Review

Lessons from Reel Life:

Movies, Meaning and Myth Making by Michael Frost and Robert Banks

Open Book Publishers, 2001, 229 pages, RRP $32

by Paul Arnott

In Lessons from Reel Life Michael Frost and Robert Banks assert that “the best films tap deep into our private and public consciousness and establish a genuine connection to truth and reality.” (Introduction iii) They suggest that films hold a mirror to real life or remind us of what life could be like. Film maker George Miller, creator of both Mad Max and Babe, believes that the cinema story tellers have become the new priests who are doing the work of religious institutions: “I believe cinema is now the most powerful secular religion and people gather in cinemas to experience things collectively the way they once did in church.” (p.7) Miller accuses the church of having “so concretised the metaphors in their stories, taken so much of the poetry, mystery and mysticism out of religious belief, that people look for other places to question their spirituality.” (p.7)

The first two chapters of this book provide us with a deeper understanding of film and guidelines for interpreting the movies we watch. Banks and Frost offer what they call the three V’s of effective film viewing. They suggest that

1. watching film is a voyeuristic experience, which can transport us to worlds that don’t exist, which has its benefits and its dangers. 2. film is a visceral experience, which has the power to both take us in its grip and to excite powerful emotions. Film has the power to change people’s attitudes to a range of issues. 3. watching film is a vicarious experience that enables us to some degree feel the experiences of others as if they were our own. It’s suggested that movies provide us with a ‘”relatively anonymous way of entering into others’ experiences and, hopefully, learning something from them.” (p.27)

Lessons from Reel Life provides major critiques of sixteen films, as diverse as The Castle, High Noon and Citizen Cane. Each of the films is analysed within its cultural context and compared to dozens of other films with similar themes. For example, the classic Australian comedy is compared to a range of other films in which the little battler overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to win out in the end, among them The Matrix (1999) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). While 4 Weddings seems an unlikely candidate for ‘a little bloke makes good’ kind of movie Michael Frost and Robert Banks point out that it contains most of the elements of movies of this genre.

Lessons from Reel Life is an excellent contribution towards helping read our culture. It confirms what many of us have long suspected – that an understanding of contemporary film is one of the most effective ways of both critiquing postmodern culture and finding ways to proclaim the gospel with integrity in our world. If we’re serious about engaging our culture with the gospel we need to take the time to read books like this one. It more than holds it own alongside Robert Johnson’s Reel Spirituality and Videos that teach: teachable movie moments from 75 modern film classics by Doug Field and Eddie James.

Lessons from Reel Life is beautifully produced by Open Book, looks good, feels good and at $32.95, for a large format book, is worth every cent. A great Christmas present for anyone who loves movies and/or anyone who wants to learn how to better use film to share the good news of Jesus. A book to savour and dip into for years to come.

Paul Arnott is the Director of Tasmanian Anglican Media and Communications.

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