The Ninth Configuration (1980)
After Exorcist II: The Heretic was laughed out of cinemas,
William Peter Blatty (who scripted the original) sought to put the story of Fathers Karris and Merrin to rights. His spiritual sequel to The Exorcist began with the madhouse conventions of Sum Fullers Shock Corridor and took things to a new level of hysteria. But most remarkable of all is the dream sequence of one of the patients, who speaks of the improbability of life existing without a God while picturing Christ hanging from a cross on the Moon. Powerful stuff.
The Proposition (2005)
John Hillcoats first film has its fair share of Biblical imagery thanks to a gruesome script by
Nick Cave. The brutal dilemmas faced by the characters mirror stories in the Old Testament about individuals being called upon to commit murder in the name of justice. Charlie Burns defection is both a betrayal of his own kin and an attempt to save it, mirroring Cain's conflicted nature when he murdered Abel. And the level of violent retribution is worthy of anything in the book of Judges, with the raping of Stanley's wife being no less repulsive than Ehud's murder of the fat king Eglon.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Considering that it contains lines like give yourself over to absolute pleasure, you wouldnt think that
Rocky Horror would have much time for Christian morality. But in its closing section all becomes clear, as Brad and Janet emerge from their ordeal with Frank N. Furter like Adam and Eve crawling from the vanquished serpent, out of the Garden of Eden and into an unknown future. Throw in
Charles Gray as a disappointed, distant God and the effect is complete.
The Secret Garden (1993)
Frances Hodgson Burnett was a prominent member of the Christian Science Movement, who believed that every aspect of nature contains some element of Christ. But
Agnieszka Hollands adaptation of the book is a little more subtle that the previous sentence would have you believe. Alongside the more obvious overtones the Garden as Eden, the mothers death as the Fall the film taps into one of Christs key teachings, namely viewing the world with the innocence of a child.
The Tempest (1979)
William Shakespeares The Tempest has numerous Christian elements to it: the jealous God who can control the weather, angels interceding between God and Man, and the Adam and Eve-like romance between Ferdinand and Miranda. These themes are so common that its hard to pick a version which brings theme out in the best way. While Forbidden Plane
t remains the best overall version of the play,
Derek Jarmans version from the 1970s is the most spiritually tuned (this is hardly surprising, since Jarman designed the sets for Ken Russells
The Devils).