Shadowlands: Desire, Suffering, Love

This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!

Kathryn joins Melvin to discuss this month’s Patreon Supporter selected film, Shadowlands! Based upon the later life of C.S. Lewis, specifically his growing romance with his wife Joy Gresham, and evoking much of his literature, the two discuss this much-celebrated early 90’s feature that garnered an Oscar nomination for actor Debra Winger!

Topics:

• (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 20-minutes discussing a new wave of Filmmakers utilizing YouTube to attract the attention of Hollywood studios and fans around the world, either by showcasing their skillset, producing short films, or releasing high-quality feature-length flicks like Milk & Serial! (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
• Kathryn cried. A lot. Melvin wished he was more emotional, only finding the film “decent”.
• Thinking about the film in comparison to Christian-Marketed films like God’s Not Dead or War Room, and how it passes what Melvin calls the “Christian Bechdel Test”.
• Kathryn, “I think that [Shadowlands] is very clear on what it is saying about the transition from childhood to adulthood… [and] the requirement of love to have vulnerability…”
• Melvin celebrates how the film doesn’t have any “member-berries”, something that plagues most modern nostalgic or referential media.
• Discussing a few icons and symbols within the film, including, of course, the wardrobe.
• The perfection of desire, and the fear of experiencing disappointment or shame.
• How the film displays what Melvin calls “Three Stages of Men”.
• Pondering the lines “Praying doesn’t change God, but it changes me.” & “Forgive me, Lord. Perhaps I have loved her too much.”.

Recommendations:

• Schedule regular medical checkups! Stay healthy!
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) (Movie)

Shadowlands is Rated PG for thematic elements. It features Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, Julian Fellowes, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Michael Denison, Andrew Seear, Tim McMullan, John Wood, James Frain, and Joseph Mazzello. Directed by Richard Attenborough. Shadowlands can be purchased here.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

Cinematic Doctrine is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other major podcast apps.