast experience of Christian traditions
- and other religions, and this is very
evident throughout the bo0k, alth0ugh
he seems to marry the various styles
very well. He focuses on one Christian
figure from each century (most of
them fairly well known).
He sets the main events ofthe
century in context exceptionally well
(the historian speaks...), but concisely
and with enough interestforany
reader. He then goes on to give a
short biography ofthe person,
followed by an extract from their
writings. Some of the pieces are very
moving, others thought provoking,
and all seem to make you want to
read further from their works (whether
or not you'll ever get round to it).
He gives suggestions for further
reading at the end of each chapter. I
was particularly touched by the reworking
ofthe Love hymn ofSt. Paul
( lCor: 13) by Clement of Rome.
" Love binds us fast to God. Love
casts a veil over sins innumerable.
There are no limits to love's
endurance, no end to its patience"
It was so refreshing to read what is
a very beautiful theme for a passage
from another pen. This book is full of
good thingsl
All of this is very interesting for the
lone reader, but Mayes offers more.
Each extract is followed by up to a
dozen questions on the themes
mentioned, aimed at a discussion
group. After this are two or three
imaginative suggestions for group or
individual prayer. "Hold a hazelnut in
your hand and reflect on its beauty
and fragility. Think about your life;
precious in God's hands, and give
thanks" ' 14th Century, Julian of
Norwich.
Although I haven't yet used it in my
prayer group, I intend to do so.
The book gives you the chance to
look at inspiring Christian literature
complimentary to the Bible in a user
friendly format.
I tried very hard to find fault with
this book, but in the end found it
fascinating in its narrative and useful
in all kinds of ways as a prayer
resource. And in case anyone else is
as taken with it as me, I'm not risking
lending out my copy.
Alison Gilhespie works for the
Catholic Student Council and and is a
history graduate from York University.
movement 23