list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Last Temptation of Christ on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ/19746/default.aspx Title: The Last Temptation of Christ
Year: 1988
Director: Martin Scorsese
Plot: Willem Dafoe plays Jesus Christ in this extraordinarily controversial adaptation of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel. The film depicts a sometimes reluctant, self-doubting Jesus, gradually coming to accept His divinity and the inexorability of His ultimate fate. The much-maligned sex scene with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) occurs as an hallucination experienced by Jesus as he suffers on the cross. This particular sequence was what infuriated the film's most rabid critics, but in fact it is just one of many iconoclastic musings to be found in the film and its source novel. Equally volatile are the intimations that, as a carpenter, Jesus indifferently shaped the crucifixes for other condemned prisoners long before his own fate was sealed, and that Judas (Harvey Keitel) was literally manipulated into betrayal by a Christ whose preoccuption with his own destiny compelled him to "use" others. None of these departures from the normal interpretation of the scriptures are offered as any more than theory; as such, it was accepted as food for thought by the more open-minded clerics and Biblical scholars who recommended the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 7
Number of Lists: 37
Number of blog posts: 4
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:48:03 GMTThe Last Temptation of Christ1988Martin Scorsese<a href="/players/P____16547/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Willem Dafoe</a> plays Jesus Christ in this extraordinarily controversial adaptation of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel. The film depicts a sometimes reluctant, self-doubting Jesus, gradually coming to accept His divinity and the inexorability of His ultimate fate. The much-maligned sex scene with Mary Magdalene (<a href="/players/P____32030/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Barbara Hershey</a>) occurs as an hallucination experienced by Jesus as he suffers on the cross. This particular sequence was what infuriated the film's most rabid critics, but in fact it is just one of many iconoclastic musings to be found in the film and its source novel. Equally volatile are the intimations that, as a carpenter, Jesus indifferently shaped the crucifixes for other condemned prisoners long before his own fate was sealed, and that Judas (<a href="/players/P____37381/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Harvey Keitel</a>) was literally manipulated into betrayal by a Christ whose preoccuption with his own destiny compelled him to "use" others. None of these departures from the normal interpretation of the scriptures are offered as any more than theory; as such, it was accepted as food for thought by the more open-minded clerics and Biblical scholars who recommended the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide7Taggedy Taggged (6-10)3743http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t06828gs7q9.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ/19746/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/mythman/archive/2008/9/25/35554.aspx Post By: mythman
Post To: Watch Everything and Still See ONLY What Is Good
Post Date: 9/25/2008 8:00:56 PM
Body: The Final Mars Hill (but ... there will be ... another ...)Source: www.xomba.comwith references to http://www.spout.com/films/227041/default.aspx and http://www.spout.com/films/19746/default.aspx Originally posted on:Jay Hubbard's Facebook Posts
]]>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:56 GMTmythmanWatch Everything and Still See ONLY What Is Good9/25/2008 8:00:56 PMThe Final Mars Hill (but ... there will be ... another ...)Source: www.xomba.comwith references to http://www.spout.com/films/227041/default.aspx and http://www.spout.com/films/19746/default.aspx Originally posted on:Jay Hubbard's Facebook Posts http://www.spout.com/blogs/mythman/archive/2008/8/10/33818.aspx Post By: mythman
Post To: Watch Everything and Still See ONLY What Is Good
Post Date: 8/10/2008 2:00:56 PM
Body: 1pointsIn starring as The Joker, Heath Ledger knew everything. That's not to say that "learning" caused his demise, but rather that it 'made him ready' for it; as Jesus's hallucination on the cross made him ready for 'it' to be 'finished.' read more Originally posted on:mythman's Xombyte
]]>Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:00:56 GMTmythmanWatch Everything and Still See ONLY What Is Good8/10/2008 2:00:56 PM1pointsIn starring as The Joker, Heath Ledger knew everything. That's not to say that "learning" caused his demise, but rather that it 'made him ready' for it; as Jesus's hallucination on the cross made him ready for 'it' to be 'finished.' read more Originally posted on:mythman's Xombyte http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/19/31428.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/19/2008 3:00:57 PM
