Darren Hughes on film as "Spiritual Contemplation"

Darren Hughes is writing an essay on non-narrative filmmaking: “The Limits of Traditional Narrative Cinema as a Medium for Spiritual Contemplation” … which he qualifies as “A Witless and Obnoxiously Literal Working Title.” I can’t wait to read it.

Darren is one of those writers who always strikes me as being miles ahead on a journey I’m trying to make (as time allows). And yet he writes with grace, with a voice that invites readers along with him, instead of condescending to those who don’t see things his way. That’s a rare gift, and I appreciate it. I’ve learned a lot from following his journeys into international cinema and his notes on learning to watch differently. (I included some of Hughes’ thoughts on Dreyer’s Ordet in Through a Screen Darkly.) When I hear him shouting back about something that has captured his attention, I find myself paying close attention and revising my own viewing plans.