Did You Know?
According to director Martin Scorsese, the last shot was *not* intentional. The camera used to film this scene was faulty and light leaked in onto the film, causing a white-out at the exact point in the scene at which Jesus expires, and this was not discovered until the film was processed. Serendipity or divine intervention, take your pick.
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Some historians claim Pontius Pilate was born in Scotland, where his father was posted as a Roman Centurion guard. On knowing this, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly tried to convince David Bowie to play Pontius Pilate "as a Scotsman." (Bowie did not.)
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Willem Dafoe could not see for three days because he got too many eye drops to dilate the pupils of his eyes in bright sunlight to achieve a superhuman effect.
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The voice of Satan was provided by the late Leo Marks, who wrote the screenplay for the Michael Powell classic Peeping Tom. Martin Scorsese has acknowledged this film to be a major influence on his work.
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In the scene where Jesus is in the temple and Roman soldiers are coming after him in what appears to be all directions, it is the same five soldiers that are used in each shot. This was to save money as the film had a small budget.
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Director Martin Scorsese first read Nikos Kazantzakis's novel "The Last Temptation of Christ" after being given a copy by actress Barbara Hershey while he was directing her in Boxcar Bertha, his second feature film, in 1972. When she read in a trade paper many years later that Scorsese was finally getting the opportunity to direct a film adaptation, she begged him to let her play the role of Mary Magdalene. To make sure she didn't feel that he was giving her the part as a favor for having recommended the book, he made her audition.
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The filmmakers were given such a paltry budget for their controversial project that many economies had to be improvised. For example, actress Barbara Hershey, playing the role of Mary Magdalene, had to continually re-apply her own mendhi tattoos (which kept streaking in the desert heat) because there were not enough make-up artists to service everyone.
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When the film was finally green-lit in the mid-1980 Martin Scorsese offered the role of Jesus to Aidan Quinn who had initially been cast during a previous attempt to make the film. Scorsese then considered both Eric Roberts and Christopher Walken before casting Willem Dafoe.
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Martin Scorsese banned smoking from the set, both because he's a severe asthmatic, and to avoid any photographs being taken of the biblical characters - namely Willem Dafoe, who smoked at the time - with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.
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Willem Dafoe filmed the scene where the cobras crawl into Jesus' hut with an extremely high fever.
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Universal Pictures agreed to produce the film if Scorsese then did a commercial film. That was Cape Fear.
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As of January 2002 the film cannot be shown on public television in Bulgaria. The National Television had scheduled it for showing but the Bulgarian Orthodox Church managed to get a forbidding order and the Council of Electronic Media banned it.
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When Martin Scorsese was planning the movie circa 1983-84, he cast 'Sting' as Pontius Pilate.
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The television premiere of the film on Channel 4 in the mid nineties used to hold the record for receiving the most complaints (1,554) about a broadcast on British television. That record was eclipsed by BBC2's broadcast of "Jerry Springer - The Opera" on 8 January 2005, which drew more than 50,000 complaints, many of which were submitted by Christians before the broadcast, offended by what they considered the blasphemous portrayal of Jesus in the programme.
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According to David Carradine in a 2003 Entertainment Weekly interview, in 1972 when Martin Scorsese first got the book from Barbara Hershey and thought of making it into a movie, Carradine was the person considered to play Jesus.
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The film attracted controversy not only in the United States, but also internationally due to the frontal nudity (especially from Jesus) in the crucifixion scenes, and the fact that Jesus had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene.
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The script for this film sat in the office of Martin Scorsese's lawyer for at least 5 years prior to being made. Although Scorsese thought the film could be brilliant, he was concerned how the public might respond to the finished film. His lawyer agreed the script was brilliant and very "brave" but advised against making the movie because he did not think movie-goers were ready for such a story.
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Rated #6 of the 25 most controversial movies of all time. Entertainment Weekly, 16 June 2006.
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Martin Scorsese's friend and New Yorker's magazine critic Jay Cocks worked uncredited to revise the screenplay by Paul Schrader. Cocks' contribution could not be credited due to contractual obligations as well as WGA regulations, which Schrader himself admits that it was unfair.
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Originally planned to be produced by Paramount, budgeted at about 14 million dollars and shot on location in Israel, the project was aborted at the last minute. Eventually Universal Pictures and the theater chain Cineplex Odeon co-financed it with the budget cut down to 7 million dollars, and shot in Morocco.
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The original production design concept was developed by Boris Leven who collaborated with Martin Scorsese since 'New York, New York'. However, Mr. Leven passed away in 1986 after completing 'The Color of Money', and John Beard replaced him, with many of Mr. Leven's original designs forced to be abandoned due to the budgetary limitations.
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An avid fan of writer Nikos Kazantzakis, Jeff Bridges actively sought the role of Judas here by personally writing to Martin Scorsese. Alas the role ultimately went to Harvey Keitel.
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Was judged so controversial by some French fundamentalist catholics that they went as far as torching a couple of cinemas releasing the film, both in Paris and Besançon, causing one death and several serious injuries among the audience.
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