The Last Temptation of Christ (film)

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The Last Temptation of Christ
Original movie poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina
Written by	Novel: Nikos Kazantzakis Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Starring	Willem Dafoe Harvey Keitel Barbara Hershey David Bowie Harry Dean Stanton
Music by	Peter Gabriel
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	August 12, 1988 13 March 2003 March 12, 2004
Running time	164 min.
Language	English
Budget	$7,000,000 US (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Last Temptation of Christ is a film adaptation of the controversial 1951 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. Martin Scorsese directed a film based on the book, which was released by Universal Pictures in 1988. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot and Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene. David Bowie and Harry Dean Stanton also appear as Pontius Pilate and Paul, respectively. The film was shot entirely in Morocco.

Like the novel, the film depicts the life of Jesus Christ, and its central thesis is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust. This results in the book and film depicting Christ imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, a notion that has caused outrage from some Christians. The movie includes a disclaimer explaining that it departs from the commonly-accepted Biblical portrayal of Jesus' life, and that it is not intended to be an exact recreation of the events detailed in the Gospels.

[edit] Background

Scorsese has been described as a lapsed Catholic; nevertheless, he maintains a traditional Christian faith in Christ.^{[citation needed]} He had wanted to make a film version of Jesus' life for many years. He first attempted to make one in the early 1980s, but the project had to be placed on hold.^{[citation needed]} Finally in 1988, The Last Temptation of Christ was completed and released to theaters.

[edit] Cast

• Willem Dafoe - Jesus
• Harvey Keitel - Judas Iscariot
• Paul Greco - Zealot
• Steve Shill - Centurion
• Verna Bloom - Mary (mother of Jesus)
• Barbara Hershey - Mary Magdalene
• Roberts Blossom - Aged Master
• Barry Miller - Jerobeam
• Gary Basaraba - Saint Andrew
• Irvin Kershner - Zebedee
• Victor Argo - Saint Peter
• Michael Been - John the Apostle
• Paul Herman - Philip the Apostle
• John Lurie - James, son of Zebedee
• Leo Burmester - Bartholomew the Apostle
• Andre Gregory - John the Baptist
• Peggy Gormley - Mary, sister of Lazarus
• Randy Danson - Martha
• Robert Spafford - Man At Wedding
• Doris von Thury - Woman With Mary, mother of Jesus
• Tomas Arana - Lazarus
• Alan Rosenberg - Thomas the Apostle
• Del Russell - Money Changer
• Nehemiah Persoff - Rabbi
• Donald Hodson - Saducee
• Harry Dean Stanton - Paul of Tarsus
• Peter Berling - Beggar
• David Bowie - Pontius Pilate
• Juliette Caton - Girl Angel
• Leo Marks - Voice of Satan

[edit] Controversial content

Jesus (Willem Dafoe) is given a vision of himself not having to die on the cross and instead marrying Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey).

The film contains many ideas not present in the Scriptures. The main source of controversy stems from a scene near the end of the movie in which Jesus imagines himself marrying Mary Magdalene instead of dying on the cross. A brief scene of the married couple making love is shown in the film, sparking the anger of many protesters.

The rationale behind this scene is that it represents Satan's tempting of Christ with the life of a normal man, free from the burden of being crucified and of being the salvation of mankind. In the guise of a beautiful, angelic child, Satan deceptively brings Christ down from the cross in a dream sequence and gives him the life he has desired, telling him he is in fact not the Messiah, and doesn't have to die. Under Satan’s sham, Jesus marries and raises a family. However, as he is nearing the end of his envisioned life, his most devoted disciple, Judas Iscariot, awakens him to the truth of what is happening. As Judas calls him a traitor, Jesus finally realizes he has abandoned his duty to be crucified and to be the salvation of mankind. Seeing that he has been tempted into living a man’s life and dying a peaceful death, Jesus crawls out into the streets of Jerusalem as it burns with the fires of the Jewish Rebellion, and begs God to return him to his crucifixion, finally rejecting Satan’s offering. At that point, he is returned to the cross, awakening from his dream. Jesus has now been tempted as a man, and having survived this temptation utters his dying words, "It is accomplished."

Other controversial ideas include images of Jesus constructing crosses for the Romans, kissing on the lips other men, being tormented by the voice of God, and using the divine name in the form "Jehovah".

[edit] Protests

Protests against the movie from religious communities began before the film had even finished production. The studio was expecting a backlash due to the controversies revolving around any media treatment of Christ (see dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ), but the protests accompanying Last Temptation were unprecedented. Major religious leaders in the United States blasted the film in fiery sermons, and condemned its subject matter as pornographic.^{[citation needed]}

On October 22, 1988, a French Catholic fundamentalist group launched molotov cocktails inside the Parisian Saint Michel movie theater to protest against the film. This terrorist attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned.^{[citation needed]}

In 1991, Albuquerque high school teacher, Joyce Briscoe, showed the film to gifted history students at La Cueva High School, raising a storm of controversy by parents and local Christian broadcaster KLYT.^{[citation needed]}

In some countries, including Mexico and Chile, the film was not released for several years.[1]

[edit] Critical reception and interpretation

The film has been supported by scholars, film critics and some religious leaders. In his defense of the movie, noted critic Roger Ebert writes that Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader:

Writers at NNDB.com claim that "Paul Schrader's screenplay and Willem Dafoe's performance made perhaps the most honestly Christlike portrayal of Jesus ever filmed."

In recent years, the film has been cast in a more positive light within the Christian community. Some conservative Christians groups (many of whom initially attacked the film) have reexamined it and found it an acceptable hypothesis on what it might have been like for Christ to be both fully human (subject to all of man's weaknesses) and fully God (perfect and omnipotent).^{[citation needed]} Promise Keepers is the most notable conservative Christian group to recently come out and defend this interpretation of Christ, and acceptance of The Last Temptation of Christ seems to be growing in many Christian communities and organizations.^{[citation needed]}

Some Christian scholars acknowledge that maintaining equilibrium between these two contrasting natures might have been as difficult as The Last Temptation of Christ depicts, and that the notion is even suggested in the Gospel of John when Christ admits, "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (chapter 6). In the case of Kazantzakis's and Scorsese's Christ, there is a notable difference between Christ's will and the will of his Father; yet driven by his love for mankind and his devotion to his Father, Christ constantly denies his own will in order to fulfil his divine mission as Savior.^{[citation needed]}

However, some Christians, along with people of other faiths, retain a negative view of the film. Conservative film critic Michael Medved (who is Jewish) has an extreme dislike of the film for its biblical inaccuracy, especially in what he considers its portrayal of Judas Iscariot as braver and wiser than Jesus.

[edit] Soundtrack

The film's musical soundtrack was composed by Peter Gabriel and was released on CD with the title Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ. The film's score itself has been widely acclaimed as a landmark in the popularization of world music.^{[citation needed]} Gabriel compiled additional material by various musicians as Passion - Sources.

[edit] External links

• The Last Temptation of Christ at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/lasttemptation.html
• http://www.skepticfiles.org/xhate/jesusflm.htm
• The Last Temptation of Christ at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
• Criterion Collection essay by David Ehrenstein