Tino Villanueva's collection of poetry Scene From the Movie Giant gives readers an extraordinary look at a seemingly simple 1950s film. Giant carries few religious connotations; however, the poetry is highly spiritual. Villanueva draws several parallels between his life and the life of Jesus Christ. Diction and imagery support his comparisons. The poetry describing his personal experiences follows a sequential order in conjunction with the events of the end of Christ's life. Villanueva examines denial, death and resurrection in his own life and compares it to Christ's. Denial plays an important role both in Villanueva's life and in Christ's. The poem "On the Subject of Staying Whole" is remarkably similar to Jesus' prayerful hour in the garden of Gethsemane. Both Villanueva and Christ face certain pain and suffering; nevertheless each attempts to ease his situation. In the poem, Villanueva writes, "If I yell, 'Nooooo!, noooo!,'/ Would the projectionist stop the last/ Reel of the machine?" The use of a question instead of a factual statement releases the desperate emotion he feels. The unconventional spelling of "no" shows how deeply Villanueva means those cries. In similar fashion, the Bible records Jesus' prayer in Matthew 26:39: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." The anguish each feels is clearly evident; the words of both are meant to bring relief from the agony. Neither Villanueva nor Christ initially wants to accept what is about to happen.

    The denial that is experienced, however, is not enough to withhold the forthcoming events. "Without a Prayer at the Holiday Theater" highlights the similarity between Villanueva's viewing of the scene from Giant and the crucifixion of Christ and uses allegory as a literary style to make the comparison. The poem begins by introducing the setting: the boy is at the theater, and the circumstances are much like those of Good Friday. Words such as "darkness", "afternoon", "mortal", and "dread" underline the connection with the Biblical story. The description becomes even more literal when Villanueva writes, "there was, in his throat, a tightening dry/ Knot and his mouth could not make spit." This statement, referring to the young boy at the movie, is remarkably like the statement made by Christ as he hung on the cross. In John 19:28 Jesus says, "'I am thirsty.'" The stories of young Villanueva and Christ are presented in this corresponding manner to make a point. The salvation that Christians receive is a gift from God and is made possible through the death of Jesus Christ. In much the same way, the poetry that Villanueva composes is a gift to his culture and is a result of his suffering. Had he not felt any pain when he saw Giant as a child, he would not have been able to write with as much meaning. The emphasis on both stories as crucifixions further extends the parallel between Villanueva and Christ.

    After death comes rebirth, and the poem "The Telling" plants ideas of resurrection and eternal life in the mind of the reader. Villanueva relies on imagery and diction to make the allusion clear. Many words and phrases evoke the Christian view of heaven, including "truth", "light", and "home at last." Freedom from the bondage of silence is expressed when Villanueva writes, "At this moment of being human/ (when the teller is the tale being told),/ the ash of memory rises that I might speak,/ that I might tell with words,/ which are the past falling from my mind." It is as if Villanueva has passed into another realm where he can at last express his feelings about the scene from Giant. Comparably, upon Christ's ascension to heaven, his earthly struggle ends. Christ has made his sacrifice for humankind and his personal pain is resolved. Villanueva's telling of his story and Christ's resurrection are both forms of release that bring peace.

    The poetry found in Scene From the Movie Giant by Tino Villanueva links the secular and the religious. Villanueva draws comparisons between events in his own life and in the life of Jesus Christ, focusing on denial, death, and resurrection. This fresh approach to an ordinary film undoubtedly opens the reader's mind and makes the poetry difficult to ignore.

Villanueva, Tino. Scene From the Movie Giant. Willimantic,CT: Curbstone, 1993.