Protestants on Screen

Gastón Espinosa is Department Chair and the Arthur V. Stoughton Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College.Erik Redling is Professor of American Literature and Culture and Managing Director of the Muhlenberg Center for American Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Jason Stevens has taught at Harvard University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and he has been a fellow of the National Humanities Center (Durham, NC) and the University of Pittsburgh, (Humanities Center).

• IntroductionIntroduction Part I: Why Protestants and FilmIntroduction Part II: What is Religion and Why is it Important in Film?Introduction Part III: What is Protestantism?Introduction Part IV: Protestantism and Film - Historical OverviewIntroduction Part V: Protestant Film AestheticsIntroduction Part VI: Chapter Overview Part I. History and Theory of Protestantism in Religion and Film Studies1 - Protestant Responses to Hollywood, Censorship, and Art CinemaWilliam D. Romanski2 - Independent Protestant Film, from the Silent Era to its ResurgenceAndrew Quicke3 - Protestant Themes within Secular Models of Salvation --"Redeemed" or just "A Bit Happier"'?: The Example of Crazy HeartClive Marsh Part II. The Protestant Reformation on Screen4 - "Here I stand I can do no other..." Martin Luther in German and American BiopicsEsther Wipfler5 - The Vexed Man: Oliver Cromwell and the English Reformation and Civil War on ScreenGastón Espinosa6 - Propaganda, Blasphemy, and The Savage God in The Witchfinder General & The Wicker ManVictor Sage Part III. Protestant Influences in European Art Films7 - Words versus "The Word": Language and Scripture in Ingmar Bergman's Films and WritingsMaaret Koskinen8 - Protestant Miracle in Dreyer's OrdetMarc LeFanu9 - Babette's Feast: Protestant Pietism, the Conflict of Spirit and Flesh, and Reconciliatory Grace in the Danish Babette's FeastKjell O. Lejon10 - Protestant Ambivalence Towards Allegory in Wim Wenders' The Scarlet LetterErik Redling Part IV. Protestant Experience in American Movies11 - Where Were You? The Problem of Evil in Terrence Malick's The Tree of LifeMark Scott12 - "Holy Ghost Power!" in Robert Duvall's The ApostleGastón Espinosa and Jason Stevens13 - Sinner or Saint?: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in SelmaJulius H. Bailey14 - The Religious Motif of Mountains in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?Melanie Johnson15 - A Tender View of Conservative Evangelicalism in Higher GroundPaula M. Kane16 - Evangelicals and Star Wars: Appropriating a Culture from a Galaxy Far Far AwayAlex Wainer Part V. Protestant Themes in Film Genres17 - The Rise and Fall of Evangelical Protestant Apocalyptic Horror: From A Thief in the Night to Left Behind and BeyondTimothy Beal18 - The Western. Radical Forgiveness in UnforgivenSara Anson Vaux19 - Protestant Pacifist: War and Pacifism in Mel Gibson's Hacksaw RidgeMatthew S. Rindge20 - Film Noir, Calvinism, and Self-Surveillance in Paul Schrader's HardcoreJason Stevens21 - Lost in Adaptation: Aslan's Divinity and the Purpose of Real Pain in Narnia versus Fantasy FilmDevin Brown

While Roman Catholicism's influence on film is well known, the corresponding influence of Protestantism is frequently ignored. This volume remedies that through attention to the ways in which Protestant themes and representation are expressed in films, as well as how Protestant filmmakers and audiences have contributed to the art form and its reception. A must read for anyone interested in the multiple ways in which Protestantism and film have interacted over the last century!