The spiritual potential of otherness in film: The interplay of scene and narrative

Abstract

The spiritual potential of film is grounded in its ability to render “Other” what is presented visually on the screen. However, the narrative structure of a film interacts with the filmed scene to modify its spiritual potential. While scene and narrative can be artfully manipulated to express mystical and theistic sensibilities, film seems inherently biased towards the immanent spirituality of cosmological or plenum religions, but not without some practical difficulties. Schrader's transcendental style can be seen as expressing a quasi‐mystical spirituality. The popular film Places of the Heart intimates a cosmological consciousness, whereas Tender Mercies evokes a spirituality more characteristic of theistic religion.

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