Richard Dutcher once made a movie. It was a niche film, with a hungry audience. God's Army caught the attention of LDS film goers and with it, helped give rise to this so called "LDS Cinema".

He followed that film up with a few other mediocre ones. They were crafted well, but were box office disasters. Absolute financial failures. God's Army 2: States of Grace cost a reported $800,000. It has a lifetime gross of $59,000.

In the wake of that film failing, he publicly criticized movie goers, blaming audiences for the dismal returns. His comments grew more hostile toward other filmmakers, accusing them of "peeing in the pool of LDS cinema." And of course this gem:

Mormon filmmakers have turned Mormon Cinema into a joke," Dutcher said. "I used to be very proud to call myself a Mormon filmmaker. But, because of what has happened over the last five years, I get as much or less respect calling myself a Mormon filmmaker as if I called myself a pornographer.

And now this.

Aside from one last chance to criticize LDS filmmakers, Dutcher launches into his justification for leaving the faith:

The private answers to the questions I have asked in my prayers, and in my films, have led me on an unexpected journey, a spiritual path which may ultimately prove incompatible with Mormon orthodoxy.

A path that leads to this, apparently:

I hope that someday I will hear a few of your names mentioned in the company of the handful of filmmakers who have dared to explore human spirituality in film: Bergman, Bresson, Tarkovsky, Dreyer, Ozu, etc. One of my greatest hopes, of course (in true competitive spirit), is that one day my name will be at the very top of that list.

Ah, so here we go. His Mormon orthodoxy is preventing him from becoming the greatest filmmaker of all time. In addition, he is unable to truly explore "human spirituality" while the watchful eyes of the Church lean in over his shoulder. Underlying this of course, is the inability of Mormon movie goers to understand and appreciate his genius. What other explanation could there be for his ultimate failure?

Here's one. Dutcher's movies are not very good. His story lines were manipulative and unrealistic. They contained an underlying arrogance, as if he alone understood the plight of faith and reason. Casting himself as the star in his own films further underlines his egocentric style.

He claims a higher path, an incompatible path, has beckoned him hence. And now he leaves "Mormon cinema in your capable -- and now seasoned -- hands". When did Mormon cinema ever become his to hand off? What we need, he claims, are "excellent filmmakers who understand the language of cinema, the eloquence of images". I agree. Of course we need excellence in our films. That goes without saying, and especially goes without needing to be said on the soapbox of unquenchable arrogance.

What we also need are filmmakers who understand the language of the spirit, and the eloquence of faith. We need filmmakers who will not be tossed to and fro at the possibility of worshiping at the altar of a small golden statue, and a night on the red carpet.

No doubt, Richard Dutcher wants his upcoming film Falling to be heralded as a great autobiographical journey. An expression of art and craft, welded together with the ambiguous tag of "human spirituality". His great foray into the world of cinema, free of any affiliation with the genre he likes to claim he founded, free of any unrelenting orthodoxy and unwashed masses. A film for the traveler seeking higher ground and deeper waters. His first step toward the beckon of recognition he so desperately craves. A vanguard announcing his arrival in the promised land of glitz and glamor.

I hope your calendar is open, Richard Dutcher, you have Hollywood parties to attend.