All the Christians were taken and you stayed. . . “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, but the elements will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will be burned.” (2 Peter 3:10)
Like a Thief in the Night (or Like a Thief in the Night) is the first of 4 films of the series, now known under its title - A Thief in the Night series:
A Thief in the Night (1973) – How to Tat at Night
A Distant Thunder (1978) – Far Thunder
Image of the Beast (1980) – Image of the Beast
The Prodigal Planet (1983) (prodigal planet)
Of all the products of the company director and screenwriter Russell Doughten (Russell Doughten) “Mark IV”, which made many Christian films in the 70-80s, this one remained the most famous.
Since between the first and second film has passed as much as 5 years, I suspect that the authors initially did not intend to shoot a sequel, but “The Thief in the Night” fell such a success, especially among American Christians, and then abroad (according to various estimates, it was watched from 100 to 300 million people), that the sin was not to go to meet the audience.
Already from the title it can be seen that it is based on biblical themes – this is a quote from the Gospel about the “last times”: “The day of the Lord will come, like a thief at night.” . "
In the center of the plot is the notorious American “rapture” – “rapture” (in the old, literal sense) or “ascension” – which became popular in the XX century. the belief that before the end of the world all the righteous – “true” Christians – will be taken to heaven, and on earth there will be only sinners, on whose head all the troubles and catastrophes predicted in the Gospel “Revelation” will fall. For Catholics and Orthodox this is a “non-canon”, which did not prevent him, however, to serve as a plot for many “apocalyptic” films.
The Moment After (1999) – A Moment After; sequel: II – The Awakening (2006) – The Awakening
Left Behind (2000) – “The Left Behind” (for some reason we know as the “Formula of Eden”); sequels: II – Tribulation Force (2002) – the name is difficult to adequately translate – approximately “The Grieving Years Squad”; III – World at War (2005) – “The World is at War”
Apocalypse (1998) – Apocalypse; sequels: II – Revelation (1998) – Revelation; III – Tribulation (1999) – Mourning; IV – Judgment (2000) – Judgment
Years of the Beast (1981) – The Years of the Beast
Six (2004) – “Six”
But “The Thief in the Night” if not the very first, then one of them is one of the most famous.
Like most Christian films, it is low-budget, shot by a local studio in Iowa – a hinterland – which feels both in the production and the game.
And yet the "series" themselves are quite fascinating, action-packed. And just curious to look at the ancient biblical themes against the background of ultramodern America.
The first two films in the series are the best. They trace the fates of three young friends who went to the concert-sermon of a Christian rock band: one girl missed everything by the ears – both the song and the sermon; another – immediately “trusted life to Jesus”; and the third – remained in the middle: she seems kind and lives in fact according to the commandments, but everything hesitates and does not dare to completely trust Christ... until the thunder burst. . .
Patty Dunning (Patty Dunning) very well plays his namesake – the same “warm cool” Patty: she is not a pretty “puppet”, like, for example, “true Christian” Jenny (Colin Nidey), but she turned out to be a sincere and lively “non-believer foma” – the throwing and searching of this restless, doubting soul are reliably and emotionally shown. . .
And in reality, her life was a little similar to the fate of the heroine. As she says in an interview, for her, this role at first was just a random earnings, because she was not particularly religious – but gradually imbued with the ideas of the film. By husband, she is now Risinger (Risinger) and has remained in Iowa, a conservative, Christian views. After this “star” role, she practically did not appear, but works as a specialist in the rehabilitation of children after injuries and diseases. (Although she’s probably retired now, she’s 71.) . . )
And in general, this film is clearly not the only one that “set her on the right path” – many remember that it was he who made them think about life and adopt Christianity. . .
In some places, the picture looks, of course, naive and simple, but there are scenes that cut into the memory – for example, the “epic” pursuit of the dam – and I had a powerful “déjà vu”, as if I had seen it in a distant childhood – but, of course, could not: such films – Christian – in Soviet times were not shown. Maybe there was something like that somewhere else? Or just then showed an excerpt in the “Cinema” – under some rubric “their customs”?
A slight nostalgia for the 70s stirred up: everything is so imbued with the spirit of those years – for example, constantly worn blue jeans in tightness – both on boys and girls – the heyday of the era of “hipparies”. . .
Another beautiful song – sing heartily, sincerely. Words are simple, but fall into the heart - sad and topical (especially now):
Life was filled with guns and war.
And everyone got trampled on the floor. . .
I wish we'd all been ready. . .
Children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold. . .
I wish we'd all been ready. . .
And the chorus:
"There's no time to change your mind."
The Son has come and you've been left behind
It was later given to writers Tim LaHey and Jerry Jenkins as the title for their book series Left Behind, all about the same rapture. They were also filmed with Kirk Cameron, who in America is now better known not as an actor, but as an active evangelist-preacher.
The song, by the way, was later sung in other “apocalyptic” films: “Apocalypse II” (1998) and “The Leftovers” (2014, with Nicholas Cage). It was written, in fact, even earlier by Larry Norman – a famous American musician, poet and composer in the genre of “Christian rock”, but the fame and popularity of it was undoubtedly brought by the film “The Thief in the Night”.