This year, Oscar nominated God as a contender for Best Picture. Twice. Well, sort of. Les Miserables* and Life Of Pi* went up for the Academy Award for top movie. Both films employ God as a driving force in their plots. While Life Of Pi treats God as a malleable concept shared equally by disparate belief systems, Les Miserables specifically utilises the Christian God as its crucial catalyst.

Image: flickr/lincolnblues

The previous 84 annual Oscar ceremonies have not made a habit of placing God, or Christianity, on the winner’s podium. However, prominent examples exist of Hollywood backslaps extending to Biblically related movies.

Ben-Hur cleaned house in 1960, scoring 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director and Actor. While Ben-Hur is an epic fairytale about a champion slave who encounters Jesus, Chariots Of Fire is more devotedly Christian in its content and intent. The inspiring true story, of an Olympian who competed for God’s glory, collected four Oscars in 1981, led by Best Picture.

Going My Way (1944) scored seven Oscars, and focused upon an unconventional priest in New York. Black Narcissus (1947), Elmer Gantry (1960) and Dead Man Walking (1996) also won Academy Awards, and hinge on pastoral turmoil.

Biblical epics The Robe and The Ten Commandments collected a few gongs in the 1950s, although only in technical categories (costumes; art direction).

Other considerable nominees, with explicit Christian themes and messages, include Inherit The Wind (1960), The Mission (1986), Shadowlands (1993), The Apostle (1997) and The Passion Of The Christ (2004).

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), and Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) are high-profile examples of Oscar nominees which play fast and loose with Biblical material.

Read our reviews of Best Picture nominees:

• Life of Pi – January 2013
• Les Miserables – February 2013
• Lincoln – February 2013

Further reading:

• What do Boxing Day movies do to our souls?  – December 2012

** Today’s awards:

• Les Miserables won three Oscars at today’s 2013 Academy Awards ceremony: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anne Hathaway), Best Sound Mixing and Best Make-Up and Hair Styling
• Life of Pi won four Academy Awards, including Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Music (Original Score), Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography.