The Wages of Cinema: A Christian Aesthetic of Film in Conversation with Dorothy L. Sayers

by Crystal L. Downing

In a captivating realm where cinematic narratives enchant countless viewers, how can one harmonize their faith with the craft of filmmaking? The Wages of Cinema encourages a deep dive into this relationship, drawing upon the significant reflections of Dorothy L. Sayers defending the authenticity of art and truth's manifestation.

The Wages of Cinema uses examples ranging from the timeless genius of Charlie Chaplin to the cultural phenomenon of Barbie, illustrating how film theory can be enriched by the truths of the Christian faith.

The Wages of Cinema will help listeners appreciate artistry

● Enlightening Learn how Christians can discuss films intelligently, transcending simple content critique.

● Historical Delve into the history of cinema and the evolution of film theories.

● Sayers's Uncover little-known evidence of Dorothy Sayers's engagement with cinema, shedding light on her passion for truth and artistic integrity.

Whether you're a student of film or a passionate movie lover, The Wages of Cinema will broaden your horizon and deepen your appreciation of cinema.

256 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2025

Reviews

[Ansley Burnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, Dr. Downing turns Dorothy Sayers’s Mind of the Maker into a new film theory and then proceeds to analyze a bunch of random films through that lens. She also tries to set Sayers up as a Virgil-like guide to help readers through the text. These concepts are very unique and interesting, but they just didn’t quite land perfectly. At times it felt like the research presented was really cool but did not necessarily fit the rest of the book (kind of like a bunch of individual essays and “oooh” thoughts all forced into the same book).

Lots of really good history about theater and film included here though (included some ancient theater research/info that I had never heard of before)! And truly this book has some fantastic primary source research.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: The cultural power of narrative cinema has long captured the attention of priests, pastors, and professors who write books assessing film through the lens of Christian faith.

What is it about? The short answer, of course, is movies. The real answer, however, can best be shared from the book's introduction, "It emphasizes the history of film as well as the development of secular theories about the artistry of its form."

Sounds simple and straight-forward enough, right? Wrong. Mostly. It complicates the subject--for better or worse. The book theoretically offers a look at film--its past and present. It theoretically offers various summaries of different philosophies or schools of how films are interpreted or critiqued. It theoretically explores how directors and screenwriters relate to their creations--their vision, intent, energy, passion, etc. It theoretically explores film as art and film as philosophy. How what we see on the screen shapes or world views--impacts who we are as human beings. Theoretically.

Where it is at its messiest--from my personal perspective--is the introduction of this super-analogy (all-encompassing) between cinema and theology. I think this could have been done in a clearer way if the book hadn't spread its focus so thin.

It makes a good amount of sense to make the connections of ANCIENT THEATRE with the Greek language the New Testament is written in. It makes sense to share verses where the language/imagery being used to express theological ideas, concepts, doctrines, etc. were drawn from the theatre. However, it isn't satisfied with the historical elements. It persists in this extremely convoluted, intimately connected--joined at the hip--idea that cinema AND Christianity are still just as integral to one another. Which if the author's train of thought was slowed down a couple hundred times, might make sense if properly explained.

The element that will either make or break the book for readers, however, may be the presence of Dorothy Sayers. The author persists in having Sayers as tour-guide and host for the duration of the book. Sayers being long, long dead, of course, this is done artistically using her nonfiction and fiction. The author sees Sayers as both being qualified as an expert (to borrow a court term) in both FILM and in THEOLOGY. (But was she either???) Sayers words--ideas, concepts, perceived views--are used as a lens to analyze films made long after her death.

The films being offered as examples are more often than not obscure and far from pop culture. (Not that I expected Sayers to analyze Captain America or Star Wars.) This is to be expected in a book about the history of cinema. Nothing terribly surprising. But what was surprising is that most of the examples come not from the history of film--but from more "contemporary" times. Films whose trailers I would have come across--reviews I would have come across--if not so incredibly obscure and out of the way. I personally wanted more HISTORY and less present day. I wanted a deeper dive into the first thirty years of cinema and not just a deep dive into the past fifteen to twenty years. The focus, for better or worse, was rarely American films--particularly in the history section. The author seems only to care about Russian, Italian, French, German directors in the history of cinema. Same with the film theorists. Again, the movies being discussed throughout are taste-specific, perhaps out of necessity.

This is without a doubt a book that focuses centrally on ART and being ARTY and ARTSY. About wearing exclusive little genius caps.

What the book truly lacked, in my opinion, was a clear introductory chapter or two about HOW to talk about film, in other words HOW to assess what you are watching and HOW to talk about it. SIMPLE vocabulary lessons with ACCESSIBLE down-to-earth examples that just about anyone/everyone could understand BEFORE progressing into the deep depths of the ocean.

So the book felt substantively deep--for better or worse. You're deep-diving into THEOLOGIANS from the past and present--from ancient church fathers through the twentieth century. You're deep-diving into film theorists, into philosophers, into directors. You're expected to unpack all of Sayers' philosophy as well. And to make sense of how her thoughts on ARTY-ART directly relate to humanity's connection with God himself. Her theology is tough on its own. But you're not only having to interpret her theology as theology but also her theology as a way to make sense of film.

I think there has to be a better way for Christians to understand films and film theory. Do I know that such a book exists? No. No, I don't. Do I wish there was a book within reach that is CLEAR and accessible and relatable that would help me unpack more details of what I'm watching--very much so. I would LOVE to learn how to better talk about movies, to more intelligently assess what works or doesn't in a film.

