Art as Moral Education in Contemporary Cinema

This essay explores the educational significance of two cinematic narratives; Il Postino and Take the Lead. Given that these two movies are about the moral power of art as such, the main present focus will be on how the different arts with which these movies deal provide their own distinctive insights into significant areas of human moral experience: more specifically, these films aim to explore the distinctive artistic contribution of poetry and dance to the human moral condition. This essay aims not only to draw attention to the two films discussed, but also to suggest a new approach to teaching about these and other artworks in schools and other educational contexts.