Journal for Religion, Film and Media (JRFM)

Call for Papers. Escaping the Moment

JRFM — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

After Great Pain

Teng-Kuan Ng — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article studies the adaptations and applications of religious folklore in two masterworks of Japanese cinema: Kenji Mizoguchi’s SANSHO DAYU (SANSHO THE BAILIFF, JP 1954) and Kaneto Shindo’s ONIBABA (JP 1964). While academic approaches will often draw a strict line between narrative genres and discursive forms, these films, I argue, draw creatively from Japanese tradition for both critical and constructive purposes in the postwar context. Besides mounting trenchant criticisms of Japan’s erstwhile militaristic violence and imperial ambitions, both filmmakers present their respective female protagonists as models for spiritual and sociocultural transformation in the face of anomie. Embodying humanistic compassion on the one hand and ontogenetic eros on the other, the two women compose complementary poles for reconstruction amidst the painful aftermath of war.

Cyber-Transcendence and Immanence as a Religio-Spiritual Phenomenon in Cyberpunk Anime

Malte Frey — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This article argues that Western cyberpunk narratives often suggest a technologically invoked transcendence, a cyber-transcendence, which represents a new ontological sphere and offers catharsis in dystopian scenarios. While Japanese cyberpunk anime also explore the idea of cyber-transcendence, the clear distinction between immanence and transcendence often becomes blurred. Aesthetic concepts invoking transcendence can be linked to the awe-inspiring kami (deities) of Japanese Shinto, which are intertwined with the immanent sphere of reality rather than external to it. In Western cyberpunk, cyber-transcendence seems to provide the sense of depth that Paul Tillich labels the “dimension of religion”, in contrast to postmodernist meaninglessness. Cyberpunk anime provide an understanding of transcendence as a religious dimension that exists within reality.

The Spiritual Quest in Keisuke Itagaki’s Baki Series

Rehuel Nikolai Soriano — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Baki series, created by Keisuke Itagaki, is a globally popular anime and manga franchise that has captivated audiences with its striking visual aesthetic and depiction of martial arts. However, despite its widespread popularity, there is a notable lack of scholarly research on the series, particularly in relation to its spiritual and philosophical themes. This research paper aims to address this gap by offering a contextualized analysis of Baki that explores the complex intersection of religion, aesthetics, and pop culture in Japanese society. Through an examination of the series' representation of Eastern religious and philosophical traditions, this study aims to provide insights into the broader cultural attitudes towards masculinity, violence, and martial arts in Japan and the global community. By shedding light on the spiritual themes present in the Baki series, this research seeks to contribute to the global discourse on popular culture, martial arts, and spirituality, offering a nuanced perspective on the multifaceted nature of Japanese culture and its influence on the wider world.

Sin and Divine Punishment

Franz Winter — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The TV series JIOK (Yŏn Sang-ho, KR 2021–), internationally known as HELLBOUND, is a recent and highly successful series that has been available on the streaming platform Netflix since November 2021. It is usually described as a “dark mystery thriller” or “dark fantasy film”, which points to the general tone but also to its constant interplay with the “mysterious”. The plot revolves around the appearance of monstrous creatures who suddenly arrive out of nowhere and kill people in a most brutal and bloody way. All of those who are killed in this heinous manner have received a warning beforehand, delivered by “angels” foretelling their fate and their imminent death and introducing crucial topics such as “guilt” and “sin” as a reason for the whole procedure. The article introduces major topics of this series and focusses on the prominent role of a new religious movement that is intimately linked to major trajectories of the plot.

The Tamil Language as More Central than Even the Gods

Sreeram Gopalkrishnan, Lekshmi Sreeram — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The narrow genre of devotional films in India follows a regular template – a combination of theophanic interventions, bhakti (devotional) worship and didactic narratives. THIRUVILAYADAL (THE DIVINE PLAY, Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan, IN 1965), a film in Tamil (a language spoken across South and East Asia by a large diaspora), was long considered a devotional movie that celebrated the God Shiva. However, a close analysis shows that the movie subverts the darshan concept (viewing) in a Hindu devotional film. Though it may appear to be a film about Puranic (mythic) Hindu gods, the subtle subtext reduces heavenly entities to supplicatory positions in relation to a cornerstone of identity in the post-independence Dravidianist Tamil State – Tamil language. This understanding of THIRUVILAYADAL is all the more relevant in light of the increasing rigidity of Hindu religious beliefs in contemporary India.

