Movies to watch during lent

DURING THE HEYDAYS of local films, we remember the film companies producing their own special Lenten presentations for Holy Week. Sampaguita Pictures did a lot of these movies like “Pitong Pagsisisi” (based on the Seven Last Words), “Pitong Kalbaryo ng Isang Ina”, “Sa Hardin ng Diyos”, to name a few. Premiere Productions and LVN Pictures did movies about the lives of Saints and Biblical stories, like “Santa Lucia” starring Edna Luna, “Sta. Rita de Casia” which introduced Rosemarie Gil (the mother of Michael de Mesa, Mark and Cherie Gil), “Salome”, “Dimas”, and “Samson at Delilah”. One favorite of ours was “Marcelino Pan Y Vino” starring then child actor Danilo Jurado.

Biblical epics from Hollywood were shown and reshown in theatres and on TV during Holy Week, like “The Ten Commandments”, “Ben Hur”, “Quo Vadis”, “The Robe”, “David and Goliath”, “The Silver Chalice” with a very young Paul Newman, “The Bible”, “King of Kings”, and “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, among others. Watching a film about faith is one of the best ways to put you in the right mood of reflection in this season of Lent. So many religious themed films are actually available on DVD and here are some that we recommend for you to check as we recall the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. We won’t include anymore Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” as we’re sure you’re already familiar with that.

Related Links
The Gospel of John
The Last Temptation of Christ
Mother Teresa Movie Review