Христа ради юродивый

Christensen C.S. Christian and biblical symbols in modern movies exemplified by “Babette’s Feast” (1987), “The Return” (2003) and “The Island” (2006)

The article deals with Christian and biblical symbols and values in modern movies. In the last decades, a wave of new movies with Christian and biblical symbols has washed over the international film industry. That despites of the very fact that state religions in as well West, as East Europe is under pressure by modern society, its values and changing culture. Nevertheless, Christian symbols, values and moral teachings are far from forgotten. On the contrary, biblical themes, which in the recent decades have been clarified and ridiculed by as well experts as of non-professionals, now play a very important role in the construction of the structure of modern movies. The theological-aesthetical analysis of the three movies: “Babette’s Feast” by the Danish film director Gabriel Axel, “The Return” by Andrey Zvyagintsev, “The Island” by Pavel Lungin, will not only show the reader different aspects of the importance of Christian and biblical symbols and values in modern movies, but also demonstrates the difference between Protestantism, Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church.