Body: This week we have two big-time offenders: Mike Myers’ The Love Guru, which has brought concern from Hindus, because the comedy seems to be making fun of the Hindu religion; and Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons, the “sequel” to The Da Vinci Code, adapted from Dan Brown’s bestseller. Earlier this week, the Vatican banned the latter production from all Catholic churches in Rome. The following statement from Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the diocese of Rome, was a favorite quote from the story: “Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn’t necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.” Of course, these days, religious organizations taking offense to a movie seems so commonplace that news like this is hardly even considered bad buzz. Neither The Love Guru nor Angels & Demons will be too aversely affected by the protests or boycotts. Both films will merely be added to the following list of major offenders (in alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone who thinks one is more offensive than another), as almost a genre cataloging than an inventory of condemned. Brokeback Mountain - Because of its promotion of “the homosexual lifestyle,” many right-wing Christian groups protested Ang Lee’s film. Most famously, it was pulled last-minute from a multiplex owned by Mormon businessman and Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, though his motivation was not necessarily claimed to be religion-based. Despite there being hundreds of gay films throughout the years, because of its popularity, this one was the worst offender. The Da Vinci Code - I already mentioned this above and in a recent post on movies that overcame bad buzz, so I’ll make it short: banned, boycotted and protested throughout the world due to its blasphemous (and fictional) allegations that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child together. The Devils - Many of the following films were banned in Italy, but with Ken Russell’s blasphemous adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s “The Devils of Loudon,” there was also threat that stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave would be arrested if they entered the country. The most offensive scene, labeled “the rape of Christ,” depicted a mock exorcism involving fully nude nuns masturbating with a large crucifix. The scene was removed prior to the film’s release, but there were plenty of other controversial sequences that led to protest. A very low-quality DVD of the film was released a few years ago with the “rape of Christ” scene put back in. Dogma - I understand how comedy can be seen as offensive, especially in the case of stereotypical caricatures like the one in The Love Guru. But Kevin Smith’s religious satire is so silly and all over the place that I can’t imagine that viewers would take its contents seriously. Yet enough protests required the film to be disowned by Miramax/Disney and then eventually be released (courtesy of Lionsgate) with a disclaimer stating that it is merely “a work of comedic fantasy.” Hail Mary - Jean-Luc Godard’s modern retelling of the Nativity was criticized by none other than Pope John Paul II, himself. He was quoted as saying that it “deeply wounds the religious sentiments of believers.” But even better was the response from another man who took offense to the film and decided to throw a shaving cream pie in Godard’s face at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. Also this is probably one of the rare circumstances in which the filmmaker is the one trying to prevent Italian distribution and is actually unable to do so. The Last Temptation of Christ - Like Dogma, Martin Scorsese’s film came with a disclaimer that noted it is not based on the gospels and is a work of fiction. But like the case against The Da Vinci Code, the idea or depiction of Jesus and Mary Magdalene getting it on is never forgivable. Life of Brian - I can’t believe that anyone actually took offense to the joke about the three wise men initially approaching the wrong stable, but apparently that was one of the many blasphemous scenes in this Monty Python satire of the life of Jesus. Also: how could anyone be upset about the crucifix scene? Eric Idle’s song is just too catchy to mind its offensiveness. The Message (aka Mohammad, Messenger of God) - Much of the protests against this epic movie, about the founding of Islam, came mostly because of pre-release assumptions. For instance, some groups thought Anthony Quinn was starring as Mohammad (or Muhammad), a problem both because the prophet is not permitted to be represented in human form in any medium and because Quinn is Mexican-American, not Arab (as noted yesterday, all it takes is facial hair to change that). Other preproduction rumors were that Peter O’Toole and Charlton Heston were up for the part of Mohammad. Of course, the prophet is never seen, and Quinn merely portrays his uncle, Hamza. Unfortunate, nobody told certain extremists, even when the film came out, and apparently many cinemas received phone calls with death threats. Also, a tragic hostage situation in Washington D.C. began the day The Message opened, leading to the death of a police officer and the non-fatal shooting of future-mayor Marion Barry. One of the demands of the hostage-takers was for The Message not be released. The Passion of the Christ - A rare modern film about Jesus that didn’t seem to offend any Christians. Actually, of course it offended some groups, but their protests were clearly overshadowed by the protests from Jewish groups, who took offense to the movie’s apparent placing of blame for Jesus’ death on the Jews. Considering Mel Gibson’s later controversy involving his drunken, anti-semitic outbursts, the offense definitely seems to have more merit than initially recognized. Priest - Five years before Miramax/Disney was forced to disown Dogma because of Catholic protestors, the Weinsteins distributed this “blatantly anti-Catholic” film about a homosexual priest. Of course, it was mainly criticized by people who hadn’t seen it, such as New York Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who likened the film to graffiti found on bathroom walls. Rosemary’s Baby - There’s now a whole slew (I guess a whole subgenre) of horror films dealing with the occult, Satanism and the Antichrist, but this was the hit that pretty much started it all. And because of the parallels between Rosemary and the