One thing I feel the Mormon culture has embarrassed well is film. Mormons have been a part of movies since the silent era. Notably not always shown in the best of light by others, but we have been a standoffish culture for many generations. Over the generations we have slowly developed our own sub-genre for film. As Mormons we love movies and we like to make them. That is ever apparent if you go to Deseret Books. There are movies upon movies made by Mormons for Mormons. It's amazing how many movies have been made now. I remember only ten years ago I'd never even heard of a Mormon movie. No one I knew owned one east of the great Mississippi for sure.
The first Mormon film I saw was Singles Ward. I was 19 at the time and had never seen anything like it. A movie that portrayed Mormons as they really were. Not some uptight religious freaks, but real people. It made me laugh. I could actually identify with some of the characters. The only movies I'd seen before that were produced by the church. They were boring and kind of put me off.
After seeing Singles Ward I saw another Mormon film, God's Army. That film was more down to earth. It was a serious drama about missionaries. I feel like this film is one of the best versions of what it's like to be a Mormon missionary. It's hard and sometimes you have to let of steam. This movie is even in my public library, which is amazing, considering we have such a small Mormon community in my city.
Then came the big Mormon movie. So big, it was released by Disney and had screenings across the entire United States. No other Mormon film has done this yet. What movie am I talking about, The Other Side of Heaven. I'm not sure if this counts as a Mormon film. I don't know who made it and I'm not sure if the actors are Mormon. One thing I do know is it's about Elder John H. Groberg missionary experience. It was a good film.
What is the state of Mormon films now? The last decade has seen some amazing things happen for the Mormon film industry. Will we continue to see new films? I'm sure we will, but what about major releases? That I'm not so sure about. I haven't heard of any new films, but I'm not surprised by that either. It cost hundreds of thousands to make a major release. I'm sure there will be another one someday. What I'd like to see is more Sun dance style films. Independent films that go to the many different film festivals to make some big splashes for Mormon films. Look at Sun dance Film Festival, it's in Park City, Utah. It's in the heart of Mormon country, we need to get on top of that.
We should start our own Film Festival, but no restrictions on it. It should not have to have a message about Christ or Mormons. It should just be films by Mormons. A Film Festival to celebrate Mormon's in film. It would have to start out simple, but it could grow over time. If anyone actually knows if there is a small film festival let me know. I'll promote it and make sure people know they can see original Mormon films there.
Another thing I would like to see is more broader movies. It seems that not most Mormon films are very exclusive. If you're not a Mormon you don't get a lot of the jokes. If you're not a Mormon you don't understand what going on in some of these films. We need films about Mormon outside of Utah. Films that still feature Mormons, but not exclusively in Utah. The best film I can think of for this is Napoleon Dynamite. Not my favorite movie, but it's done by Mormons and it features a lot of Eastern Idaho lifestyle, but doesn't force the whole Mormon jokes. People love this film that are not Mormon.
Okay so here what I think:
1. Mormon's have been doing good with films for the past decade.
2. We cannot rest on our laurels, we need to push ourselves as a culture to make better films than before.
3. We need to make some Mormon films that are assailable to the general public, e.i. not so many Fast Sunday jokes.
4. Let's make a film festival to celebrate Mormon's in film.
Park City and Moab are in Utah, geographically, but they are not typical Mormon communities. We joke that we're out of Utah without going outside the state when we're in those towns. Another movie you might like is Brigham City. I haven't seen it but my friend is in it and it's a thriller. I would like to see more high quality films by Mormons, most of them are pretty cheesy and if you're not Mormon you won't get the jokes. Speaking of Mormon jokes, have you seen Church Ball? Hilarious! And the main actors are 1) a lesser-known Wilson brother, 2) Gary Coleman, 3) Jimmy Churga, local DJ and actor, and 4) Thurl Bailey, the only Jazz player to convert to the church. Loved Napolean Dynamite and most of the actors/producers/writers worked for Chris while they were going to BYU.
ReplyDeleteI agree, even though I do think some of those other Mormon movies you mentioned are quite cheesy (there's no helping it, it's in out cheesy pizza filled blood!). Thats why I liked "The Best Two Years" because it was actually FUNNY and it didn't force doctrine down people's throats. If i'm not mistaken that won quite a few Awards, as well as "Saints and Soldiers"... maybe it's because those movies aren't mormon-exclusive.
ReplyDeleteI love this post Mike. You've been thinking so deep lately!
ReplyDeleteDonna, That's crazy to think part of Utah is not considered Utah. I have seen Brigham City. I enjoyed that film. I haven't seen Church Ball. It's rather hard to get these LDS films here. You can't rent them and you have to order them online if you want to buy. It's a bad market out here.
ReplyDeleteAC, I like the cheesy, I watch a lot of cheesy things. It's my thing. I did look up Saints and Soldiers and it won a bunch of Best of, at little Film Festivals. That film would be an excellent example of what I want Mormons to do. Make good films and make them accessible to everyone. The more awards you win the better you look and I want to look good.