The feature film is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It cannot replace classroom activity or reading assignments. It is merely an aid, albeit a most effective aid. The feature film provides an opportunity to engage the students' interest in specific historical questions. The splendor of the production, the quality of the acting, and the very human conflicts of the film achieve this engagement in a way that a lecture or a reading would find difficult, if not impossible.
Students are accustomed to film and they have opinions on what they see.
A teacher can assist them in attaining a more professional degree of analysis by giving the students the opportunity to critically approach history through the use of this medium. Recently I summarized my experiences using film in a chapter of Media, Culture, and Catholicism , which was published last year. Our school's location just half an hour from Manhattan offered other opportunities. I began to give a lecture on monasticism at the Cloisters in New York. The two hour visit soon extended to an entire day of lecture, discussion and investigation.