Virgin Mary, it’s possibly the most offensive to Catholics. Even the media used it against its director, Roman Polanski, when his wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered a year after its release; prior to revelation that Tate and the rest were killed by the Manson “family,” reporters speculated that it was the result of the Polanskis’ alleged satanism and some even claimed the tragedy was deserved. September Dawn - Until last year, Jon Voight’ most offensive movie was probably Karate Dog, but in 2007 he starred in this alleged anti-Mormon propaganda (called such before the Church of Latter-Day Saints viewed it, of course), which portrays an historical incident in which a Mormon militia massacred a wagon train of emigrants. The greatest offense is apparently the claim that Mormon leader Brigham Young (played by Terrence Stamp) was directly involved. Another criticism was that Hollywood made the film to somehow affect Mitt Romney’s campaign for President. Submission - Theo van Gogh’s ten-minute film criticizes the treatment of women in Islam and was apparently offensive enough that it led to the filmmaker’s assassination at the hands of a Dutch Muslim ma The Triumph of the Will - While Leni Reifenstahl’s propaganda film is well-regarded and highly respected today by film critics, scholars and historians, many Jewish groups see its celebration as being “morally insensitive.” Viridiana - Luis Bunuel made plenty of movies that mocked the Church, but this 1961 Palme D’or-winner was perhaps the most publicly protested by the Vatican and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who had it banned in Spain until after his death. Bunuel’s excellent plea of ignorance: “I didn’t deliberately set out to be blasphemous, but then Pope John XXIII is a better judge of such things than I am.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:00:57 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/19/2008 3:00:57 PMThis week we have two big-time offenders: Mike Myers’ The Love Guru, which has brought concern from Hindus, because the comedy seems to be making fun of the Hindu religion; and Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons, the “sequel” to The Da Vinci Code, adapted from Dan Brown’s bestseller. Earlier this week, the Vatican banned the latter production from all Catholic churches in Rome. The following statement from Father Marco Fibbi, spokesman for the diocese of Rome, was a favorite quote from the story: “Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn’t necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.” Of course, these days, religious organizations taking offense to a movie seems so commonplace that news like this is hardly even considered bad buzz. Neither The Love Guru nor Angels & Demons will be too aversely affected by the protests or boycotts. Both films will merely be added to the following list of major offenders (in alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone who thinks one is more offensive than another), as almost a genre cataloging than an inventory of condemned. Brokeback Mountain - Because of its promotion of “the homosexual lifestyle,” many right-wing Christian groups protested Ang Lee’s film. Most famously, it was pulled last-minute from a multiplex owned by Mormon businessman and Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, though his motivation was not necessarily claimed to be religion-based. Despite there being hundreds of gay films throughout the years, because of its popularity, this one was the worst offender. The Da Vinci Code - I already mentioned this above and in a recent post on movies that overcame bad buzz, so I’ll make it short: banned, boycotted and protested throughout the world due to its blasphemous (and fictional) allegations that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child together. The Devils - Many of the following films were banned in Italy, but with Ken Russell’s blasphemous adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s “The Devils of Loudon,” there was also threat that stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave would be arrested if they entered the country. The most offensive scene, labeled “the rape of Christ,” depicted a mock exorcism involving fully nude nuns masturbating with a large crucifix. The scene was removed prior to the film’s release, but there were plenty of other controversial sequences that led to protest. A very low-quality DVD of the film was released a few years ago with the “rape of Christ” scene put back in. Dogma - I understand how comedy can be seen as offensive, especially in the case of stereotypical caricatures like the one in The Love Guru. But Kevin Smith’s religious satire is so silly and all over the place that I can’t imagine that viewers would take its contents seriously. Yet enough protests required the film to be disowned by Miramax/Disney and then eventually be released (courtesy of Lionsgate) with a disclaimer stating that it is merely “a work of comedic fantasy.” Hail Mary - Jean-Luc Godard’s modern retelling of the Nativity was criticized by none other than Pope John Paul II, himself. He was quoted as saying that it “deeply wounds the religious sentiments of believers.” But even better was the response from another man who took offense to the film and decided to throw a shaving cream pie in Godard’s face at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. Also this is probably one of the rare circumstances in which the filmmaker is the one trying to prevent Italian distribution and is actually unable to do so. The Last Temptation of Christ - Like Dogma, Martin Scorsese’s film came with a disclaimer that noted it is not based on the gospels and is a work of fiction. But like the case against The Da Vinci