Book Review. Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Studying Lived Religion

Hannah Griese — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Review of Nancy Tatom Ammerman's Studing Lived Religion (2021)

Song Review. Stromae, “Fils de joie”

Katharina Luise Merkert — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Review of Stromae's "Fils de joie"

Film Review. AVATAR – THE WAY OF WATER (James Cameron, US 2022)

Jochen Muendlein — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Review of James Camron's AVATAR (US 2022).

Dance and Video Review. Jonas Mekas, Virginie Marchand and Kazuo Ohno

Yukihiko Yoshida, Virginie Marchand — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Marchand is an up-and-coming poet and filmmaker who is a grandchild from the perspective of Kazuo Ohno and Mekas. Her characteristic is to draw, in a very personal way, the layers of the human spirit in different part of the world. Marchand's work use a language with no rules, she is not a follower of other art people or history. She had screened some of her movies at the Anthology Film Archives and in few art galleries, and she shows extracts of them through Instagram and Youtube.

This review is about a film in which she dances with the legendary Kazuo Ohno (1906-2010); it was shot by Jonas Mekas and edited by Marchand. The result is a deeply rooted spiritual experience, caught in moving images and reflecting a religious experience.

Table of Content

JRFM — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

When the Devil Plays the Guitar and the Preacher Prays for Mercy

Fritz Treiber — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

"The Devil is a catchy lyric." This quote from the movie AMERICAN SATAN (Ash Avildsen, US 2017), when Mr. Capricorn (the devil) promises international success to a young heavy-metal band in Los Angeles and its singer, Johnny Faust. The pact must be sealed with a human sacrifice. Linking rock or heavy metal with the devil or demonic powers is a theme that has been used repeatedly in music and film. In this article, two films from independent productions are analyzed to study how the devil reaches people through rock music and ultimately influences their actions. In addition, the temporal context and the events that affected the content of the screenplays are discussed.

Playing with Noah’s Animals

Frank G. Bosman — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A special genre has emerged in video games – Bible games. As a subset of the broader genre of Christian games – aimed at providing age- and faith-appropriate content for religious audiences and/or proselytizing non-believers to the Christian faith – the Bible games gamify their inspirational source material. Frequently, these games are considered inferior (“bad”) games, usually because of the ludonarrative dissonance in terms of gameplay and narrative. This article discusses four of these supposedly bad Bible games, all from the 1980s and 1990s and all using the biblical story of Noah’s ark as source material: Noah’s Ark by Enter-Tech (1982), the NES games Noah’s Ark (as a part of Bible Adventures) by Wisdom Tree and Noah’s Ark by Konami (1992), and finally the SNES game Super Noah’s Ark 3D by Wisdom Tree again. The article provides an overall comparison and analysis of the four in theological terms.

Now Where, Exactly, Are the Dragons?

Christian Wessely, Yukuhiko Yoshida, Franz Winter — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Editorial of the JRFM issue "Here Be Dragons. (East) Asian Film and Religion".

Front Matter

JRFM — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

(Retracted) The Representation of Rural Christianity in the Films of Gan Xiao'er

Jing Li — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

On January 29th, 2024, this article was retracted at request of the author.

The religious dimension of Chinese cinema is, it has been observed, a “triple lacuna” in contemporary scholarship: in research on religion in China, in research on Chinese cinema, and in interdisciplinary research on film and religion. From 2002 to 2012, independent filmmaker Gan Xiao’er directed three low-budget features that portrayed rural Christianity in China, a subject almost entirely absent from both Chinese mainstream media and independent films. In this article, I analyze Gan’s films by locating them in their social, political, and religious contexts, by comparing them with other Chinese films, and by linking them to the tradition of Western films that portray spirituality. I observe a progression in themes and style from Gan’s first feature, 山清水秀 (THE ONLY SONS, CN 2002), to his third, 在期待之中 (WAITING FOR GOD, CN 2012). I seek to show that Gan developed a restrained directorial style in order to connect with the spirituality of Chinese peasants. Although he had to grope in the dark on many aspects, his engagement with Christian themes has greatly expanded the narrative space of Chinese cinema.