History of Afterlife (2022 Boccaccini), course

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Introduction From Polytheism to Monotheism. Reflections on Evil.

Afterlife: Fulfillment of Life or Absence of Life?

Talking to the Dead (necromancy) in Judaism and in the Mediterranean World

What if something went wrong? the Afterlife as Remedy and Restoration (The Enoch Tradition), The first notion of Hell (Gehenna as a place of punishment for the Fallen Angels.

The Maccabean Revolt and the Problem of Martyrdom: Covenant and Resurrection from the Dead (2 Maccabees)

The Book of Daniel: The Last Judgment as Time of Reward and Revenge

The Legacy of the Sheol: Mediumship and Ghost Stories.

Ghost Movies

  • [ The Phantom Carriage] <silent> (Sweden, 1922)]
  • [The Ghost and Mrs. Muir] (1947)
  • [House on Haunted Hill] (1959)
  • [ Seance on a Wet Afternoon] (1964)
  • < [Beetlejuice] (1988) >
  • < [Field of Dreams] (1989) >
  • [Ghost] (1990)
  • [Caspar] (1995)
  • < [The Sixth Sense] (1999) >
  • < [The Others] (2001) >
  • [A Tale of Two Sisters] (2003)
  • [The Orphanage] (Spain, 2007)
  • < [Coco] (2017) >

The Emergence of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise =

The Last Judgment as time of Reward, Revenge and Mercy (Book of the Parables and John the Baptist.

Jesus and the Afterlife

Paul and the Afterlife

The Identification of Justification and Salvation in later Christian thought (eternal life in Christ

The Rabbinic view of a balance between Mercy and Justice (Testament of Abraham, Mishnah, Tosefta)

Mortal and non-Mortal Sins: The emergence of the idea of Purgatory

Dante's Inferno, purgatory and Paradise as places of Punishment, Expiation and Reward.

Student's reports (6 meetings)

Movies

As with all products of the past, movies are not immune to the racial, gender and social prejudices of their age. Some may seem disturbing due to their graphic or sexual content. In a university setting, we look at them critically as historical evidence of how representations of the afterlife have evolved over the years.

