The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968 movie)

[arvindiyer]

Ajita's rapier takedown of the myth of the Church as the 'mother of all charities' reminded me of the following movie's take on how the Vatican wealth can usefully be deployed. Made in 1968, The Shoes of the Fisherman (can be watched here)will make very interesting and instructive viewing today, as it deals with something like Dan Dennett's idea of a 'denatured church', suggests humanistic priorities for religions and has a side-plot depicting the turmoil of someone attempting to reconcile science and faith.

EDIT: I just noticed that the playlist link I had given earlier is incomplete and missing some parts. However all parts of the movie are available on Youtube.

[Ajita Kamal]

(27-Apr-2011, 10:25 AM)arvindiyer Wrote: Ajita's rapier takedown of the myth of the Church as the 'mother of all charities' reminded me of the following movie's take on how the Vatican wealth can usefully be deployed. Made in 1968, The Shoes of the Fisherman (can be watched here)will make very interesting and instructive viewing today, as it deals with something like Dan Dennett's idea of a 'denatured church', suggests humanistic priorities for religions and has a side-plot depicting the turmoil of someone attempting to reconcile science and faith.

Thanks for the links, Arvind. I read through a bit of the description of the film on wikipedia and it sounds very interesting. Will try to watch it this weekend.

[arvindiyer]

Incidentally, there seems to be a Youtube Channel called 'Sell the Vatican, Feed the World!.

[Ajita Kamal]

Just finished watching, and I really enjoyed it. Politically it may not be for everyone. The crowds and the beautiful shots of the architecture clearly shows it was a big production. I wish I had read the book, but even if they tempered it a bit, I can't imagine they'd go that far today without causing a huge ruckus.