"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
This is fresh on my mind, because of the movie I watched on the flight back to the USA.
What are those movie scenes that stick out of you as redemptive?
The scene I'll start with is the Talent Show scene from About A Boy, which I watched on the flight back to the USA yesterday. Will sacrifices his dignity and undergoes complete public humiliation to rescue Marcus from social suicide. It becomes a turning point in Marcus' life.
I've got others. Feel free to leave any you have in the comments thread.
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Comments on "Most Redemptive Movie Scenes":
3. Andrew
- 08/04/2010 7:37 am CDT
I would add the scene from Man on Fire where a bloodied Denzel Washington gives himself over to a drug cartel in a trade, his life for the life of the Dakota Fanning character.
4. Bird
- 08/04/2010 7:39 am CDT
Oh, and maybe my all time favorite is in Les Miserables after Jean Valjean stole that bishop's silver. When the cops brought him back to the bishop's house, the priest ordered him released, gave him the silver, and told him:
Don't forget. Don't you ever forget. You promised to become a new man.*
Jean Valjean my brother you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I have bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God.
*In the book, which I'm almost finished reading, there's a line in there that says something like, "Jean Valjean did not remember making such a promise." And it's true, it's never written that he made such a promise. Reminds me of unconditional election and irresistible grace.
5. Bird
- 08/04/2010 7:41 am CDT
I would add the scene from Man on Fire where a bloodied Denzel Washington gives himself over to a drug cartel in a trade, his life for the life of the Dakota Fanning character.
Wow. Yes! I remember that ending scene, the little girl, Lupita, I think her name was, said something like, "I'm going home." And Denzel said, "I'm going home too," knowing he was going to die ... for her.
6. Andrew
- 08/04/2010 7:53 am CDT
I love also the change that he undergoes as he befriends her. A washed-out former assassin becomes a loving father-figure for her. It's beautiful.
Of course, then he begins painting his masterpiece, Bad-A that he is.
7. Jared
- 08/04/2010 9:04 am CDT
It's redemptive, I think, but definitely "eschatological" -- at least, I've always felt it so: the final reunion scene in Sense and Sensibility when Elinor (Emma Thompson) realizes Edward (Hugh Grant) wasn't married but was in fact returning for her and she starts breaking down in tears of joy . . . man. That gets me every time. Goosebumps.
8. Jared
- 08/04/2010 9:05 am CDT
Oh, also: Taken. It may sound silly, but this movie means so much to me. Aside from being a stellar action thriller, the theme of a dad who would "tear down Paris if I have to" to rescue his daughter just slays me. So I love the end when he finally rescues her. She says, "You came for me." And he says, softly, "I told you I would."
Love it.
9. jen
- 08/04/2010 9:19 am CDT
Jared, that scene in S&S is my absolute favorite! It makes me weep every single time.
10. Sherry
- 08/04/2010 9:35 am CDT
Gandalf and Frodo discuss life, death, and mercy in LOTR:
Frodo: It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance.
Gandalf: Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.
11. Andrew
- 08/04/2010 9:43 am CDT
This is Bill's son Andrew, not the guy above.
I second all the scenes above, especially the Sense and Sensibility scene.
I know we've dumped on Shyamalan a lot here, but I get chills every time I watch the scene in Signs where Gibson's character lays on the ground with his son to help the boy breathe. He then starts praying again (after swearing he'd never waste another minute of his life on prayer). It's an angry prayer, but it is a prayer nonetheless.
12. Amy B
- 08/04/2010 11:46 am CDT
I also cry at that Sense and Sensibility scene EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Although for me the tears don't come until Marianne and Mrs. Dashwood embrace outside once the spying Margaret tells them that Edward is kneeling down.
This may be too overt an example, but the act of penance by Robert DeNiro's character in The Mission is very powerful. Carrying all that armor and metal up the waterfall, only to have one of the tribal peoples cut him free at the top...wow. The mingled joy and grief in DeNiro's face as he's weeping is a pretty incredible piece of film.
The Les Miserables scene is also a great one.
14. nhe
- 08/04/2010 12:34 pm CDT
Sense and Sensability- agree 100% with the aforementioned scene.....Emma Thompson's reaction here is the single best 10 seconds of acting I have EVER seen - it is beyond words, and beyond wonderful.
