What is the meaning of the film An Interview with God by Perry Lang? In 2018, Perry Lang’s film An Interview with God is released on world cinema screens. The director, who is known for Jacob’s Ladder and his work on many TV shows, once again decided to try his luck at the big box office. Two of his works on similar topics have already failed, barely recouping the budget invested in them. The picture turned out to be rather peculiar and difficult to perceive. After all, the director took as a basis the theme of war and religion. Today, this film is known to a few and has equally negative and positive reviews. But after watching every second one asks the question: “What is the point of the film?”
The plot of An Interview with God by Perry Lang
The main character is a promising journalist Paul Asher. He is predicted to have a wonderful career, a wonderful wife. But everything in this man’s life is changed by the war in Afghanistan. From there, Paul returns a different person. This causes his wife to leave. And the man himself begins a severe crisis. He thinks about everything, even calling into question religion. In addition, his career ceases to go in the right direction, because he leads a religious column in the newspaper. Paul is on the verge of panic and fear, no one can help him with the solution of such a complex internal conflict.
But suddenly a man appears in Paul’s field of vision who calls himself none other than God. And the man decides to interview him. More for myself, of course. The conversation turns out to be so interesting that the question arises before Paul – who is God really?
What is An Interview with God about?
The film starts off rather banal. We see Paul and his wife struggling to maintain their relationship. But everything collapses, because their union has long since cracked. It remains only to look at wedding photos and remember past happiness. But the next minutes are of great interest. The director uses an interesting move – Paul accompanies his wife to work and is immersed in thoughts. And here a completely different picture appears before us. He is talking to a person who is still unknown to the viewer. Many compare this scene to a conversation with a psychologist. Paul raises in it not only questions of being – where did the world come from, how did a person appear, but also personal questions. The same type of dialogue occurs between the hero and his boss. The boss and mentor, as a more experienced person, is trying to help Paul save the marriage. He shares tips from his life. The director chose a very accurate transmission of the dialogue. The camera is static, it really looks like a dialogue between two real people.
These frames can be mistaken for Paul’s imagination. But, oddly enough, it is it that helps him heal. There are really many reasons for such changes in life – after returning from Afghanistan, a man brings with him a post-traumatic disorder, which he tries to cope with on his own. His wife did not justify his hopes, and here he is also trying to cope on his own. And all these problems are burdened with work. Not surprisingly, in such a situation, even a religious journalist will have questions about faith.
In general, the theme of God and the universe itself is a failure. After all, each person sees and solves this problem in his own way. Today this problem is more important than ever. Any person, regardless of religion and worldview, will sooner or later ask himself the question: “Does God really exist?” The film tries to make us understand that no matter how much we deal with this problem, we will never come to the final single result. We will get answers to purely theoretical questions, but we will never reveal the essence of religion.
But the very fact that the film touches on such a complex and controversial topic is already worthy of respect. Faith in something is necessary for everyone. Without it, it is impossible to separate good from evil, a good person from a bad one, to regulate one’s actions. Without it, a person will start to explore his limits, both psychological and physical. People would have a lot of desires, which in the end would lead them into the wilds.
Another major issue is raised in the film An Interview with God. Most films about faith take this issue up on a big, general level. And this movie touches everyone individually. What is God for each of us? How do we see its manifestations every day?
For example, very often in the film the question of commandments is raised. After all, there are only 10 of them, but Christianity recognizes only 6 of them. And so, the main character is trying to explain this. The question of how religion passed to the present state is constantly consecrated.
Thus, the film An Interview with God tells us about faith. He says that for many this is a good motivation to live, create, work. Progress does not stand still, and world religions change with it. Outdated laws and concepts die, new ones are created. Each person has their own faith. But it must be present in any manifestation – faith in God, any other extraterrestrial being, faith in yourself, your loved ones and relatives. Without this, a person stops growing and loses all prospects for this.
