Film And Religion

From personal particular to unified universal: One point on “Hamnet” (UK, 2025)

Gabor Por — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 20:10:43 +0000

Parental grief is one of the hardest emotions and situations to cope with. For most of humanity, a child dying before a parent does is just “unnatural”, not something that is supposed to happen. As historians can attest, Shakespeare had a son called Hamnet, who died at age 11. Not much else is known about him, but recently (2017-20220) his figure recaptured public imagination:

Hamnet (Oberon Modern Plays) by Dead Centre
Hamnet as a character in the British sitcom: Upstart Crow
A focus in the 2018 film “All Is True” by Kenneth Branagh
Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel Hamnet, from which the movie is made which is currently in theaters, and I want to share one observation about

Jessie Buckley does an amazing acting job showing a mother’s pain as her son dies. Then also how lethargy takes over and all other emotions are drained from her. She stays in this limbo between technically being alive but spiritually not. Then she goes to see the premiere of her husband’s, Shakespeare’s play. She enters the Globe Theater angry with William, believing he will exploit their son’s memory. But as the play progresses, she finally manages to move away from her personal, very real, and very deep pain towards acceptance and even forgiveness. What makes this possible is her witnessing the interaction between the play, the actors on the stage, and the audience. When she sees the grown version of what she imagines as her son, giving meaning to death on stage and then becomes one with the audience in their ecstatic reverence of the immortality of the moment, then she recognizes that Shakespeare did not exploit their son’s memory, but by creating a tribute to him, turned his death into a universally relatable experience. Ham/n/let has lived with us, with every generation ever since. The moment shown below is the moment right before this transformation in Agnes occurs, right before she awakens to life again and opens up to her surroundings. When I wrote “ecstatic” above, that was an understatement of the catharsis the filmmakers created on the scene. It was one of the most awe-inspiring scenes I’ve ever seen on screen. Go watch the movie for that.

Jessie Buckley as Agnes in Hamnet

P.S. After I wrote above, I explored a bit more and found Lucas Blue’s analysis of the film, where he discusses this part of the movie starting at about 20 minutes into the video. As I listened to it, I kept nodding. He explains more of what goes on, and I fully agree with his analysis, which gave me more to consider. I also learned that the actor who played young Hamnet and Hamlet on stage are real-life brothers. So in some sense, Agnes was seeing a version of his dead son come alive on the stage.

The post From personal particular to unified universal: One point on “Hamnet” (UK, 2025) appeared first on Film And Religion.

White wine vs. black fingernail – “Jolt ” (2021) – Wine in Films #67

Gabor Por — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:00:02 +0000

Just look at how hard Kate Beckinsale is holding that knife in her hand with her black fingernail next to a glass of white wine, in an early scene in Jolt. Juxtaposition of symbols of tension and relaxation.

#Jolt #KateBeckinsale @katebeckinsale #white wine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post White wine vs. black fingernail – “Jolt ” (2021) – Wine in Films #67 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Opening up – “Double Threat” (2022) – Wine in Films #66

Gabor Por — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 16:00:41 +0000

After going through accidental adventures together in Double Threat Jimmy (Matthew Lawrence) opens up to Natasha (Danielle C. Ryan). And the rose that goes with them also opens up a bit.

#DoubleThreat #DanielleCRyan #matthewlawrence @daniellecryan @matthewlawrence #rose #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Opening up – “Double Threat” (2022) – Wine in Films #66 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Hallucinated wine – “Slingshot” (2024) – Wine in Films #65

Gabor Por — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:00:21 +0000

If you are having a delirious hallucination on a spaceship, like Casey Affleck’s character does in Slingshot, you could do worse, than a stylish Emily Beecham holding a glass of nice red wine.

#Slingshot #EmilyBeecham #LaurenceFishburne #CaseyAffleck @emily_beecham @caseyaffleck #redwine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Hallucinated wine – “Slingshot” (2024) – Wine in Films #65 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Wine as accentuator – “Délicieux / Delicious” (2021) – Wine in Films #64

Gabor Por — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:00:07 +0000

In Delicious, a movie primarily about gourmet food (and it history) wine only plays an accentuator role. Nevertheless even the title credit includes a few well placed delicious glasses.

