Movies of Grace and Love

The Color and Shape of Grace and Love

"Moulin Rouge" has been on DVD since 2002. It is a movie people either loved or hated. Set at the end of the 19th century Paris, it included modern songs sung by an apparently rambling band of Bohemians pursuing life's meaning. Some of my closest friends worried about me when I said I loved this movie!

"Moulin Rouge" tells a story about a man named "Christian" (Ewan McGregor), who leaves his sensible, but disappointed London father who warned him of the waste Paris would be. Christian lands in the most fleshly portion of Paris, the famed "red-light district", Moulin Rouge and falls hastily in lust with the sparkling diamond, Satine, played by Nicole Kidman. Or is it "love"?

In this movie of fleshly desires, power trips, selling one's soul for fame, pursuing a meaningful writing career, etc. there are two primary colors which, when observed, tell a different story. If you've seen the movie, it's worth another viewing to see the story from the colors blue and red. As the story unfolds the lead character moves from red to blue.

Watching the entire movie from those two vantage points, a deeper story is being told between the principle characters. If you haven't seen it and want to hear the desires of the heart, take a chance on discovering more than meets the ear.

If "Moulin Rouge" makes use of two colors to tell a story of Grace, then "Stranger Than Fiction" (2007) uses two geometrical shapes to convey a story of Love. Cast in a most unexpected role, Will Ferrell does with the character Harold Crick what Jim Carrey did for Truman Burbank in "The Truman Show".

Drawing from the geometrically structured world of an IRS tax auditor, "square" and logical Harold meets the chaotic and rebellious Anna Pascal, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is portrayed in a conflicting geometrical shape. As the story of these two people is being played out, we learn that a narrator is either creating the story or simply describing it. As Harold discovers his place in the story he is moving from one perspective on life to another and meets with the highest purpose in life.

These are two movies which use dynamic relationships between a man and a woman to open us up to the most important questions we face about Grace and Love. In both stories, those principles exist beyond them and are the points to which they aspire.

Both movies are PG-13 with minimal material which makes you uncomfortable watching in mixed company. You can order both from the Amazon carousel at the bottom of the page or join Netflix, which is free for the first month.