The Last Temptation of Christ

Has there ever been a more misunderstood film than Martin Scorcese's The Last Temptation Of Christ? Released amid great controversy and accused of being an offensive and unholy film, the truth of the matter is that it is a deeply reverent work which has the courage to ask challenging questions about the pressures and doubts Jesus must have experienced as the appointed Messiah. It also shows the violence of the times in graphic detail. If viewers consider it blasphemous to explore on film the immense burden of duty that Jesus bore through his life, then they are narrow-minded and ignorant. If people feel that to show the brutality and harshness of life in Roman times is tasteless and inappropriate, then they are guilty of glorifying difficult but factual truths. There is NOTHING offensive about this film. There is, however, much that is challenging.

Jesus (Willem Dafoe), an honest carpenter, saves Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) from a stoning. Already dimly aware that he is destined to lead an extraordinary life, he soon finds himself being drawn into the role of a religious figurehead. But Jesus finds it hard to accept that he is a Messiah, and as his reputation and following grows he constantly questions if he is a strong enough man to handle the burden of being God's son. After isolating himself in the desert, where he experiences several hallucinations in which he is confronted by visual manifestations of good and evil, Jesus finally concludes that he IS the true son of God and whole-heartedly sets about imparting his love and wisdom to all who'll listen. Later betrayed to the disgruntled Romans by his friend Judas Iscariot (Harvey Keitel), Jesus is crucified. While on the cross, he imagines what his life would have turned out like if he had shied away from his duty as the Messiah and lived life like a mere mortal.

It is this final section of the film that has provoked the most vociferous outrage. The sequence shows Jesus as he slowly dies on the cross, dreaming of an alternative life in which he sins and copulates and hates like all normal people. Many people have criticised the film on the grounds that these scenes are blasphemous. Such claims are nonsense - the film is not saying that Jesus was a sinner, nor that he gave in to temptation of the flesh, nor still that he was a man filled with hate. The film is merely saying that, in such great pain and so close to death while still just a young man, he might - just maybe - have wondered if it was all worth it. At the end of the film, we see Jesus accept his role knowing that his death is the ultimate act of unselfish love, so the film actually is totally in agreement with what all Christians believe. If the film had come to the conclusion that Jesus's whole life was a waste, his death too, then maybe the detractors would've had cause to complain. But how can they possibly be offended by the film as it stands? For goodness sake, it's a film about absolute faith!!! In truth, The Last Temptation Of Christ is an excellent movie. Compellingly acted, beautifully shot on Moroccan locations, and full of telling ideas, it is a work of real depth and power. The accents are sometimes distracting and some of the dialogue occasionally betrays ill-suited modernisms, but apart from these minor drawbacks it is one of the most important and thought-provoking films ever made.

I thought this movie was an excellent piece of film making. A fabulous score and stunning cinematography take us through the inner struggle of Jesus in accepting his role and his duty. It tells how he faced temptation, ridicule , torture and triumph. Before you burn my name in effigy for liking this movie, be open minded and just experience a good film. The "disclaimer" at the beginning of the movie says it all. It is not necessarily based on events in the Bible. Just as Jesus used parables as a way of teaching, this movie tells a story of a man's life and events that we can all somehow personally relate to. By the way, the portrayal of Satan was the best I've seen yet.

This adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis's novel, directed by Martin Scorsese, caused quite a stir on its initial release, accused of blasphemy and of causing offence to the Christian religion.

However, in its depiction of Jesus Christ as a human being rather than a man divine, it gets to the core of his story. This is a man who makes the choice of self-sacrifice for the good of his fellow men, despite the temptations of an alternative life - shown in this film by a life with Mary Magdelene rather than dying at the Crucifixion.

Played by Willem Dafoe with great sensitivity, this Christ performs miracles and discusses the intricacies of life and death with his disciples. Harvey Keitel is Judas, a rough man who fails to understand the significance of being the chosen Son of God; while Barbara Hershey is an effective Magdelene. David Bowie makes a short appearance as Pontius Pilate and is surprisingly good.

'The Last Temptation of Christ' is not one of Scorsese's best films but it certainly sparks questions and leaves food for thought. Some of the imagery is superb and the script is coherent and of a high standard.

Jesus is plagued by voices in his head and a pain he has that is so intense as to have him in spasms. He has tried fasting and self-harm but neither have worked for very long. He works as a carpenter; one of the few who will make crosses for the Romans – much to the annoyance of his acquaintance Judas, a Jewish rebel. Following an appearance by a spirit, Jesus heads into the desert where he experiences temptations and, ultimately, learns the path he must follow. Returning to the real world he starts to speak and gains a following of loyal disciples who believe he is the Messiah. However for every follower, he gets 10 enemies – mainly among the religious elite who see him as a heretic and lawbreaker.

When it was released in cinemas and first screened on television in the UK, this film broke all records for complaints and also had the moral majority (?) up in arms over the controversy and the portrayal of Christ. Although I don't want to get drawn into that, the reason I think they are wrong to complain is the same reason I think the film is worth seeing. From the get-go, this film flies its fictional roots and never claims to be the gospel truth (pardon the pun). However what it does is to think around the gospel, to wonder, to suppose, to ask questions – something that millions of Christians do every day when they read the bible and contemplate on it. I'm not blind to the offence that this thought process could have but it still provides food for thought and, like the author's quote says, really puts some interesting ideas on the table in regards the dualities of Jesus as both a man and God.

Although this makes it worth seeing in my book and held my interest and engaged my brain throughout this isn't to say it is brilliant, because it isn't. It is overlong and rather plodding at times and could (and should) have lost at least 30 minutes from the running time to be a better film. The dialogue doesn't help that much at times but the delivery is good from a handful of great performances. Although most "Christians" are in love with Gibson's portrayal of Christ recently, Dafoe goes deeper and more complex with a performance where he seems to totally understand the complex motivations that could have run through Christ – he is convincing as man and God and his though process is clear and engaging. He is helped by some great support. Specifically Keitel is great and helps bring out a Judas that is the opposite of the greedy failure we are told he is – instead he takes the second hardest job; he makes it work really well and dominates his scenes. Support is also strong from Hershey, Argo, Been and Bowie (yes, even Bowie) who all come over with smaller but impressive performances. Scorsese directs with deliberate movements at times but he matches the mood of the period that is well set by sets, costumes and the cool ethnic score.

Overall this is not a great film and if you have no belief or interest in Jesus then I cannot see why you'd bother to get through such a long film that lacks pace. However as spiritual food for thought it is wonderful and really engaged my brain – even if you (rightly) dismiss the film as fiction, it is still useful as spiritual debate and providing a view of things that you can study out and draw from. Compared to the thoughtless, cold and spiritually empty film by Mel Gibson 15 years later, this is vastly better and worth seeing if you saw that.

Despite what its critics say (most of whom haven't even seen the movie), "The Last Temptation of Christ" is one of the most deeply religious movies I have ever seen. What makes it so powerful is that it does not portray Jesus as an all-righteous, preachy figure; it portrays Him as a man. He was the son of God, but more importantly He was human. He could hurt, love, feel pain and joy, and He could make mistakes just like any of us. He had to overcome temptation. Martin Scorsese, for whom this was a long labor of love, directs a beautiful movie with all around excellent performances, particularly Harvey Keitel as Judas and Willem Defoe as Jesus. The "Last Temptation" segment which draws most of the movie's criticism, is the most important part of all because it shows how close God truly is to us, if only those critics would watch the movie before judging it, they might realize that.