Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes Through the Lens of Contemporary Film

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Fall, 2005 by Zeba A. Crook

USELESS BEAUTY: ECCLESIASTES THROUGH THE LENS OF CONTEMPORARY FILM. By Robert K. Johnston. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004. Pp. 208. Paper, $17.99.

The most visible example of Christian interaction with contemporary film is arguably "Christian Spotlight on Entertainment" (http://christiananswers.net/spotlight/home. html), an organization that assesses movies primarily by a "Morality Rating," and that has rated all but two of the films discussed in this book as either Very or Extremely Offensive to Christians. What motivates such assessments is undoubtedly the conviction that these contemporary films are a deterrent to faith (which presumably they define in a very narrow way).

Setting itself in direct opposition to this perspective, Robert K. Johnston treats contemporary film as a theological resource. This of course requires one to look deeper than the rough exterior of many of these films, but doing so reveals that many of the issues raised in recent award-winning films are the same issues Qoheleth struggled with in Ecclesiastes: the limits of human wisdom, the challenges of understanding divine/cosmic justice, and the tensions between enjoying life and taking seriously life's brevity. In other words, far from deterring people from faith, modern film can allow them to appreciate all the more an ancient and biblical "wisdom" that has remained constant.

Between an introductory ("A Battered Optimism") and concluding ("Humanity at Full Stretch") chapter, Johnston examines the works of eight film makers: Akira Kurosawa (Ikiru, 1952) and Woody Allen (Crimes and Misdemeanors, 1989) in chapter two; Alan Ball (American Beauty, 1999, as well as his current TV drama Six Feet Under) in chapter three; Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, 1997; Magnolia, 1999; Punch Drunk Love 2002) in chapter four; Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, 1999; The Princess and the Warrior, 2000) in chapter five; Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, 2001) in chapter six; M. Night Shyamalan (Sixth Sense, 1999; Signs, 2002) in chapter seven; and Alexander Payne (Election, 1999; About Schmidt, 2003) in chapter eight.

In each chapter, Johnston offers an intelligent, creative, and in-depth analysis of the movies, always juxtaposing them against quotations from Ecclesiastes. Indeed, the most rewarding aspect of the book is its film analysis. Johnston also succeeds well in showing that these films are just different ways of exploring the human condition: how can one resolve the tension of living a life we know will end in death; what is the relationship between how we live our lives and how life treats us; are some things in life not within our means to control or understand, despite our collective human intelligence? This book is a creative way of drawing the fan of contemporary film back to a reading and understanding of Ecclesiastes.

Nonetheless, there are limits to the approach taken in this book. Where Johnston draws a parallel between a theme or scene of a movie and a passage from Ecclesiastes, the parallel between the two is often tenuous at best, sometimes completely unapparent. For example, in Monster's Ball a prison guard comes to admire a prisoner whose execution he will have to witness; as they are walking to the electric chair, the guard vomits and weeps. The text that Johnston juxtaposes with this scene is Ecclesiastes 1:2, "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities. All is vanity." In other instances, the parallels drawn are too broad to really supplement each other. For example, in Election, much grief is caused by the belief that hard work results in success and happiness; here Johnston cites Ecclesiastes 1:3, "You spend your life working, labouring, and what do you have to show for it?" The problem is not that the passage lacks parallels with the film; the problem is that the theme is not unique to either the film or Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature, and as such it touches on issues that are timeless and often universal. It seemed to me that the sort of approach taken in this book might have been more meaningful had the parallels been more sharp. Nonetheless, despite the distracting nature of some of the Ecclesiastes citations, the book was a pleasure to read.

Zeba A. Crook

Carleton University

Ottawa, Ontario