HAMLET (1996)

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Written by: William Shakespeare
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie
Rated: PG-13

About the film:
The prince of Denmark returns home to find his father dead and his mother married to his late father’s brother. Feigning madness, he plots revenge against his uncle.

Movie Quote:
“What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason. How infinite in faculty. In form and moving, how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a God.”
Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh) in Hamlet (1996)

Bible Quote:
“I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalms 139:14 (KJV)

Commentary:
Shakespeare may have been onto something. After all, his plays have been adapted for the screen more often than any other English speaking writer. But as brilliant as his works may be, they pale in comparison to the subject of which he writes. It is God Who created us and as a creation, we are indeed something to marvel.

The intricate workings of the human body simply cannot be duplicated by man. The manner in which the entire body is kept fed and nourished; the way in which it is protected from foreign invaders; and how it is so precisely interlaced that each independent part can effectively function in concert and to the benefit of the whole… all this is indicative of the godly design that went into its creation.

Next to His Word, our bodies can arguably be said to be His greatest creation. And it is this wondrous creation which serves as the illustration of how we are to function together as individual members of the unified body of Christ.

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. What functions of the human body lead us to believe that is was divinely created?
2. What biblical principles could Hamlet have followed that might have kept his story from being a tragedy?

Michael Elliott
http://screensermon.blogspot.com