Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century

by Craig Detweiler

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2008

Overview

Detweiler uses the IMDb, the wildly popular Internet Movie Database, to select today's most influential contemporary films. Into the Dark dissects the theology of everyday life, exploring the work of the Spirit of God in creation and redemption to discuss "general revelation" through cinema and sometimes unlikely filmmakers. This book opens up lively discussion topics, including anthropology, the problem of evil, sin, interconnectivity, postmodern relationships, ethics, fantasy, and communities in crisis. Notable movies discussed include Gladiator, United 93, Million Dollar Baby, and Walk the Line.

This book is recommended for college and seminary students in film, theology, and communications courses as well as pastors, film fans, and those interested in Christianity and the cinema.

Key Features

• Provides readable analysis and insight into popular films
• Excellent resource for students, pastors, and the general reader
• Includes appendixes, notes, and indexes

Praise for the Print Edition

Applying both professional acumen and autobiographical wisdom, the author gleans insights regarding transcendence in films. . . . Reading this book is akin to enjoying a sumptuous feast with a thoughtful, witty, engaging connoisseur who knows the menu and loves to eat. . . . Highly recommended.

—T. Lindvall, Choice

Craig Detweiler's Into the Dark is a passionate, thoughtful assessment of the spiritual aspects of cinema. Detweiler provides a refreshingly open-minded engagement with Hollywood, insisting on an integrative approach to general revelation wherein the cinematic 'good, true, and beautiful' are broadly defined and broadly discovered. It is uncommon to hear Christians speak of mass entertainment as 'a form of Mass, a common grace,' as Detweiler does, but such a perspective is sorely needed and appropriately provocative.

—Brett McCraken, film critic for Christianity Today and Relevant

Product Details

• Title: Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the Top Films of the 21st Century
• Author: Craig Detweiler
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 336

About Craig Detweiler

Craig Detweiler joined Fuller in 2008 as associate professor of theology and culture. He is also co-director of the Reel Spirituality Institute, the area of Fuller’s Brehm Center focused on theology and film. Dr. Detweiler previously taught at Biola University in La Mirada, California, as associate professor of mass communication and chair of its Film, TV, and Radio Program. Detweiler is a filmmaker who has written scripts for numerous Hollywood films. His most recent film, the social documentary Purple State of Mind (2008), won “Best Spiritual Film†at the Breckenridge Film Festival, and his documentary Williams Syndrome: A Highly Musical Species (1996), won a Cine Golden Eagle. He also wrote the films Extreme Days (2001) and The Duke (1999). Detweiler has served as a juror for several film festivals and produced the annual City of the Angels Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, as well as the inaugural Reel Lives Film Festival: The Cancer Chronicles in Geneva, Switzerland. He leads a coalition of schools and educators to the Sundance Film Festival each year for Fuller’s WindRider Forum in Park City, Utah.