Page - 177 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

a failed asylum seeker – or is it the reactions of his fellow passengers on the plane that lead the pilot not to take-off? Was the outcome a result of God’s intervention or of human action (perhaps inspired by the Christian ideal of charity)? The show does not give clear answers but offers an explanation that mixes both points of view in its use of magic realism, a narrative and aesthetic style that combines real, imagined and magical (or at least inexplicable) elements. Thus, the showrunners do not pro- vide a global explanation of the events but leave it to the audience to decide which approach (more scientific or more open to the religious/transcendental) fits better within their own worldview. Formally, the cross-cutting between August’s prayers in the church and the events on the plane creates not only simultaneity but also an equality: these approaches stand side by side as equally possible perspectives. Still, later, when August speaks in tongues at an outdoor Pentecostal service and a sudden wind blows through the seated congregation, a religiously based ap- proach will make sense of the events (fig. 3). A more factual approach, limited to August’s mental state or an inaccurate weather forecast, would be unsatisfactory, and consequently, the showrunners do not use cross-cutting here. Instead we see August’s ecstatic preaching and the congregation’s reaction to his (or God’s?) im- pressive performance. Fig. 3: August (Morten Hee Andersen) speaks in tongues at the Pentecostal service © Tine Harden  / Arte France. 176 | Natalie Fritz www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 7–15