http://glendalenewspress.com/religion/
The Alex Theatre tonight will host the annual 168 Film Festival, in which filmmakers receive a random Bible verse and 168 hours to create a short film based on it. Which movie has inspired you the most spiritually?
“Les Miserables” is the first film to profoundly inspire me. But not just any rendition of Victor Hugo’s classic, the one that touched me was the 1935 version with Frederick March and Charles Laughton. Incredible acting! It reached out and grabbed me into the story.
I specifically remember my dad turning on our old black and white TV set one day and directing me to watch this movie. I was 13 or 14 years old. The Summer of Love had just finished and the counter culture was in full swing as an answer to Vietnam and the distrust for government. As I watched March’s portrayal of Jean Valjean, and Laughton’s relentless pursuit of him as Inspector Jarvier, it all came together for me. I understood the story as “timeless” because it spoke to me in the now. It brings together themes of justice, inequality, prejudice, compassion, love, sanctity and the unending struggle to pursue truth – themes that have been the driving force of my ministry.
Not surprisingly, it was the priest in the movie, Bishop Bienvenu that inspired me to believe that the small gestures of compassion are what make the difference in the end. Those silver candlesticks are ones that I’ve cherished in my own life until today.
Since that first encounter with Les Miserables, I’ve read the book, seen other performances, both on-screen and in theaters. They’re all good, but the 1935 adaptation is still the one I recommend to others, especially to young seminarians and others interested in people work.
Fr. Vazken Movsesian
In His Shoes
Armenian Church Youth Ministries