Code, the idea or depiction of Jesus and Mary Magdalene getting it on is never forgivable. Life of Brian - I can’t believe that anyone actually took offense to the joke about the three wise men initially approaching the wrong stable, but apparently that was one of the many blasphemous scenes in this Monty Python satire of the life of Jesus. Also: how could anyone be upset about the crucifix scene? Eric Idle’s song is just too catchy to mind its offensiveness. The Message (aka Mohammad, Messenger of God) - Much of the protests against this epic movie, about the founding of Islam, came mostly because of pre-release assumptions. For instance, some groups thought Anthony Quinn was starring as Mohammad (or Muhammad), a problem both because the prophet is not permitted to be represented in human form in any medium and because Quinn is Mexican-American, not Arab (as noted yesterday, all it takes is facial hair to change that). Other preproduction rumors were that Peter O’Toole and Charlton Heston were up for the part of Mohammad. Of course, the prophet is never seen, and Quinn merely portrays his uncle, Hamza. Unfortunate, nobody told certain extremists, even when the film came out, and apparently many cinemas received phone calls with death threats. Also, a tragic hostage situation in Washington D.C. began the day The Message opened, leading to the death of a police officer and the non-fatal shooting of future-mayor Marion Barry. One of the demands of the hostage-takers was for The Message not be released. The Passion of the Christ - A rare modern film about Jesus that didn’t seem to offend any Christians. Actually, of course it offended some groups, but their protests were clearly overshadowed by the protests from Jewish groups, who took offense to the movie’s apparent placing of blame for Jesus’ death on the Jews. Considering Mel Gibson’s later controversy involving his drunken, anti-semitic outbursts, the offense definitely seems to have more merit than initially recognized. Priest - Five years before Miramax/Disney was forced to disown Dogma because of Catholic protestors, the Weinsteins distributed this “blatantly anti-Catholic” film about a homosexual priest. Of course, it was mainly criticized by people who hadn’t seen it, such as New York Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who likened the film to graffiti found on bathroom walls. Rosemary’s Baby - There’s now a whole slew (I guess a whole subgenre) of horror films dealing with the occult, Satanism and the Antichrist, but this was the hit that pretty much started it all. And because of the parallels between Rosemary and the Virgin Mary, it’s possibly the most offensive to Catholics. Even the media used it against its director, Roman Polanski, when his wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered a year after its release; prior to revelation that Tate and the rest were killed by the Manson “family,” reporters speculated that it was the result of the Polanskis’ alleged satanism and some even claimed the tragedy was deserved. September Dawn - Until last year, Jon Voight’ most offensive movie was probably Karate Dog, but in 2007 he starred in this alleged anti-Mormon propaganda (called such before the Church of Latter-Day Saints viewed it, of course), which portrays an historical incident in which a Mormon militia massacred a wagon train of emigrants. The greatest offense is apparently the claim that Mormon leader Brigham Young (played by Terrence Stamp) was directly involved. Another criticism was that Hollywood made the film to somehow affect Mitt Romney’s campaign for President. Submission - Theo van Gogh’s ten-minute film criticizes the treatment of women in Islam and was apparently offensive enough that it led to the filmmaker’s assassination at the hands of a Dutch Muslim ma The Triumph of the Will - While Leni Reifenstahl’s propaganda film is well-regarded and highly respected today by film critics, scholars and historians, many Jewish groups see its celebration as being “morally insensitive.” Viridiana - Luis Bunuel made plenty of movies that mocked the Church, but this 1961 Palme D’or-winner was perhaps the most publicly protested by the Vatican and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who had it banned in Spain until after his death. Bunuel’s excellent plea of ignorance: “I didn’t deliberately set out to be blasphemous, but then Pope John XXIII is a better judge of such things than I am.” Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/14/29111.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/14/2008 1:05:40 AM
Body: Note: Any discussion of this film must neccessary take into some account the religion of the viewer. I have made the decision to become Catholic, but was brought up in a mainline Prostestant background. My experinces and beleifs obviously affect my perception of this film. I have absolutley no idea how a Buddhist or an atheist might perceive it. Now, onto the review. Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ is probably the most contraversial American film since Birth of a Nation. Thousands protested against the film, both Prostestant and Catholic, Christan and Jew. It was banned by the goverment of some cities, and some theatre owner simply refused to show it. (Spoiler) They, mostly without seeing it, condemened the film for a scene where Jesus fantasizes about having sex with Mary Magdelene. (End spoiler) I was not offended by the film. As I will discuss below, I don't find the idea of Jesus having sexual desires to be insulting. I disagree with it's theology (although I have no pretense to being a theologian), but I don't find much heretical or evil in the picture. I would like to think that being the Son of God would entail some happy moments and some moments of holiness and content. The suffering of Jesus is central to Christanity, but Jesus's message was inherently positive and He came to do something good. Scorsese chooses to portray Jesus as a seriously depressed and troubled person. In his life, Jesus must have literarly faced more suffering than any other human in history, and he may not have even known the happy end of his own story, but he preached a message of love. In this film, there is no room for happiness, no real bond of friendship between Jesus and Peter or Mary or anyone else. Every positive aspect of his life is subverted, every negative aspect is enhanced. Surley, the Son of God must have known something of the joy he promised everyone who would follow him. This problem is excaberated by the unusual choice of casting Willem Dafoe as Jesus. Scorsese has said that he was trying to delibratley avoid a classical Hollywood Biblical epic, and cast his film accordingly. Thus Americans play the Jews and British actors play the Romans and, indeed Satan. But Dafoe is just not right. Dafoe is an actor who specializes in playing freaked out characters- a trait which might have worked in actor with more focus. It's hard to beleive that this guy is capable of having the clarity of listining to God, or indeed, being God. The casting of the rest of the film is off too. Despite the extreamly impressive art direction and photography, the bizzare casting (Havery Kitel as Judas? Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdelene? David Bowie as Pontius Pilate?) seems to reinforce that fact that we are in another one Scorsese New York street films and not in 1st century Judea. The dialouge is incredbly obvious and banal- like one of Edwin's movies. Paul Schrader is a good screenwriter, but the subtley he showed in Taxi Driver or the best parts of Affliction is nowhere to be found. Some of the dialouge is not only obvious, but badly written, technically, in terms of sentence structure and grammar. The music doesn't help either. The new agey world score by Peter Gabriel sounds extreamly 1980's, not something you want in a film set in the 0030's. Too many of the scenes are unessary and boring. A good forty minuets of the film could easily be cut, without anything being missed. Where the movie does work are in the two temptations sequences. One of problems I have had with the Christ movies is that in the temptation sense (and this goes for the best of them all, George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told) we don't really get the sense the Christ is really tempted, since what Satan says to him in the desert is pretty obviously a bad idea. Scorsese really does show us convincing personal reasons why Jesus might have been tempted, so there is actuall emotion invested in trying to get him to resisted. It also shows that yes, the devil can decieve people, if he wasn't good at lying, how could he be the devil? If the rest of the film was as good as these sequences, we would really have something great here. But they are to few. The rest of the ideas in the film aren't presented as interestinyl or emotionally, Scorsese tells instead of shows and tells badly. The Last Temptation of Christ is a more personal experince than most, since we all have our own beleifes. I don't know how helpful this review will be. If you are a Scorsese fan (I like the director, but think he's seriously overated) it's of couse worth seeing. People looking for an interesting religious movie can be more easily directed to The Exorcist or The Passion of St. Joan of Arc. And about half of Christians are probably never going to see the film, because their airheaded priest or minister told them it was evil without seeing it. It's not evil. It's just not very good. _________________________________________________________ More spoilers. In response to the (in)famous sex scene, my own personal belefs. What is troubling about implying sexual desire? There is nothing inherently wrong with sex, and indeed, it is a mechnism by which the human race is propagaded. Added to the fact that Jesus is indeed having sex within marridge and with someone he loves I don't see the problem here. Unless of course, you are comptley repressed and puritanical and think that any form of sex at all is bad, and therefor Jesus could never have sex. But I don't think that. Teaching people that all sex is bad just makes them feel guilty for something their body has been programed by millions of years of evolution to do. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
]]>Wed, 14 May 2008 05:05:40 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/14/2008 1:05:40 AMNote: Any discussion of this film must neccessary take into some account the religion of the viewer. I have made the decision to become Catholic, but was brought up in a mainline Prostestant background. My experinces and beleifs obviously affect my perception of this film. I have absolutley no idea how a Buddhist or an atheist might perceive it. Now, onto the review. Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ is probably the most contraversial American film since Birth of a Nation. Thousands protested against the film, both Prostestant and Catholic, Christan and Jew. It was banned by the goverment of some cities, and some theatre owner simply refused to show it. (Spoiler) They, mostly without seeing it, condemened the film for a scene where Jesus fantasizes about having sex with Mary Magdelene. (End spoiler) I was not offended by the film. As I will discuss below, I don't find the idea of Jesus having sexual desires to be insulting. I disagree with it's theology (although I have no pretense to being a theologian), but I don't find much heretical or evil in the picture. I would like to think that being the Son of God would entail some happy moments and some moments of holiness and content. The suffering of Jesus is central to Christanity, but Jesus's message was inherently positive and He came to do something good. Scorsese chooses to portray Jesus as a seriously depressed and troubled person. In his life, Jesus must have literarly faced more suffering than any other human in history, and he may not have even known the happy end of his own story, but he preached a message of love. In this film, there is no room for happiness, no real bond of friendship between Jesus and Peter or Mary or anyone else. Every positive aspect of his life is subverted, every negative aspect is enhanced. Surley, the Son of God must have known something of the joy he promised everyone who would follow him. This problem is excaberated by the unusual choice of casting Willem Dafoe as Jesus. Scorsese has said that he was trying to delibratley avoid a classical Hollywood Biblical epic, and cast his film accordingly. Thus Americans play the Jews and British actors play the Romans and, indeed Satan. But Dafoe is just not right. Dafoe is an actor who specializes in playing freaked out characters- a trait which might have worked in actor with more focus. It's hard to beleive that this guy is capable of having the clarity of listining to God, or indeed, being God. The casting of the rest of the film is off too. Despite the extreamly impressive art direction and photography, the bizzare casting (Havery Kitel as Judas? Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdelene? David Bowie as Pontius Pilate?) seems to reinforce that fact that we are in another one Scorsese New York street films and not in 1st century Judea. The dialouge is incredbly obvious and banal- like one of Edwin's movies. Paul Schrader is a good screenwriter, but the subtley he showed in Taxi Driver or the best parts of Affliction is nowhere to be found. Some of the dialouge is not only obvious, but badly written, technically, in terms of sentence structure and grammar. The music doesn't help either. The new agey world score by Peter Gabriel sounds extreamly 1980's, not something you want in a film set in the 0030's. Too many of the scenes are unessary and boring. A good forty minuets of the film could easily be cut, without anything being missed. Where the movie does work are in the two temptations sequences. One of problems I have had with the Christ movies is that in the temptation sense (and this goes for the best of them all, George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told) we don't really get the sense the Christ is really tempted, since what Satan says to him in the desert is pretty obviously a bad idea. Scorsese really does show us convincing personal reasons why Jesus might have been tempted, so there is actuall emotion invested in trying to get him to resisted. It also shows that yes, the devil can decieve people, if he wasn't good at lying, how could he be the devil? If the rest of the film was as good as these sequences, we would really have something great here. But they are to few. The rest of the ideas in the film aren't presented as interestinyl or emotionally, Scorsese tells instead of shows and tells badly. The Last Temptation of Christ is a more personal experince than most, since we all have our own beleifes. I don't know how helpful this review will be. If you are a Scorsese fan (I like the director, but think he's seriously overated) it's of couse worth seeing. People looking for an interesting religious movie can be more easily directed to The Exorcist or The Passion of St. Joan of Arc. And about half of Christians are probably never going to see the film, because their airheaded priest or minister told them it was evil without seeing it. It's not evil. It's just not very good. _________________________________________________________ More spoilers. In response to the (in)famous sex scene, my own personal belefs. What is troubling about implying sexual desire? There is nothing inherently wrong with sex, and indeed, it is a mechnism by which the human race is propagaded. Added to the fact that Jesus is indeed having sex within marridge and with someone he loves I don't see the problem here. Unless of course, you are comptley repressed and puritanical and think that any form of sex at all is bad, and therefor Jesus could never have sex. But I don't think that. Teaching people that all sex is bad just makes them feel guilty for something their body has been programed by millions of years of evolution to do. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/religion/MemberTagFilms.aspxreligion
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]]>Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:28:20 GMT7199Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/uneven/MemberTagFilms.aspxuneven
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]]>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:30:02 GMT879Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/yawn/MemberTagFilms.aspxyawn
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]]>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:08:50 GMT878Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/crucifix/MemberTagFilms.aspxcrucifix
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]]>Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:47:10 GMT1824Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/forsaken/MemberTagFilms.aspxforsaken
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]]>Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:36:43 GMT122Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Banned-by-the-Church/MemberTagFilms.aspxBanned-by-the-Church
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]]>Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:30:09 GMT616Tag