Film and Television

Michael Ruse

doi:10.1017/9781108562324.042

41 - Film and Television

from Part VI - Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 September 2021

Michael Ruse

Christopher B. Barnett

Edited by

Stephen Bullivant

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Michael Ruse: Affiliation:
Florida State University
Stephen Bullivant: Affiliation:
St Mary's University, Twickenham, London

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Summary

To speak of the relationship between atheism, on one hand, and film and television, on the other, is a thorny endeavor. There are, after all, a plethora of variables to consider. A given filmmaker might hold atheistic beliefs but make movies with obvious religious import – for example, the great Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, whose 1964 film The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] was dedicated to Pope John XXIII. Conversely, another filmmaker might be a well-known theist but release movies that highlight atheistic characters and themes – to wit, Martin Scorsese, who has explored godlessness in films such as Mean Streets (1973), The Departed (2006), and even in ostensibly religious works such as Silence (2016).

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of Atheism , pp. 740 - 760

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108562324.042 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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41 - Film and Television

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