Good Will Hunting - Ben Affleck's character tells Will (paraphrase) "that 30 seconds I stand at your door every day wondering if you'll come out or if you might have actually left for good to be the person you're supposed to be is this the best 30 seconds of my day" .....just a remarkably redemptive example of what it means to be a friend
Unbreakable - After his first night as the "Security Guard" - Bruce Willis comes home and scoops up his (up till now estranged) wife (Robin Wright-Penn) and carries her to the bedroom, sets her down gently on the bed and says "I had a bad dream" as he lays his head on her shoulder - its just a beautiful moment highlighting the redemption of their marriage.
The Shawshank Redemption - Red "I hope I make it across the border, I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my dreams, I hope I get to see my friend and shake his hand, I hope"
Glory - my vote for most redemptive scene ever - the prayer service the night before the attack on Fort Wagner - it's breathtaking.
15. Dave
- 08/04/2010 12:50 pm CDT
What comes immediately to mind is the boy taking the hit for his friend in Pay It Forward. Metaphoric hints of it as well in the Christic themes of ET the Extraterrestrial, the original Day the Earth Stood Still, and Superman Returns. Even the Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has some of these theme types in it when Rudolph takes on the snow monster and "dies" to save his comrades, but is not dead, etc. It's all over the place.
16. nhe
- 08/04/2010 1:18 pm CDT
Regarding some of the other's mentioned:
About A Boy - I agree Bill. That has always been a very favorite scene of mine.....Hugh Grant does "endearing" very well.
Les Mis - you know, actually, I thought the 1979 version of Les Mis (with Richard Jordan as Jean Vel Jean) did a better job with this scene than the 1995 (Liam Neeson) version. It is the most redemptive moment I can think of in any fiction book, but I've never seen it portrayed on screen in a way that really moved me. Maybe its because its just too early in the story for that kind of emotional reaction. Even the Broadway play didn't depict the scene as emotionally as I expected.
Pay it Forward - I disagree on this one. It is a very good movie up until the point where the kid sacrifices his life. Obviously, there is a redemptive theme to what transpires, but for me, that scene was way too manipulative to be redemptive.......the rest of the movie was wonderfully redemptive. It did not need a heavy-handed ending. It is the only time I have ever rolled my eyes in a theater while everyone else is sobbing. I'm usually sobbing with the best of them.
17. Dave
- 08/04/2010 5:21 pm CDT
pay it forward - interesting, as I did not see it as heavy handed at all, but rather an inevitable outcome of the direction that the boy had set himself. The choice to do what's right leading to an inevitable sacrifice. I found it painful because I knew it was coming, if that makes sense. It did have a bit of a preachy tone to it, I agree, but it still pictured the sacrifice in redemption. Perhaps I am not understanding the intent of the post?
18. nhe
- 08/04/2010 5:26 pm CDT
no you're fine Dave, that scene is redemptive in its intent, I just felt it was too heavy-handed. I hated the scene. It didn't help that the movie blatantly ripped off Field of Dreams in its final scene, which I found reprehensible. The last 10 minutes of Pay It Forward completely undermined an otherwise very good movie - maybe like no other movie I can think of - but I may be in the minority on that.
19. Manders
- 08/04/2010 7:20 pm CDT
The midpoint and the end of Magnolia, in combination, when all the characters realize how broken they are, and then (at least this is how I interpret it) divine intervention rains down. The last shot is a smile, and it's all hope. "And it's not going to stop 'til you wise up..."
The scene in Rachel Getting Married where Kym is in the bathtub after her wreck.
Boromir's death scene in Fellowship of the Ring. "I would have followed you until the end--my brother, my captain, my king." *dies*
Carl shoves all the stuff out of his house in Up.
The end of The Philadelphia Story, when Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn decide, hey, let's get married.
21. John
- 08/04/2010 7:47 pm CDT
In The Mission, there's a scene in which a former slave-trader is carrying a huge bundle of armor up a mountain as penance. The priest decides he has had enough and hacks the ropes tying the penitent to his burden. The penitent initially resists grace, wanting to hold on to the weight, but breaks down and accepts the release.
22. Milly
- 08/04/2010 8:48 pm CDT
Most
It showed us how a father gave his son to save others. It also gave a young woman her life by letting her see a father's grief. We can help others through grief. I love that idea.
24. Dave
- 08/04/2010 9:53 pm CDT
Okay, I give, I'll burn my copy of Pay It Forward. Not. But, seriously, I'm with you on Magnolia. That movie was stunning. Like a carefully constructed piece of classical music, building in tension, people progressively coming to the end of themselves. Powerful stuff.
