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Note: This film is available at the movie's official website.

Talk About It

1. Are you familiar with the story about the father and son which inspired this film? How does the film version compare to the story as you heard it? Does familiarity with the original story make the film more or less effective? Does the presence of an extra level of meaning beyond the movie's very human story make it more or less effective for you?
   
   
2. The introduces us to a myriad of lives in brief glimpses, often through the eyes of a child. What do we know about the lives of the various secondary characters? How does this make the film more effective?
   
   
3. From the start, we sense the film may culminate in tragedy. While the film is not simply an allegory, what might it suggest about the role of the Father in salvation history?
   
   
4. How hopeful is the ending of this film? Has God brought meaning out of pain in your own life?
   
   

The Family Corner

The film has no sexual content, language issues or explicit violence, but it does have an extremely intense climax which will make it inappropriate for more sensitive children.

© Ron Reed 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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