Exploring the Language of Suffering and Redemption through Discursive Manifestations of the Religious in Film Reviews

Abstract

This paper explores the manifestations of religious discourse in film reviews, particularly focusing on the discursive markers of suffering and redemption. It analyses two sets of reviews of the religious films The Passion of the Christ and The Exorcist as a means of creating and deciphering meaning and observes how specific linguistic items reveal distinct representations of suffering within religious episodes. The reviews highlight the profound emotional and physical responses elicited by these films, underscoring the deep spiritual and existential impact on the viewers. In addition, the focus also lies on the connection between divine and mortal suffering, an intricate topic examined through the lens of salvation. In this respect, critics had in view episodes of great emotional and spiritual intensity, as Christ’s sacrifice, mirrored by the possessed girl’s plea for divine intervention and salvation. Our study intends to confirm that religious discourse in film reviews serves as a process of self-expression, effectively conveying complex emotional and spiritual reactions. The audience, composed of simple viewers and critics alike, are intrigued and persuaded into exploring the intense manifestations of religion in cinematic discourse. This is the reason why the aim of this paper is to identify and to analyse such discursive manifestations of the religious within film reviews, while focusing upon the manner in which certain feelings and emotional responses, such as suffering and redemption, are transmitted.