Page - 155 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

| 155www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 155–160 Sofia Sjö Book review Crystal Downing, Salvation from Cinema. The Medium is the Message London/New York: Routledge 2016, 196 pp., ISBN 978-1-138-91394-3 A common process in many areas of research is that a flood of interest and general exploration is followed by an intense debate around methods and the- ory. Though the field of religion and film can trace parts of its history back to the early years of the film medium, the field did not seriously start expanding and developing until the late 1990s. Consequently, discussions of theory and method have been particularly called for and have taken place over the last ten years. A general, and not very surprising, agreement seems to be that any study of religion and film must combine knowledge of both religion and film. So far, though, the film element has caused particular problems for many researchers, not least for those who come to the subject from theology or religious studies. This is where Crystal Downing’s Salvation from Cinema comes in, offering a help- ing hand to those struggling with film theory and film language and how these can be related to religion. That Routledge has chosen to publish Downing’s Salvation from Cinema is not a surprise considering their record of publications related to media and religion. As anyone involved in media and religion research knows, the subject area has strong support at Routledge and this academic publisher has lately brought us many noteworthy volumes, such as The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film, Digital Religion and Religion, Media and Social Change.1 Salvation from Cin- ema is a significant addition to that list. Downing’s main point in Salvation from Cinema can be found in the subtitle of her book: The Medium is the Message. Downing launches with Marshall McLu- han, arguing that in order to understand the salvation that film can offer, we need to understand the medium and how it can open up for religious reflection through its forms and language and specifically through what Downing calls “the techniques that constitute the medium” (4). Like many before her (Mela- nie J. Wright and Bill Nichols among others), Downing is critical of the over- 1 Lyden 2009; Campbell 2012; Granholm/Moberg/Sjö 2014.