ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines a specific methodology for interpreting films as theology and philosophy, namely a Ricoeurian parabolic hermeneutic. The chapter first demonstrates how “parable” has been defined and applied within cinema, carefully distinguishing “parable” from “allegory” before turning to Paul Ricoeur's definition of “parable”: the conjunction of narrative form and metaphorical process addressing the external referent of existential limit-experiences, which ultimately reforms audiences' theological and ethical imaginations. This parabolic hermeneutic uses Ricoeur's concept of “the world behind, of, and in front of” the text. That is, the world behind the film is the cultural context from which the film emerges and where we encounter it; the world of the film is the experience of the film-world itself, while the world in front of the film is the audience's life-world and subsequent theo-ethical response. In Part II, this Ricoeurian parabolic hermeneutic is applied to the Dardennes' filmography.
