I find this scene quite touching, especially when viewed with Damian's perspective in mind.
And now for the blog-- for clarity's sake, use Millions as the source for a working definition of faith. In other words what is faith according to the director (Danny Boyle)? Define the term with care. Give examples from the film to support your claims. We'll try to reach a consensus from your responses and use this definition as we move on to other films.
Faith in Millions
ReplyDeleteJoanie Dorfman
In Millions, the concept of faith isn't really explored in a religious way despite all the biblical references. Damian's faith isn't so much in God as it is in the goodness in the world. When Damian does talk about God, he refers to Him not as an all-knowing deity but as the voice of reason for good and evil in the world. When Damian sees the saints, they don't come to him with wisdom from God, spewing out biblical rules. They coax him through his internal struggle with how to be good. Saint Peter tells Damian that things that appear to be miracles are really "dead simple". Having faith isn't about going to church and praying. A church isn't even shown once in the film. It's about having faith that the smallest of good deeds are enough to have an impact.
Faith portrayed in the movie by the director. Faith, according to the director is a strong belief in anything, whether it's God or parents. I think this means the drive or will to do something. The community in the movie does not rely on faith and beliefs like Damian does. Damian's beliefs are a key part in his life. He relies on the saints for friendship and security and knowing when to make the right decision. Besides Damien, religion is not a huge part of the movie. There are no churches, synagogues or any type of religious place shown throughout the movie. I think the director did this to show how Damien's beliefs are very different from the normal society.
ReplyDeleteThe director's interpretation of faith is not directly a religious subject. Damian seems to have a lot of faith directly in saints. His faith even inspires a character change in his brother. Anthony goes from calling him crazy for believing to realizing that maybe Damian is right and that there is some supernatural force at work. In this movie faith can inspire different people in different ways. You could say that humanities portrail in this movie is having faith in money. Faith in greed. Faith in selfishness to get you to the top. So over all faith is interpreted in different ways throughout this movie. You could take a more religious approach from Damian, or rely on more conventional means of money.
ReplyDeleteI think that in Millions, Damian has faith in the Saints that visit him. He has faith that they will help him do good things and give his money to the people in need. Each time when a Saint visits Damian, he does good with his money. The Saints don't directly tell him what to do with the stolen money, but his faith and belief in them results in him doing the right, selfless act. And as Saint Nicholas implied, a bunch of good, small deeds will have a big impact on a group of people. Damian's faith in these Saints allow him to realize all these acts of goodness. His faith towards the Saints and religion helps him do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI think that the portrayal faith in this film is not limited to its connection with religion. In fact, going to church is never mentioned in the film. One can have faith in any number of things, but what is important is that it can lead one to make moral decisions. When the saints come to visit Damian, they do not simply recall passages from the bible. The saints also never tell Damian to follow the will of God, instead one even refers to Damian's free will. The overarching idea is that faith can be a powerful tool one can use to better themselves. However, faith in the wrong things, such as money or material items can lead one down the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteThe reunion was very well presented and heart touching. Damien got most of his questions answered with vague responses, but he was too focused on his mom to care. She tells Damien that he has a lot of faith in people. So according to to the film I think that faith means that you assume that someone will do something. In the movie Damien assumes that people will be generous. He also assumes that God wants people to be good, so Damien tries to be good for God.
ReplyDeleteI think that faith is portrayed as proactive do I order to show your faith. We see this because all of the saints say that it is a good thing that Damian is trying to help people and be a good person. Saint Peter does say that he is trying to hard to be a good person and that just small acts of kindness go a long way. This supports my point because you still have to do something and not be a selfish person like Anthony. And through out the movie we see the concept of helping others and being a kind person
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