Watching "God's Army" and "The Best Two Years" back-to-back was certainly an interesting experience. I'd seen both before, as a missionary in fact, and had not been terribly complimentary in the past. We were encouraged to watch with a critical eye this time and I found myself, surprisingly, much more forgiving than I've ever been. I think learning about the history of Mormon film and the place of movies like these in the LDS Film tradition has helped me appreciate and, yes I admit it, even LIKE these movies more.
"God's Army" is arguably one of the most influential Mormon films in history. It brought about the beginning of the fifth wave and brought back the idea of commercial theatrical release in connection with the Mormon niche market. It was low-budget and perhaps the writing, directing, and acting could have been better. But there is no denying the fact that it was a bold move. Dutcher took his religion and put it onscreen, warts and all, for all the world to see. You've got to admire that tenacity.
"The Best Two Years" is, in my opinion, a much more successful film in almost every area. there is no way, however, that it would have been made if Dutcher had not already paved the way with "God's Army." These movies point to an interesting trend; the commodifying of the Mormon missionary as a gold mine of compelling stories. It's true: members of the Church, myself included, love to hear missionary stories and to see them onscreen is a different experience altogether. The fact that these two movies have found their way successfully to the homes, hearts, and hands of LDS moviegoers is indication of a growing trend that shows no signs of stopping.
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2 comments:
I also was in the TMA program (graduated last August) but never took this class. However, I share a lot of the same feelings as you in regards to LDS cinema, and especially with the two films you outline here. I strongly dislike and even disagree with "God's Army" -- but I don't deny it's important impact it had on the LDS movie industry and the doors it opened for other artists to be heard. I have very little respect for Dutcher, but I do admire his boldness.
"The Best Two Years" isn't a perfect film, either, but I also agree that it's overall a much better, more solid film than Dutcher's.
On a non-film-graduate note, one of the major things I disliked about "God's Army" was its attempt to show "reality" of missionary life by making it all dark and grim, like a twisted form of living. The average mission certainly isn't all rainbows and cotton candy, but he over-dramatized it to the point that I couldn't relate. My other major qualm with the film was its portrayal of sacred priesthood ordinances as a mere catalyst for plot/character development. To me, this is taking something sacred to me and using it way out of context, which means that it's prone to being very misinterpreted by the uninformed viewer.
Anyways, them's my two cents. I like the blog, wish I would have done something like this for my TMA writing assignments.
...and then Richard Dutcher left the church...go figure.
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