#Delicious #Délicieux #isabellecarre #GregoryGadebois @isabellecarreofficiel #redwine #whitewine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Wine as accentuator – “Délicieux / Delicious” (2021) – Wine in Films #64 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Thawing agent – “This Beautiful Fantastic” (2016) – Wine in Films #63

Gabor Por — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:00:17 +0000

Tom Wilkinson as a grumpy old man is finally thawing out to his neighbor, the freshly moved in nerdy librarian, played by Jessica Brown Findlay, in This Beautiful Fantastic. Nothing is as it seems though, with the possible exceptions of red wine and plants.

#ThisBeautifulFantastic #jessicabrownfindlay #TomWilkinson #redwine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Thawing agent – “This Beautiful Fantastic” (2016) – Wine in Films #63 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Not so easy girl – “Baby Face” (1933) – Wine in Films #62

Gabor Por — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 20:34:48 +0000

Working her way up on the financial totem pole Lily Power, played by Barbara Stanwyck, has to use everything at her disposal in Baby Face to get to the next man. Including a generous pour of champagned, hand delivered.

#BarbaraStanwyck #BabyFace #champagne #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Not so easy girl – “Baby Face” (1933) – Wine in Films #62 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Moment of doubt – “Madklubben/Food Club” (2020) – Wine in Films #61

Gabor Por — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:00:07 +0000

What is the character, played by Kirsten Olesen in the Danish comedy Madklubben (English title: Food Club), doubtful about in this picture? Surely not the wine she is sampling in her cooking course in Italy?

#KirstenOlesen #Madklubben #FoodClub #redwine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Moment of doubt – “Madklubben/Food Club” (2020) – Wine in Films #61 appeared first on Film And Religion.

Wine racks and Alan Rickman – “Bottle Shock” (2008) – Wine in Films #60

Gabor Por — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 16:51:40 +0000

How do I pick just one image with wine from a movie that is about wine history? By shifting focus to the mise en scène
stars and the stars. Check out this composition in the 14th minute of Bottle Shock with Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina, and a whole lot of wines on wine racks.

#bottleshock#AlanRickman @allanrickmanofficiall #ChrisPine #BillPullman #DennisFarina #redwine #film #wineinfilms #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

The post Wine racks and Alan Rickman – “Bottle Shock” (2008) – Wine in Films #60 appeared first on Film And Religion.

19 films from July 2025 in the “wine in films” series

Gabor Por — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 05:33:45 +0000

In July, I posted a screenshot from 19 films featuring wine. See the list below or on the project’s Instagram page: @wineinfilms.

#AndThenWeDanced #TheChristmasChronicles #Futnimentem #TheLostOkoroshi #TheMenWhoStareatGoats #OldDads #ARealPain #TheSandman #SuperBob #Thunderbolts #wineinfilms #redwine #whitewine #winemovie #wine #winelover #movie

1. …ing (2003) – DVD IMDB
2. And Then We Danced (2019) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
3. Blood & Gold (2023) – IMDB
4. The Christmas Chronicles (2018) – IMDB
5. Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets (2021) – PrimeVideo IMDB
6. Esau (2019) – PrimeVideo IMDB
7. Futni mentem / Gone Running (2024) – IMDB
8. Gilda (1946) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
9. Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
10. The Lost Okoroshi (2019) – PrimeVideo IMDB
11. Madame (2017) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
12. The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
13. Old Dads (2023) – IMDB
14. A Real Pain (2024) – PrimeVideo IMDB
15. The Sandman (2025) – IMDB
16. SuperBob (2015) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
17. Thunderbolts* (2025) – DVD PrimeVideo IMDB
18. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) – DVD IMDB
19. Waiting for Dali (2023) – PrimeVideo IMDB

P.s. Additional background in the previous month’s post.

The post 19 films from July 2025 in the “wine in films” series appeared first on Film And Religion.