Sorry, I could not resist the word play. This is a guest post from Ryan Burton King (Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Wood Green) about a new film coming out over the Easter period. It looks well worth going to see
“The King of Kings” is the first major cinematically released animated biblical film since The Prince of Egypt. The film, voiced by an award-winning all-star cast, is inspired by Charles Dickens’ Christmas tradition of reading a book (unpublished in his life) written especially for his children, on “The Life of our Lord”. After his youngest son Walter (Roman Griffin Davis)- driven by a playful obsession with King Arthur – misbehaves, Dickens (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) returns home from a public reading to address this, and his own initially angry response. Joined by his wife Catherine (Uma Thurman), Dickens leverages his son’s love of the Arthur myth, to tell the true story it points to: that of the King of Kings, Jesus (voiced by Oscar Isaac, who almost twenty years ago played Joseph in the excellent live action film, “The Nativity Story”).
The unique framing of the narrative allows it to develop as a father attempting to communicate to his young child the story of Jesus in an appropriate and accessible way, and is paced to keep the attention of very young viewers. Nonetheless, it does tell the story, highlighting particular moments in the life of Christ with great, almost off-the-page accuracy. The vehicle allows for some surprising, skilfully executed breakaway expositions, such as when Dickens pauses to explain Passover, or towards the end when he explains why Jesus had to die: the world was created good, but rebelled against God, breaking our relationship with him, creating a problem that only the beloved Son could fix, through taking that penalty and experiencing death.
The animation is beautiful (all the more appreciable on the big screen), making some moments in the film visually unforgettable and serving the narrative in ways that are not so well captured in live action: has the “great exchange” been depicted in previous cinematic tellings of the life of Christ? I haven’t seen it, certainly not like this. The story draws near to its end as young Walter kneels at the foot of an empty cross. But it is not yet over. He approaches Christ’s tomb and sees the stone is rolled away. Asking his father why it is empty, Dickens replies with his own question: does Walter remember how Jesus spoke about rebuilding the temple in three days?
Jesus emerges from the tomb: he is alive, and so – it stated – we are made alive by him. Walter begins to shout that Jesus is alive and he must tell others, starting with his brothers and sisters sleeping downstairs. Beyond respect for the New Testament narratives and general artistic quality, I appreciated multiple aspects of the film that might be lost on the more casual viewer: the Christological interpretation of the Arthurian myth (reminding me of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis’s important dialogue), the portrayal of a father discipling his son (and how that – in more ways than one – shows his son Christ), blink and miss moments such as Matthew/Levi’s introduction and another disciple’s response, the Word of God contrasted with the weapons of earthly kings and kingdoms, and how ultimately good news has to be shared. Most importantly, the film dodged the obvious opportunity to present the life of Christ as a moralistic fable about being good little boys and girls, and instead extends the gospel: those drowning in sin can, by believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection, be saved and given a new life.
The King of Kings is officially showing from 11 April, with earlier screenings from 07 April.
Faithroots 