Catching Light: Looking for God in the Movies Book

An interesting phenomenological approach to some of cinema's greatest films, one that treats the movie screen as a "text" and views its protagonists' "religious lived experiences" as venues for refracting and reflecting metaphysical truth. Anker's work has many helpful insights and reveals the soul of a solid film critic and analyst; however, Catching Light is hindered by its protracted style and chronological (versus systematic) approach. Anker is quite capable of recognizing and accurately diagnosing the technical aspects and artistic choices within a film--he just doesn't do it consistently--opting instead to write about the entire plot of each movie, in intensive detail, from beginning to end. In my opinion, this method of organization prohibits Anker from thoroughly addressing what he correctly terms "the language of the medium," i.e., the "production design, setting, costuming, music, lighting, and...host of camera strategies" that provide movies with symbolic meaning. Ironically, I believe a systematic approach to these production features (as well as organized attention to each film's script) would allow for a far smoother narrative style, and actually lend itself better to supporting Anker's thesis: that film can serve as powerful means to catch divine Light and reveal theological truths, as they are phenomenologically understood through each protagonist.

On a side note: Anker's review of The Deer Hunter, specifically, the methodology it employs and the meta-themes it uncovers, are startlingly analogous to Clint Eastwood's just released biopic, American Sniper. This review alone is worth the sometime slog of Catching Light.