The one thing I definitely took away from the book was that Sayers truly appreciated when films have consequences AND she didn't really care for sappy happy endings.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A Christian aesthetic of film in conversation with Dorothy L. Sayers’ ideas on creativity and artistic integrity.

Crystal L. Downing considers Dorothy L. Sayers an ideal dialogue partner to discuss a Christian aesthetic of film. Sayers wrote of creativity and artistic integrity in her Mind of the Maker. She wrote for the stage and even made forays into screenwriting. She wrote film criticism and criticized Christian docetism that failed to take the material of film seriously. Sayers felt strongly the necessity of artistic integrity–that what was portrayed and how it was portrayed must go together. She had no place for inferior artistic work for the sake of a Christian “message,” a major theme of this work.

Downing integrates all of this into a survey of film history and explorations of film aesthetics. She begins with theatre both going back to the Greeks and the ties of theatre figures with the birth and growth of cinema. Downing offers a fascinating discussion contrasting the stigmata of theatre with the stigma of film. World War 2 and war films come in for consideration, with Downing juxtaposing a discussion of The Bridge over the River Kwai with The Railway Man. She connects this with Sayers views of the insanity of wars and efforts in “bridge-building.”

Through an exploration of the transition from silent film to sound work, Downing considers Sayers’ ideas about compromising integrity for money and doing something “for the love of the work.” Then she incorporates Sayers works for the stage into the discussion. Following this, Downing brings Sayers’ Mind of the Maker into dialogue with film makers. But skilled makers can also produce evil works, as in D. W. Griffiths Birth of a Nation, where cinematic excellence is coupled with a racist message. Then Downing moves on to perhaps the most challenging chapter, a deep dive into film theory. In dialogue with philosopher C.S. Pierce, she recurs to this statement by Sayers: “Art that is the true image of experience is true art, even though the experience is ugly or immoral (as the image of God is still the image of God, even in a wicked man).”

However, the most striking chapter is a discussion of feminism in film, exploring how the male gaze at women both shapes and overlooks the expression of women’s creative gifts. Not only do we consider the capable Harriet Vane in front of cameras during her trial but also the trials and travails of Barbie. Finally, in a coda, Downing recaps how Dorothy L. Sayers life intersects with the emergence of cinema, including what, for Sayers, was the magical year of 1908.

I am more of a Dorothy L. Sayers buff than a cinema buff, so I found myself struggling with the cinema parts of the book. However, I don’t think a cinema buff would face the same disadvantage in the discussion of Sayers. Anyone interested in the aesthetics of film making would find this fascinating and illuminating. In addition, Downing’s access to the Sayers archives at the Wade Center adds substance beyond Sayers’ published works. Finally, Downing’s work represents a step forward in Christian engagement with film, moving beyond spiritual content to the art, great or inferior, of making films.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

[Dave Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot in this book. A lot of history. A lot of very big ideas. It's also difficult to know who precisely the target audience is- is it fans of cinema? Fans of Dorothy Sayers? Christians in general? Seekers? I'd suggest it's likely geared towards all of the above, and depending on what your awareness is of any of these subjects coming in it's likely that how you experience it will depend on your vantage point within existing within any of those above spheres of knowledge and interest.

Does it work equally well for all of those areas? I'm not sure. I can say it worked well for me as someone with a vested interest in the intersection of Christianity and cinema, and with a more cursory awareness of Sayers (of which Downing is dialoging with the book Mind and Matter).

In terms of the cinema side of things, Downing floats between the more lofty thematic and theoretical and the technical side of the craft, something she would see as being indebted to each other. As the book cites at one point, "what we create matters more than what we are." Why? Because one reveals the other. Here she speaks about the relationship between the sacred and the profane, and one of the most compelling points of the book was walking through the history of the transition from theater to cinema, exploring how the translations of the Greek in theater parallels the movement to and from the Greek in the Christian scriptures. In many ways it becomes fair to say that the history of cinema (built upon the language of theater) is the history of christianity. Something that retains a certain bite once Downing begins to examine the problems with modern cinema and its particular vices.

What Downing finds in Sayers is a unique voice, positioned as she was in her own particular time in history, whom genuinely loves and fights for the importance of art and creating and the form, not just a human expression but a Christian one. Not to be coopted by a Christian politic, but to be a shared language and vocation that reaches beyond any secular/sacred boundaries. If all is sacred, all is art and art speaks to the whole. That is the Christian aesthetic. And one thing that I've been thinking about coming out of this book is this idea Downing brings up, which is the adage that theater began with the sacred and eventually brought in the profane, while cinema began with the profance and brought in the sacred. Showing that this is the dance, and inviting us to consider how it is that the sacred transforms the profane through the power of story. In this case, story that takes on a visual form with a specific language called cinema. Whether one appreciates or is interested in the technicals or not, I think these big ideas still loom large enough to allow those portions and sections of dialogue to make sense. An entry point into other books that really extrapolate and study the language in a greater depth.

[Porter Sprigg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this quite compelling, and even convicting. As a Christian who often focuses primarily on story, it was good to be challenged to consider the totality of the cinematic medium beyond the script! I also learned a lot about Dorothy Sayers.

[Bardfilm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look for a complete review in the next issue of The Journal of Inkling Sudies. In the meantime, give this book a try—it's well worth reading.

[Timon Esh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy film and art, then this book is for you.