  • # Outward Bound (Robert Milton, 1930) -- Henry and Ann, a pair of young lovers, are planning to commit suicide and are worried about what will happen to their dog when they are gone. The scene then changes to a disparate group of passengers who find themselves aboard a darkened, fog-enshrouded crewless ship, sailing to an unknown destination. In time, the passengers slowly realize what is going on—they are all dead. They will be judged during the course of the voyage, and go either to Heaven, or to Hell. Arriving at their destination, they await judgment by Thompson, the "examiner." <A remake of the film was made in 1944 (Between Two Worlds)>
  • ## The Dybbuk; or, Between Two Worlds <Yiddish> (Michał Waszyński, 1937) -- Based on a 1914 play by S. Ansky, the film relates the story of a young bride possessed by a dybbuk – a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person – on the eve of her wedding. Filmed on location in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, and in Feniks Film Studio in Warsaw, the Dybbuk is considered a seminal play in the history of Jewish theatre, and played an important role in the development of Yiddish theatre. <A> [D]
  • Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Alexander Hall, 1941) -- Boxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy. A remake of the film was made in 1978 (Heaven Can Wait). <A> [D]
    • Heaven Can Wait (1978) -- A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.
  • Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch, 1943) -- An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld. This movie is something of a screwball comedy.
  • # A Guy Named Joe (Victor Fleming, 1943) -- A dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory. A remake of the film was made in 1989 by Steven Spielberg (Always). [D]
    • ## Always (Steve Spielberg, 1989) -- Always is a remake of the 1943 romantic drama A Guy Named Joe set during World War II. The main departure from the 1943 film is the changing of the setting from wartime to a modern aerial firefighting operation. The film, however, follows the same basic plot line: the spirit of a recently dead expert pilot mentors a newer pilot, while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend he left behind. [D]
  • ## The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1947) -- Based on a 1945 novel by R. A. Dick, the film stars Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, and George Sanders. It is about a woman who moves to a remote home on the English seaside. Once there, she finds herself living with an unintended house guest, a ghost. She begins a relationship with the spirit and agrees to write his memoirs. This movie explores relationships between the living and the dead.
  • ## Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988) -- After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
  • # All Dogs Go to Heaven (Don Bluth, 1989) -- This animated film is about a German Shepherd (voiced by Burt Reynolds) who returns to Earth after death. He sets out to exact vengeance on his killer, but his plans change when he meets a young girl.
  • ## [ Field of Dreams] ( Phil Alden Robinson , 1989) -- Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a baseball field. Once built, deceased baseball players return from the afterlife to play their favorite game.
  • # Flatliners (Joel Schumacher, 1990) -- Five medical students participate in near-death experiences in this intense movie, just to discover that experimenting with death is never a good idea. <A remake of the film was made in 2017.>
  • ## Ghost (Jerry Zucker, 1990) -- Does love keep going after a person dies? This blockbuster hit from 1990 explores that idea, with Patrick Swayze in the starring role as the ghost partner looking to sort out precisely why his spirit is still on earth. Alongside Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, this movie features some iconic scenes and acting. Goldberg won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this film.
  • ## Defending Your Life (Albert Brooks, 1991) -- Daniel Miller (Albert Brooks) isn't having a good week. For starters, he died after he got hit by a bus. Then he discovers that in the afterlife he must defend his actions on Earth in order to ascend to a higher plane of existence. While awaiting judgment, he falls in love with Julia (Meryl Streep), whose near-perfect life on Earth seemingly makes her a shoe-in for ascension. However, Daniel's actions in his lifetime might not be enough for him to move on.
  • ## What Dreams May Come (Vincent Ward, 1998) -- After Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.). His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie (Annabella Sciorra), commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.
  • ### The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999) -- Young Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is haunted by a dark secret: he is visited by ghosts. Cole is frightened by visitations from those with unresolved problems who appear from the shadows. He is too afraid to tell anyone about his anguish, except child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis). As Dr. Crowe tries to uncover the truth about Cole's supernatural abilities, the consequences for client and therapist are a jolt that awakens them both to something unexplainable.
  • ## The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001) -- Grace (Nicole Kidman), the devoutly religious mother of Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), moves her family to the English coast during World War II. She awaits word on her missing husband while protecting her children from a rare photosensitivity disease that causes the sun to harm them. Anne claims she sees ghosts, Grace initially thinks the new servants are playing tricks but chilling events and visions make her believe something supernatural has occurred.
  • # [ The Five People You Meet in Heaven] (Lloyd Kramer, 2004) -- An elderly amusement park maintenance man, Eddie, is trapped in purgatory and the only way out is to confront five people from his past. Unfortunately, dark secrets from his service in the Philippines begin to haunt him.
  • Wristcutters: A Love Story (Goran Dukic, 2006) -- A film set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
  • For One More Day] (Lloyd Kramer, 2007) -- Based on the Mitch Albom's 2006 novel of the same name, the film is the story of a broken-down former baseball player, Charley Benetto (Imperioli), who is now divorced and estranged from his own daughter, on the verge of a suicide who gets to spend one more day with his estranged departed mother (Burstyn), whom he had blamed for leaving his father. Throughout the course of the movie, she takes him to various points in his life and he learns what actually was going on to get a truer picture of his life.
  • ## Ghost Town (David Koepp, 2008) -- The film sees Ricky Gervais star as Bertram Pincus, a dentist who dies for 7 minutes while undergoing an operation and is brought back to life. The only problem is now is can see ghosts everywhere he goes and they annoy him. Here the ghosts are stuck and unable to move on to heaven, due to their unfinished business. Pincus is the only one who can help them, and despite initially refusing he grows and decides to become less selfish and help others.
  • ## The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson, 2009) -- Based on a book with the same title, the film tells the story of a 14-year-old girl, Susie Salmon (portrayed by Saoirse Ronan), after she is brutally murdered. From heaven she watches over her grief-stricken family (Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz) -- and her killer (Stanley Tucci). As she observes their daily lives, she must balance her thirst for revenge with her desire for her family to heal. Peter Jackson directed this 2009 film, which received both Oscar and BAFTA nominations for the supporting cast.
  • ## Charlie St. Cloud (Burr Steers, 2010) -- Charlie has the gift of being able to see dead people. This gift gives him solace since it enables him to interact with his dead brother. Charlie, played by Zac Efron, has to choose between this ability and new love
  • Hereafter (Clint Eastwood, 2010) -- A drama centered on three people - a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy - who are touched by death in different ways.
  • # Heaven Is for Real (Randall Wallace, 2014) -- This Christian film is about the real-life near-death experience of a four-year-old child. The movie stars Greg Kinnear.
  • ## Coco <animated> (Lee Unkrich, 2017) -- Coco presented an alternative view of the afterlife and threw the audience into the world of Mexican culture. The Mexican twist on the afterlife brought with it a unique set of rules and traditions, really seen in mainstream movies. The film sees a young boy in the Land of the Dead and must find his great-grandfather, who was a great singer. The film remains one of Pixar's most highly regarded movies and went on to win 2 Oscars.
  • # Flatliners (Joel Schumacher, 1990) -- Five medical students participate in near-death experiences in this intense movie, just to discover that experimenting with death is never a good idea. <A remake of the 1990 film with the same title.>
  • # Beautiful Accident (Taiwan, 2017), directed by Ho Wi Ding -- A single and career-driven lawyer is given a second chance in life following a fatal car crash. In the span of seven days, she finds herself taking on a new life where she assumes the role of a housewife, taking care of her architect husband and two children. <A remake of a 2015 South Korean film (Wonderful Nightmare).>


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