New Consciousness Review Fall 2015 | Page 51

CONSCIOUS CINEMA
So what happens
when the power of
faith is infused with
the energy of the
masses in birthing a
jointly held creation?
That’s one of many
conscious creation
questions explored
in the award-winning French-Canadian drama, “Jésus de
Montréal”
(1989).
When a group of Montreal actors (led by
Lothaire Bluteau) is hired by a local parish to stage
a version of the Passion Play, the performers seek
to present the drama with as much historical accuracy as possible. But trouble arises when they incorporate elements considered too radical by the
church, which wants the play presented traditionally or not at all. The troupe chooses to defy church
dictates and put on the production as they deem
fit, convinced their course is the proper one. This
decision gives rise to unexpected results, however,
when the players and the audience members begin to believe so fervently in the production’s authenticity that its performances uncannily parallel
the odyssey of the prophet whose life it depicts.
An intriguing study on the seeds that beliefs and
faith can sow provides the focus for the narrative of
director Frank Capra’s “Meet John Doe” (1941). A
minor league baseball player past his prime (Gary
Cooper) agrees to sign up for a newspaper publicity stunt to portray John Doe, a decent but downand-out everyman who threatens to kill himself on
Christmas Eve to protest the sad state of the human
condition. After publication of the alleged suicide
note, readers flood the paper with offer s of help to
persuade “John” to reconsider his decision. A local
circulation-boosting ploy quickly mushrooms into
a national compassion-driven social movement
with wide-ranging implications that no one could
have foreseen. But are circumstances everything
they seem to be? And who will have the final say in
this darkly satirical, yet surprisingly heartwarming
morality play?
The unshakable faith of the collective can also
yield truly astounding outcomes, as evidenced in

51 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW

“The Other Dream Team” (2012). This inspiring
documentary about the Lithuanian basketball
team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics focuses on a squad of determined players
out to prove themselves to the world. Armed with
the steely conviction of their beliefs and, strangely enough, the unsolicited support of an American
rock band, this team of underdogs set out to accomplish what many at the time thought impossible. Indeed, as this film shows, it’s truly incredible
to see what faith in one’s beliefs can create.
The beliefs we hold and the faith we place in them
enable us to create almost anything we can imagine. And the magic of the movies provides us with
ideas and inspiration for making such conceptions
possible. Take a look at what they have to offer,
and see what you can dream up for yourself. You
may never look at film—or your reality—in the
same way ever again.
Copyright © 2015, by Brent Marchant. All rights reserved.
A lifelong movie fan and longtime student of
metaphysics, Brent Marchant is the author of
http://booklaunch.io/brent%20marchant/getthe-picture) and Consciously Created Cinema:
The Movie Lover’s Guide to the Law of Attraction
(http://booklaunch.io/brent%20marchant/
consciously-created-cinema), books that provide a reader-friendly look at how the practice
of “conscious creation” (also known as “the law
of attraction”) is illustrated through film. Brent
maintains an ongoing blog about metaphysical
cinema and other self-empowerment topics at
http://brentmarchantsblog.blogspot.com. He
is also Featured Contributor, Arts & Entertainment, for VividLife magazine (www.VividLife.
me) and Featured Contributor for Smart Women’s Empowerment (www.smartwomensempowerment.org). His additional writing credits
include contributions to Library Journal, BeliefNet, New Age News and Master Heart Magazine.
He’s a frequent guest on various Internet and
broadcast radio shows, as well as a regular presenter at conscious creation conferences. Brent
holds a B.A. in magazine journalism and history
from Syracuse University. His web site is www.
BrentMarchant.com.