The Seven Go To the Movies — Part 2

Dear St Andrew’s,

Last week I suggested four films to accompany the first four pairings in our series: The Greatest Showman, Amadeus, Groundhog Day and The Mission. If you managed to watch all four, congratulations—you have spent approximately nine hours contemplating the moral life while sitting on the sofa. I am not entirely sure whether that counts as diligence or sloth.

This week, we come to the final three vices and virtues.

Greed to Mercy – The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992; Rotten Tomatoes 78%)

Yes, I know—it is only October. But Lindfied’s Coles is already selling Christmas puddings, so I think we can survive a slightly premature Christmas film.

This is the Muppets’ retelling of Charles Dickens’ famous story, with Michael Caine giving a remarkably serious performance as Ebenezer Scrooge despite being surrounded by singing vegetables and a small blue creature called Gonzo (who plays the author).

Scrooge has spent his life accumulating money and protecting himself from other people. He sees employees as expenses, the poor as inconveniences and Christmas as an interruption to business. His greed has not merely affected what he owns; it has changed what he sees. He can no longer recognise the value of the people around him.

During one extraordinary night, however, Scrooge is forced to see his life truthfully. He discovers that the security promised by wealth has left him profoundly alone. His transformation is not simply from miserly to generous, but from blindness to mercy. He begins to see people—Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and even his irritatingly cheerful nephew—as more valuable than money.

Indulgence to Gratitude and Generosity – Babette’s Feast (1987; Rotten Tomatoes 97%)

This beautiful Danish film is set in a remote nineteenth-century village. Two elderly sisters, daughters of the late pastor who founded a strict religious community, take in Babette, a refugee from revolutionary France.

The little community is pious but joyless. Its members deny themselves many pleasures, yet have spent years indulging old grievances and reopening old wounds. Then Babette wins the lottery and asks permission to prepare a magnificent French banquet for them. The villagers agree to attend but resolve not to enjoy the food—or even to mention it—which may be the least promising dinner party in cinematic history.

Yet, as they eat, something changes. The exquisite meal becomes an experience of grace. Old quarrels are forgiven, joy returns and love is rekindled.

Babette’s Feast reminds us that the opposite of indulgence is not joyless self-denial. God’s good gifts are to be received with gratitude and shared generously. Babette does not spend her winnings upon herself but pours out her skill, wealth and love for others. Her generosity awakens gratitude, and the shared feast restores a fractured community.

Lust to Chastity – Brief Encounter (1945; Rotten Tomatoes 95%)

Laura and Alec meet by chance in a railway-station café when he removes a piece of grit from her eye. They meet again, begin sharing lunch and eventually realise that their friendship has developed into something much deeper.

The difficulty is that they are both married.

Brief Encounter explores temptation, longing and emotional intimacy with extraordinary restraint. Laura and Alec do not regard their feelings as meaningless, but neither do they assume that strong feelings automatically justify their actions. They must consider their spouses, their families and the damage their desires might cause.

The film reminds us that chastity is not the absence of desire. It is learning to love another person as a whole person rather than treating them as the answer to our own longings. It is moving, beautifully filmed and accompanied by Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto—which alone almost makes it worth watching.

At the time of writing, The Muppet Christmas Carol is on Disney+; Babette’s Feast is on Prime Video and SBS On Demand; and Brief Encounter is available through SBS On Demand. Streaming catalogues are rather less constant than Christian virtue, so it may be worth checking before settling down with the popcorn.

Whichever film you choose, you might discuss three questions afterwards: What good thing is the character seeking? How has that desire become disordered? And what begins to lead them towards something better?

And if you watch all seven recommendations before the holidays end, do let me know. There may not be a prize, but there will certainly be admiration—which, after The Greatest Showman, you will know how to handle humbly.

God bless,

James