The key to making a great Christian film is to not make a Christian film at all, but to be a good Christian and make a great movie. Your perspective will eminate through the art

Phil's point about the beauty in the Church is amazing. I think many of us felt God's grace the first time we looked up in a cathedral.

When I saw that painting of Joseph and Jesus my first thought was why they made him look so old. I loved the painting, though. For some reason my thoughts then went to the old man who saw Jesus as a baby and said now I can die because I have seen God. I imagined him enjoying baby Jesus in this way and expressing his joy.

This discussion was SO PERFECT. Christian filmmakers NEED to learn these things, or our attempts at art are meaningless.

That painting of Joseph being so old really puts me off too...but I can see past it to see the reason Andrew loves it.

When I saw that painting I thought it was of Abraham when Issac was born and it was one of the most beautiful paintings of a man I’d ever seen. Honestly, I think that fits the painting better than Joseph - a burdened promise fulfilled, an old man who hopes were finally realized, and the gravitas of the promise to build a nation from his descendants. Not to detract from Joseph! I think he often gets left out and is one of the more moral men in the Bible, who doesn’t mess things up as he obeys God. I just think that painting fits Abraham more than Joseph.

SPOT ON!!! This totally explains how I feel about art in all of it’s forms! You have helped me to understand, to put into words, what I have understood/believed as a Christian for so long…finding myself in the minority, it seems. I so often feel on the outside when it comes to church and Christian friends. (Maybe I’m a snob!!). I am age 70, and have been driven to educate myself in ever widening and, I believe, upward avenues of growth in recent years. (I am heading to Pasadena to see the painting!) I LOVE your humor, Mr. Klavan! Though I don’t agree with everything you say…who does???! I LOVE how you make me think and expand my mind to new ways of thinking! Thank you!!! And thanks to Andrew Hyatt! I am looking up all of his films and am looking forward to reading your novels, Mr. Klavan, having just read The Great Good Thing…which was excellent! Thank you for all your hard work in bringing these programs and your stories to us! And, yes, I am a DailyWire member! That’s where I discovered you.

another great discussion. love the take that andrew always has on christinity being different to others whilst also aligning with my own. great books great podcast.

So glad that DW is creating art. That is the key to changing the culture. My dream is for them to film Klavan's "Another Kingdom ". Great story.

finally a video made for christians!

You know, electronic versions of things are always preceded by an e, like email. This electronic version of Klavan is great! I call it eKlavan, which is a violation of all that is good and holy, because it puts an E in Klavan.

Lord klavan, I have pre ordered the house of love and death on audible and can't wait for it to be read to me. In the mean time, I will be binging your older books, because doing so has made the abyss of the klavanless this week, much less klavanless and therefore, somewhat survivable.

Have you seen The Chosen?

I saw it on opening weekend while my wife and daughter were out of town. It was great! Never knew there was such a dark history behind the duck calls.

Good conversation.

I have " Paul, Apostle of Christ" on DVD. I love this movie. I as a Catholic believe that Joseph was a much younger man than depicted in paintings. Although those paintings are beautiful. Great interview.

Love the channel Andrew and greetings from Australia. It would be great if you interviewed Mottel Baleston - a very talented bible scholar and Christian Jew ... his commentaries on the new testament are The Word!

A lovely point made by the guest: technology is so advanced these days you should be able to go out and manage to create something. You can learn pretty much anything with the internet, blood, sweat, and tears.

Great movie!

It was an amazing movie! I loved it!!!

I think the hope In Christian films, should be in the ultimate hope, and by that I don’t mean “heaven after death” I mean the resurrection and last chapter of Revelation. I think a good Christian film should prepare you like Andrew Hyatt points out for the worst things that can happen in life. True beauty is born out of the deepest pain and knowing that God came in the flesh and meet us in his own suffering and overcomes the darkness not just for himself but for everyone how follows him. If you know the story behind the song “It is Well With my Soul” it will destroy you 😭and you’ll never listen to it the same way again.

Sorry to nitpick, but Tarkovsky was Orthodox (like Dostoyevsky), not Catholic.

12:45 “…it feels like a waste of time.” 13:00 “DARK SPOT CURRECTUR”

❤❤

I think the best films of powerful faith are those that are not even made to be so. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days comes to mind.