26. Raindream
- 08/04/2010 10:44 pm CDT
I seem to have trouble remembering things like this, but one that comes to mind right now is the brief argument in The Incredibles just before they fight the robot. Bob wants them to stay behind because he's not strong enough to lose them again, and Helen arguments with him until he can say clearly, then she tells them they will be strong enough if they do it together.
The end of 3:10 to Yuma is redemptive too.
27. Andrew
- 08/05/2010 1:40 am CDT
Magnolia. Yes, yes yes. So many great scenes toward the end of that movie. The one that sticks out is Tom Cruise's tirade turned to genuine heartache at his father's deathbed. Some of the best acting I've ever seen.
I can't believe I forgot It's a Wonderful Life. I second that times a million.
28. Daniel Ross
- 08/05/2010 8:15 am CDT
I just watched Punch-Drunk Love the other day for the first time in several years.
The end of that one gets my vote (until I can remember something else). :-)
29. Quaid
- 08/05/2010 8:16 am CDT
Without giving anything away, there's quite the redemptive scene in Dinner with Schmucks. Having said that, I don't necessariliy recommend the film as:
a. It is quite crass. - certainly not for younger viewers
b. It is not consistently funny
c. It is not worth the price of a movie ticket. (If you want to see it, wait for Redbox/Netflix)
I would also add that I don't know that the movie's good qualities (i.e., redemption) outweigh its downfalls.
31. the sentinel
- 08/05/2010 8:56 am CDT
From Premonition, when Sandra Bullock kneels at her husband's feet and removes his shoes, knowing that he will contemplate infidelity, not knowing that he will stop short of it. It is a scene so full of grace and reminiscent of foot washing.
Also the scene in Radio when Coach Jones tells Mary Helen the story of the boy on his paper route and she "gets it'.
32. nhe
- 08/05/2010 9:14 am CDT
While we're talking about scenes with feet and hints of infidelity, the scene in Spanglish where Adam Sandler and Paz Vega put their feet on the floor as a statement that they will not be unfaithful is wonderful....
......and, re: "Its a Wonderful Life" - I absolutely agree, and I think that "The Family Man" does the best modern day interpretation of "Its a Wonderful Life".......our family tradition is to watch both during the Christmas season.
34. Manders
- 08/05/2010 11:16 pm CDT
Lars and the Real Girl is one of the best portrayals of the church being the church I've ever seen, much less out of Hollywood. I love that.
Amistad. "Give us, us free!"
Kind of a weird one, but the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off when his sister lets him off the hook. Played for laughs, but it's pretty great.
The end of Singin' In the Rain, when they pull up the curtain and Gene Kelly goes after Debbie Reynolds. "You are my lucky star..."
37. Alex Costa
- 08/08/2010 12:04 am CDT
Coach Carter - I don't remember the details too well, but a kid on the team doesn't like the Samuel L. Jackson's coaching style so he quits. Eventually he comes back, but the only way the coach will let him back on the team is if he makes up all of the running he missed. At the end of the next day, he hasn't made it up yet and so the coach tells him he's cut. Then the rest of the players are like "I'll finish it for you," and they all run laps until the other player is caught up.
Yeah, someone could probably explain that one better.
38. Bill
- 08/08/2010 6:17 pm CDT
I hadn't put two and two together when I posted the Napoleon Dynamite dance scene on Friday, but that scene is very redemptive as well.
39. Deacontrek
- 08/09/2010 11:36 pm CDT
I too am awful at remembering scenes in movies even ones I like an awful lot. However, I must say I am very glad that there was mention of "It's a Wonderful Life" I wanted to suggest it but I often am ridiculed for even liking the movie at all (not here but irl), let alone mentioning it in relation to something as beautiful and timeless and godly as the idea of redemption.
40. Tom
- 08/12/2010 11:19 am CDT
Les Mis - you know, actually, I thought the 1979 version of Les Mis (with Richard Jordan as Jean Vel Jean) did a better job with this scene than the 1995 (Liam Neeson) version.
I love the 1979 version so much better than the newer one. I watched it a while back and it holds up very well.
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One more note on that scene: Marcus also was self-sacrificing. He knew that singing Killing Me Softly in front of his school would be the end of him. But he was doing it for his suicidally depressed mom.