Movie Time: Kingdom of Heaven

Jefferson Humanists is reviving Movie Time! Prior to Covid, we used to get together and watch movies together every month. We are bringing this event back and will be meeting on a Saturday afternoon. That will allow us extra time so we can discuss the movie afterwards.
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For our June movie, we will be watching, Kingdom of Heaven, directed by Ridley Scott and starring an all-star cast including Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton and Jeremy Irons.

Still in grief over his wife's sudden death, village blacksmith Balian joins his long-estranged father, Baron Godfrey, as a crusader on the road to Jerusalem. After a perilous journey to the holy city, the valiant young man enters the retinue of the leprous King Baldwin IV, which is rife with dissent led by the treacherous Guy de Lusignan, who wishes to wage war against the Muslims for his own political and personal gain.

The Muslim scholar Hamid Dabashi, after being asked to consult on the movie, wrote in an issue of Sight & Sound: “[Kingdom of Heaven] was neither pro- nor anti-Islamic, neither pro- nor anti-Christian. It was, in fact, not even about the ‘Crusades.'” And yet I consider the film to be a profound act of faith.” It is an act of faith, he thinks, because for its hero Balian, who is a non-believer, “All religious affiliations fade in the light of his melancholic quest to find a noble purpose in life.”

We'll watch the movie together and then spend some time afterwards discussing it.

We will provide popcorn, movie candy and drinks. Please RSVP to this Meetup or email Movies@jeffersonhumanists.org so we are sure to set up enough seats. Due to space constraints, attendance is limited to the first 16 people who RSVP.

This event is sponsored by Jefferson Humanists.
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"What man is a man who does not make the world better?" - Balian of Ibelin