the Bible of course is terrific

EDDIE MANNIX: It’s a swell story – a story told before, yes, but we like to flatter ourselves that it’s never been told with this kind of distinction and panache. EASTERN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH: Perhaps, sir, you forget its telling in the Holy Bible. EDDIE: Quite right, Padre. The Bible of course is terrific. But for millions of people, pictures will be their reference point for the story – the story’s embodiment … [groping] the story’s … PROTESTANT MINISTER: Realization. EDDIE (approvingly): Realization. There are three different points at which religion can enter into the movies. One is in the matter of spiritual interiority: personal faith and doubt and struggle, the major impetus of Malick’s The Tree of Life — and, for that matter, The Bells of St. Mary’s. Then, second, there is the question of religious ethics, which is explored in, for example, Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), directed by the same person who directed The Bells of St. Mary’s, a deeply committed Catholic Christian named…