Faithful Friday: My take on Angel Studios’ “King of Kings” film.
by: Debbie Waltz
Inspired by Charles Dickens’ “The Life of the Lord,” the film highlights the central role of faith in Jesus Christ. Initially conceived as a story solely for his children, Charles Dickens masterfully employs this novel as a vehicle for instilling faith within their young hearts and minds. With a reputation for his captivating storytelling abilities, he aims to engage his youngest child, Walter, by transitioning from tales of mythical kings and dragons to stories from his personal experiences and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Driven by a desire to communicate the love of Jesus to a growingly secular world population, South Korean director Jang Seong-Ho first developed this project with the intention of sharing a message of hope and faith on a global scale. Driven by a deep concern over the declining religious engagement amongst the youth in his homeland, South Korea—a nation boasting a substantial Christian population but surprisingly experiencing low youth church attendance—the filmmaker created this movie. To his great surprise, he discovered a complete lack of animated films depicting the life of Christ. Consequently, he aimed to produce an animated movie that utilized the storytelling techniques found in Dickens’ works to advance the narrative.
Drawing inspiration from the Gospel of John, Dickens starts his narration of Jesus’ life by highlighting the modest beginnings meticulously detailed within the nativity story. Born in a stable, his beginnings were far from privileged. However, the prophecies and pronouncements from angels concerning his birth led many Jewish people to believe that he was the person they had been praying and waiting for – for a long time. Deeply disturbed by the prophecy regarding Jesus, King Herod launched a brutal campaign to find and murder the infant, extending his cruelty to include the slaughter of all children under two years old within the city limits to eliminate the potential threat. An angel warned Joseph of the danger, leading to the family’s escape to Egypt, where we then witness Jesus’ childhood development. Among the many important events in Jesus’ life were his experience at age twelve of becoming separated from his parents during Passover, only to be found later engaging in learned discussions with religious leaders in the Temple, and the beginning of his public ministry with his disciples when he was thirty years old.
While Jesus performed many healings during his ministry, his primary focus was always on transforming people’s hearts and fostering a deeper, more meaningful relationship between them and God the Father. Dickens had the hope that through narrating the story to his son, he would come to understand his profound need for the Lord and recognize that genuine kingship is found in serving those in need. Charles Dickens conveys this importance in a quote from his work, The Life of our Lord:
My dear children, I am very anxious that you should know something about the history of Jesus Christ. For everybody ought to know about Him. No one ever lived, who was so good, so kind, so gentle, and so sorry for all people who did wrong, or were in any way ill or miserable, as He was. He is now in Heaven, where we hope to go, and all to meet each other after we are dead, and there be happy always together.
This account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was read in his household every Christmas. It continued to be read each year long after his death by his son to his own children. Eventually, the family chose to publish the work and share it with the rest of the world, too.
Christian Website “Plugged In” says: “The King of Kings recounts that story. And in this animated rendition of it, featuring a surprising number of famous actors, we hear the gospel quite clearly: Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved from the just wrath of God for your sins.”
And I would have to agree. Though I was a little leery about the animation, I was delightfully surprised. The movie explains in the beginning how Dickens’ failed reading of “The Christmas Story” added to the intrigue. After Walter is reprimanded for ruining his father’s public reading, his wife urges him to make things right by telling him a story of a true king. How was this father going to explain to his son that not every King utilizes destruction and violence to build his kingdom? Instead, we are taught in Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (NIV)
If you are an Angel Guild member, the movie is now available to stream on the angel Studios App
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Parts of this review were taken from several articles. These articles can be found below
https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-king-of-kings-shares-gospel-through-charles-dickens.html
