Page - 141 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

suddenly, Mary appears in the room. It is unclear how she passed the locked door; in fact it is uncertain whether she is even there and if this is not all an illu- sion created by Toller in his delirium. Vision or not, her appearance causes Toller to desist from suicide. The two embrace and the camera whirls around them as they kiss. Unexpectedly, Schrader departs from the reserved and austere style of camerawork and music he had employed up until this moment. The spinning shot continuously circles the two of them and the music from the church swells until the most abrupt of cuts, with which the film incongruously ends, and the viewer is left in stasis with silence and unanswered questions. Was Mary’s ap- pearance an act of grace? Is redemption even possible at this point? In the end, the questions that matter are not narrative questions; “what really happened” seems inconsequential, and the ambiguity of the ending leads to more interest- ing questions about the state of Toller and the possibility of salvation, if indeed there is any such hope. Thematically, then, the influence of Diary of a Country Priest and Winter Light is evident in the questions the film raises about faith and doubt, as well as in the explicitly theological themes of redemption and Christological passion. Yet Schrader expands a multivalent dialogue between these two films even in the smaller details of First Reformed. There is Toller’s profound inability to pray, which Schrader draws out of Bresson’s film and throws into relief against an atmosphere of doubt akin to Winter Light. There is also the agonising rela- tionship Toller has with a former lover, where a loathing is articulated in nearly the exact manner it is by Bergman’s priest. There is even a perfect symmetry be- tween the suicide event in Winter Light and its counterpart in First Reformed: the same location and even the same tool of self-destruction. Schrader’s most significant departure from Bresson and Bergman is his en- gagement with contemporary socio-political and theological issues. A theology of the environment is prominent, instantiated by Toller’s question “Can God forgive us for what we have done?” Schrader frequently employs real footage of environmental abuse: plastic waste, oil spills and other icons of our failed stewardship. Ecclesiology is also examined, especially through the contrast of Toller’s small church and the megachurch that funds it. The former is jokingly referred to as “the gift shop” in the film, while one character says that the lat- ter “feels more like a business”. Most challenging of all, perhaps, is the film’s analysis of religion’s dependence on money (in this case industrial money made by exploiting the environment). However, the film only presents these issues superficially, raising them in rudimental form rather than exploring them with any significant insight. While Schrader’s raising of these questions is interesting, it is frustrating that the film does not explore their true depth. For example, in one scene Toller is challenged by a youthful evangelical in such a way that the shadow of prosperity theology looms just out of shot. Yet, rather than flesh Film Review: First Reformed | 141www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1