"The Searchers" starring John Wayne. 

“A ripsnorting Western, as brashly entertaining as they come. Slambang!” The New York Times, 1956

"“How can I hate John Wayne … and yet love him tenderly … in the last reel of The Searchers?” Jean-Luc Godard

Starring John Wayne, John Ford's “The Searchers” defined the spirit of frontier America and influenced a generation of filmmakers, like Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, and Steven Spielberg. It placed 12th on the American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the 100 Greatest American Films of All Time and in 2012, the British Film Institute named it as the 7th Best Film of All Time. Arguably John Ford’s greatest film, containing John Wayne’s unarguably greatest performance, “The Searchers” plays the same role in the history of American film that “Huckleberry Finn” plays in the history of American literature. In a story that is unafraid to both confront and embrace the legacy of racial animus towards indigenous people in the American West, John Wayne plays a man obsessed with finding his young niece, who has been abducted (and thus “defiled”) by a Comanche raiding party. It’s unclear if he wants to rescue her or kill her. Featuring cinematography that helped create the iconography of the American Western, “The Searchers” is both ecstatic filmmaking and deeply problematic storytelling. It provides a unique window into the contradictions of the American psyche and dream.

Selected and facilitated by Doug Dunderdale, co-director of film series.

Free Admission.

Location: First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, 94704

About the Faith & Film series:

In this series we will examine the potent and relevant medium of film in exploring themes of love, faith, conscience, evil, death, reception, grace, morality, identity, and our yearning for the sacred. Each month we will view a different film––each unique, compelling, and demanding––reflecting our current times. Each film is curated by those who love this artistic medium and will host a conversation following our viewing. Co-sponsored by New College Berkeley and First Presbyterian Church Berkeley.

Event details:

FPCB is located at 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley, and the event will start promptly at 7PM in Geneva Hall, Room G202. This co-sponsored event includes free parking in the FPCB underground parking lot (on Channing Way). You must leave a note on your dashboard indicating the event you are attending.