The Vatican Actually Has a Great Film List
In 1995, the Vatican Pontifical Council for Social Communications released a list of forty-five films titled “Some Important Films” (or alternatively, “Great Films”) in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the first moving picture. The films cover a ninety-year period of cinematic history, with the oldest being Vie Et Passion Du Christ (1903) and the youngest Schindler’s List (1993). The range of genres is notable as well. The films also cover a wide range of genres, many of which challenge traditional expectations of what a Catholic 'Great Films' list might look like. Included is a horror movie (Nosferatu, 1922), a fantasy (The Wizard of Oz, 1939), and a sports drama (Chariots of Fire, 1981). To provide structure, the forty-five films are split equally into three categories: Religion, Values, and Art. The religion section is understandably dominated by the lives of saints and Christ, despite some outliers, such as Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice (1986) that includes significant pagan themes. In Values and Art, the films become significantly more secular, although a respect for classics shines through—Values includes the aforementioned Schindler’s List (1993), and Art includes 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as well as Citizen Kane (1941).
I encountered this curious list while randomly scrolling Instagram Reels and found my interest immediately piqued. Why did the Vatican release a film list? Especially one that appears so secular? From what I knew about the Catholic Church it seemed surprising that a film like 2001: A Space Odyssey would be considered by them to be a “Great Film”, so what was the reasoning behind all of this?
Answering this question required more research than I expected. When I first began exploring the topic, I found remarkably few sources that discussed the list. However, it seems that 1995 was not the beginning of the Catholic Church’s engagement with film, but rather a significant point in a process that had been unfolding for decades. In the year the list was released, Pope John Paul II made this remark in an address to the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications:
“The film industry has become a universal medium exercising a profound influence on the development of people's attitudes and choices, and possessing a remarkable ability to influence public opinion and culture across all social and political frontiers. We have seen that masterpieces of the art of film making can be moving challenges to the human spirit, capable of dealing in depth with subjects of great meaning and importance from an ethical and spiritual point of view.”
Based on this quote, the list could essentially be viewed as the Vatican’s efforts to positively engage with “public opinion and culture”. In doing so, it recognizes what it views as universal artistic, ethical, and spiritual values, found even in a secular context, and in addition, presents Catholic values, tradition, and history. What the list becomes then, is an outward projection of the Catholic Church itself, rooted in the medium of film.
In my opinion, this is a very positive and respectful way for an organization like the Roman Catholic church to engage with a general audience, as well as film buffs. In browsing this list, not only did I find new and interesting films to watch that I would not have encountered otherwise, I also gained an understanding of the Catholic Church’s perspective on broader society. The loosely defined sections go a long way in expounding upon that perspective, allowing the viewer to contemplate the curators' intentions behind each film's placement. Insights into the Catholic church’s history and culture are easy to discover, but what I found most interesting was trying to understand why the Vatican would include films that are not so obviously Catholic. The list got me to question how I understood the Catholic church's views on art, values, and yes, even religion. For an organization as ancient, and well known as the Catholic Church, it is difficult to communicate this kind of fresh, insider look. Perusing the list felt like a peak into a mysterious inner world.
The Vatican Film List provides a remarkable blueprint for what a film list can—and should—be. A list of best films is not hard to come by. Yet, what the Vatican does transcends the usual attempt at finding some arbitrary “best”. Top 100 films, or best films of the 21st century, or some such list are capable of provoking discussion yet they are limited by the nature of their objectivity. No one knows how to define “best” and discussions and debates over these kinds of lists tend to lead to few satisfying conclusions. Instead, the Vatican film list invites us into its own, admittedly biased, perspective. It is intentionally Catholic, and this works in its favor - it makes the list tangible and gives us something fresh to think about. We know the Vatican and the Catholic church; we can imagine the kinds of films it might prefer on a Catholic best films list. Therefore, we actually have the chance to be curious or interested, to be surprised or shocked. Alongside films that display the Catholic Church’s rich culture and history, we find picks that also expound unique perspectives on religion as well as films that challenge our perceptions of what values make up the Church. In short, the list provides fertile ground for what we film buffs love doing best: talking and thinking about movies.