Page - 112 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

112 | Sofia Sjö www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 110–113 tion and critique of religious hypocrisy and the thoughtlessness of people of power. As Lindvall discusses towards the end of God on the Big Screen, the volume is intended not as the final word on its complex topic, but as the beginning of many possible conversations. With its broad strokes and multi-facetted material, this study opens the door for future studies with a more detailed approach. Those projects might explore, for example, the gendering of prayer, the child as a symbol in stories about faith, genre and prayer, and continuity and change in contemporary religious life as seen through the lens of film. Films are able to shape how aspects of faith are understood in a given time and at a given place, and Lindvall’s study also highlights the need for more research on film reception. I do not always agree with Lindvall’s interpretation of the films that he discusses. Connections he makes between a film story and historical events or processes of change can seem to me somewhat far-fetched, and his un- derstanding and interpretation of aspects of religious change that are repre- sented are not mine. Lindvall is clearly more personally invested in Christian beliefs and the changes he discusses than am I. Films can also always be read in different ways. What we see is shaped by who we are, and it is unlikely that two people will interpret identically the very many films that Lindvall address- es. Thus, my disagreements with Lindvall’s thinking and interpretations only make me engage more strongly with the volume. I really have only one serious issue with God on the Big Screen: A History of Hollywood Prayer from the Silent Era to Today, and it relates to the title: this vol- ume is not about God on the big screen. True, prayer can tell us about faith in God and about what one believes God can accomplish, and Lindvall highlights some of these questions. But by no means is God the central motif of the vol- ume. This work is rather, as the subtitle highlights, a history of prayer, and, not evident from the title but clearly the case, Christian prayer. It discusses the role and construction of prayer in films and aspects of religious change, particularly changes in reference to Christianity and Christian churches in North America. The title is thus misleading and runs the risk that many read- ers who might find this volume interesting and useful will overlook it. Who, then, is this volume for? Anyone involved in the study of religion and film will be able to engage with the volume, but more specifically, this work could be brought into courses and studies on church sociology and church history. It offers ample material for discussions of specific periods and ques- tions related to certain times, without suggesting that it is a detailed histor-