Constantine (2005)

I watched the film Constantine last night, about a man that survived a suicide attempt and who now exorcises demons in an attempt to earn his way into heaven. I love films like this for one reason, they acknowledge the existence of God, Satan and the battle for souls. The existence of God or Jesus or angels or demons or sin or faith or absolution are not up for discussion… they are accepted as truth in these storylines and the story plays within those boundaries.

The other thing I like about these films is that there are no clear, detailed explanations on this battle for souls. There are hints about how we live our lives and that this battle is waging, but it is open for interpretation.

Constantine, for the most part, did a good job of keeping the theological expectations in place. There was a great amount of stuff added to the story to keep it moving that could be theologically questionable, such as “half-breeds” which are half angel/human or half demon/human that help push people in either the right or wrong direction, but this is the part of the gray area that is not well defined and is open for interpretation or creation.

The images of Hell were pretty amazing and our society could use more exhibition of such images…not in a fire and brimstone “you’re all going to Hell” sermon, but just as a reminder of the consequences of our decisions.

For a film that does not question the existence of God, Heaven, Hell, Satan and Jesus or the damned souls of those who commit suicide does not effectively recognize the infinite mercy of God and the salvation through Jesus and the absolution of sins through the sacrament of reconciliation. It was interesting, as the Catholic characters were very clear on the damnation that occur when someone commits suicide, but not clear on the path to salvation.

So, it was surely flawed, but these stories Christian filmmakers should be telling, with greater images of Heaven, Hell and the battle for our souls.