Biography of the great Russian painter of icons -- with a sublime conflict between the cruel realities of life with the beautiful creations of art. Tarkovsky dares ask what the role of an artist is in life . . . the making of the bell sequence is one of film's great depictions of grace (it brought a tear to my eye).

Becket's newfound discovery of Christian faith puts him at odds with his friend the King over the issue of Church/state relations. Looks at the conflict between the personal and principle. O'Toole is particularly good as the amoral King Henry.

DeNiro and Irons play two Jesuits with radically different backgrounds forced to choose an action when the people of their mission are threatened by the State. At issue is the acceptability of using violence in the situation . . .

Duvall won Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of alcoholic singer who is redeemed through Christian faith and the love of a godly woman. Far from being merely uplifting, it reveals the difficulty of life during a conversion as the struggles of life continue to press in on him . . . powerful and thought-provoking.

A story about a broken relationship between two brothers and the need for reconciliation when one is terminally ill. Richard Farnsworth plays the title character who must make great effort to get to his brother before he dies. Moving . . .

Capra's classic about the value of a single life (the positive message). The powerful issue to me is how a good man gets to the point of suicide and the choices he makes along the way to that point and afterwards . . .

The story of the brave girl who warned of the dangers of Nazism and paid the ultimate price . . .