The Last Temptation of Christ

Martin Scorsese banned smoking from the set, both because he's a severe asthmatic, and to avoid any photographs being taken of actors and actresses playing Biblical characters, primarily Willem Dafoe, who smoked at the time, with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.

The film opens with a printed text, translated from the writings of Nikos Kazantzakis. It contains the line "My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh." The word "principle" is used incorrectly, the correct context is "principal." This mistake has not been corrected in any home video release despite being widely noted ever since the movie first came out.

"This film is not based upon the Gospels but on this fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict."

Most DVD and streaming versions are missing Judas's line, "It's Magdalene; she deserves it," right before the attempted stoning scene. The line can be heard on the Criterion Blu-ray.

Featured in At the Movies: Betrayed/Stealing Home/The Last Temptation of Christ/Married to the Mob/Hero and the Terror (1988)