Arts & Faith Announces Their “Top 25 Divine Comedies”

Are you looking for sites that host intelligent, thoughtful discussions regarding Christianity and the arts — besides Christ and Pop Culture, I mean? Then might I humbly suggest Arts & Faith, a long-running (15 years and counting) forum that hosts many a passionate debate concerning a wide range of artistic topics. (Disclaimer: I’m an Arts & Faith admin.)
Case in point: The Arts & Faith collective recently released their list of the “Top 25 Divine Comedies“. In his introduction to the list, Steven D. Greydanus writes “all of these films, in one way or another, explore existential wonder, longing, or desire for redemption. Even when happiness seems elusive, in laughter we may hear an echo of final happiness beckoning to us. Even gallows humor may be either despairing or hopeful; it matters infinitely which.”
The list itself spans a wide range of genres, comedic or otherwise: there’s the pitch-black comedy of the Coen Brothers (A Serious Man), the dark absurdism of Terry Gilliam (Brazil), the silent slapstick of Charles Chaplin (City Lights and others), and a lot of Pixar love. And it seems rather fitting, in light of Harold Ramis’ recent death, that the existential masterpiece Groundhog Day tops the list.
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There is a lot of Pixar on that list. Would like to have seen Kind Hearts and Coronets (as mentioned by SDG) and A Thousand Clowns take spots instead. But then I’m not entirely sure what the criteria were. Up and WALL-E have some fantastic stuff going on, though none of it is really related to the parts that make each a comedy.
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