Here are five more qualities that make the film “Of Gods and Men” such a powerful piece of cinema:

4. The movie “Of Gods and Men” is filled with beauty.

The monks old lined faces are beautiful. Their worship is beautiful. The tender moments in their relationships are beautiful. There is beauty in the gentle respectful way they interact with the villagers around the monastery. Their Muslim neighbours are beautiful. The beauty of creation is unavoidable throughout the film.

As much as the film acknowledges the reality of terror, violence, and betrayal, it also affirms the presence of beauty in the world and in the lives of those whose eyes are open to see it.

The world is often a hard place. Beauty opens our hearts to another dimension in which we can find hope and learn to trust the reality of God’s presence.

5. The monks live simple orderly lives. They are sustained by the routine rhythms of the ancient Benedictine pattern of prayer alone; prayer together; and work alone; work together.

Explaining how they responded to the Christmas Eve invasion of their monastery, Brother Christian says,

Afterwards, we found salvation in undertaking our daily tasks.
The kitchen, the garden, the prayers, the bells.
Day after day.
We had to resist the violence.
And day after day, I…. I think each of us discovered
that to which Jesus Christ beckons us.
It’s … to be born.

To live in tune with the quiet regular rhythms of life, is to find wholeness (“salvation”) and experience the birth of Jesus Christ to whom our hearts beckon.

The monks do not have grand elaborate visions. They desire only to live simply where God has placed them with the people they feel called to serve. They garden, sell their honey, cook, go for walks, gather for worship, and care for the people among whom they live. They go about the daily routines of their lives with simple devotion and steadiness.

The monks in this film provide a profound vision of life lived with faithfulness in small things.

6. The monks live as deep witnesses to the peaceful presence of Christ at work in their lives.

They live in the midst of violence and terror without hatred, anger, or retribution. They live among people whose faith, language, and culture are entirely foreign. Yet they live among them with deep respect and openness. They share their lives generously with all people, no matter what differences may appear to separate them.

In a world where human community seems so often to be shattered on the treacherous rocks of disagreement, it is moving to see a depiction of the possibility that there might be a way to live in the midst of profound differences with acceptance, openness, and mutual respect.

7. As a Christian I find the simple fact that this movie has been made and is being so widely viewed deeply moving. It is a testimony to the monks of Tibhirine that their lives should form the basis for such a strong and respectful portrait of Christian faith.

At a time when Christianity is so often accurately perceived as narrow, judgmental, and vindictive, it is refreshing to find a movie with the courage to suggest that a more gentle way of living the Christian life with integrity and passion might be possible.

The film does not pull back from deep and challenging issues of theology. The Christian doctrine of Incarnation is present. The monks chant about the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Christian call to take up the cross and follow faithfully a life of self-sacrifice is boldly portrayed.

And yet the film never demands agreement or assent. It is content simply to portray the deep abiding faith of the monks and allow the doctrines that sustain that faith to be held with grace and openness. There is no altar call at the end of this movie, no demand that anyone change what they believe.

8. The refusal of this film to bludgeon the viewer with high moral lessons points to its most important feature. The film works most effectively on a deep spiritual level.

It is not possible to fully appreciate “Of Gods and Men,” by simply encountering it on an intellectual basis. It is not fundamentally a movie about ideas or ideology. It is a movie of the heart.

The film-makers seem to have been determined simply to enable us to soften our hearts, to enter into that space of tenderness, openness and vulnerability that is the path to an awareness of God.

It is this desire to allow hearts to open that lies behind the controversial “last supper” scene in which the monks share a silent meal to the strains of the “Dying Swan” music from “Swan Lake.” The scene has been characterized as maudlin and over the top by those who have resisted the tenderness and beauty of this cinematic moment.

But the point of this scene is to break open our hearts. The film-makers seem instinctively to know that the reconciliation of the human community is only possible when hearts are willing to soften and open to the beauty of life.

Those who allow the touching beauty of this film to enter their being will be taking a small step toward the restoration of creation and the reconciliation of the human community.