The Reel Spirit Movie Project
April Film Discussion
The War
On Thursday, April 15, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern, CSW will discuss the ninth film in our series — The War (1994), featuring Kevin Costner, Elijah Wood, and Mare Winningham. The film is set in 1970 in small-town Juliet, Mississippi, where a father (Costner) struggles to hold himself and his family together as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Spoiler alert! This is not a “war movie” as the genre is typically understood. In fact, the father’s Viet Nam War is far from the central war driving the film’s many themes. The film explores the social and interpersonal dynamics of family, poverty, race, and conflict resolution during a single summer in the formative years of the trouble father’s children, their friends, and enemies. It begs questions of spiritual development in response to the lessons of conflict.
For more information about The War, see IMDB here. You can also view the trailer on IMDb here.
The format of these film discussions is both evocative and engaging. The facilitator for each event creates a Discussion Guide that focuses on key themes for the film, and we send this guide to all registrants. Since we are still practicing social distancing due to COVID-19, participants will begin by viewing the selected film on their own. We will then follow with a scheduled 2-hour facilitated discussion, which the Center will lead and host electronically through Zoom.
The facilitator for The War is Terry Decker, a member of the Reel Spirit Movie Project team and a popular repeat facilitator.
There is no charge for this event, but participants are asked to consider a donation to Center for Spiritual Wisdom, a non-profit organization. To register or receive additional information, please email Cindy Decker at communications@centersw.org. Registrations will be received on a first-come, first-served basis. To make a donation, please go click HERE at the CSW web site. After registration, participants will receive information about the film and a dedicated link to join the discussion.
Stay tuned for other movie discussions planned by the Reel Spirit Movie Project, including one of the 2021 Academy Award winning films (yet to be determined), our May selection.
photo credits: imdb.com