I’ve got a theory on the banal positivity of Christian films. I have a suspicion that as the culture moves further towards an anti-Christian posture, it actively embraces manifestations of living that are ostentatiously opposed to Christian discipleship. (Particularly any perception of Christian living as imagined by the 1950’s Americana.) We have a culture of fornication, of blasphemy, of gratuitous violence, of upside down realities, the absolute elevation of the self and self identity, of moral relativism, etc etc. I think popular American Christianity consumes banal movies because they feel “safe.” Any association with real life, which very much involves sex, violence, pride, ugliness, or frankly, *sin*, in an honest realistic manner is perceived as too dangerously close to a culture that just outright celebrates these things. And perhaps some Christian audiences are so sensitive to their presence, they fail to recognize the subtle, realistic criticisms of these things, and miss out on the power and exaltation Christ receives when He works through evil to subvert it and bring about good. Which is what the gospel ultimately is about-the Innocent died in the place of the guilty, that they might be declared innocent. Murder results in resurrection, penalty becomes inheritance, traitors become sons and daughters. The American church needs to embrace the gritty reality of grace in order to tell powerful stories of its triumph. We need to become comfortable with showing sin for what it is so we might glorify the God who redeems us out of it. The most powerful and convincing voice advocating for the gospel is the person who was most desperately in need of it.

Aaah! The Klavanless Hiatus. Okay now. It’s over. Back to the grind. 😂😢

You need great story telling, dialogue, and interesting characters. I stopped watching Christian films because “the message” ignored the foundations for good movies. The woke films are bad for the same reasons.

HERE'S A GOOD ONE..MOTHER THERESA....SHE WAS A MONSTER !! AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER...!!

Had there ever been a good movie that says “Based on the inspiring true story”?

Because beauty can become an idol, and people can easily worship creation instead of the creator. I am an artist. I wish I could do math 😂 BUT here is something!!! Since beauty is at our fingertips, what haven’t we explored that conveys the beauty of God like cathedrals used to do to peasants? Also, what's the objective? Is it Art for art's sake? Go for it. No need to be “clear,” but what could portray the price of holiness without company truth so that Jesus is lifted up? That's the real conundrum.

It is an interesting discussion on films like "Wolf of Wall Street". I haven't seen it and dont plan to because I dont see the benefit of subjecting myself to the excessive swearing, sex, and filth. I also dont see how it really benefits anyone to see that. I dont see anyone watching that and realizing at the end, "I dont want this lifestyle. I am going to go find Christ".

There is no art of Christian filmmaking. There is the are and craft of the filmmaking medium but there’s no Christian film rules it’s a theme. Same with the religion of environmentalism . Same with woke message propaganda. Putting Christian in front of film instantly makes it propaganda. Christian films will never be good until we drop the Christian and make good films good story’s for people to enjoy not to indoctrinate the theater going audiences into converting like an alter call. Choose themes from the Bible the whatever is good passage the love chapter a time for war a time for peace passage but don’t pull a Kendrick brothers and make a sermon with a literal call to conversation. That’s propaganda. Straight up.

Im fine with shows being violent and dark but the terror on the prairie, Run, hide, fight, and the one where a mother gets locked up are all pretty good considering the budgets but they were a little too dark, my dad stopped watching terror with gina Carano because a father of 5 was killed with his throat slit. The world is dark enough can we see just a trashy comedy or love story. Im looking forward to bretts film of Snow white and pendragon cause they seem not as dark as the rest of the dailywire stuff. Theirs dark with a purpose and dark just for being dark. I found the blind to be dark with a purpose and justice league 2017 movie are just dark for dark sake.

Not a duck dynasty fan? Shame on you!

One consistently boring thing about Christian films is that they're all human interest. There's no good story telling. It's all about the human characters. Where's the adventure, the spiritual warfare, the encounters with God in the universe? There are no good stories combined with a vision of our future. Very sad.

I dont really like any of the Christian movies I've seen in recent years. Any problems are quickly and neatly solved usually by half way through. Sort of the "prosperity gospel" view of Christianity. If you have the "right" faith every thing will be great. Some of us are Christians but we have long term problems. The Bible says in this world Christians are going to have suffering and I don't believe it just means the thrown to the lions type. Some of us are going to fight with doubt. Some of us have permanent health conditions that weigh on our faith. Some of us are never going to have that prosperity. And outside of the USA yes Christians are still being tortured and killed for their faith. Some one should make some real movies about a lot of the missionaries in the 1800s. These people had a real faith that remained faithful in conditions that had to make times of doubt inevitable. They didn't end up with mega churches. Adoniram Judson lost all three of his wives. And lost multiple children. He only had 18 converts after 10 years. How many of us today would just give up? That's a movie I would love to see. I think I will have to see this movie about Phil and his family.

Hitting you with the most repugnant disgusting thing I know of: Climate Change. Bring someone on you trust. Have a real discussion. I'm asking because I'm probably going to hear a lot of hooey from Bon Inglis next week and need some wisdom to go along with the hooey.

Protestant films are bad. Catholic films Historically have been incredible