The Last Temptation of Christ

This has got to be one of the worst movies ever made. What was Defoe thinking? The acting is worse than a high school play. The only redeeming value to this music is the score by Peter Gabriel. Do yourself a favor: buy the soundtrack and skip renting this unremarkable film.

Martin Scorsese takes the lessons learned by the likes of Rossellini, Pasolini, and in-between regarding religious pictures and makes one that appropriately makes it right. This time around, you don't necessarily have to be completely into Jesus or a Christian to see the heart and intelligence put into the material. Paul Schrader's script distills what must have been a mammoth book of ideas and stories from Kazantzakis and what's provided is obviously controversial. But its message is not layered with anything to insult the viewer's intelligence. There's real food for thought here, even for those who don't believe in myself (if anything, it shows Scorsese, in one of his five best films, showing the notion of making a difference in his other films sticks out great here). A little long, but never gets boring, and even features one of the all-time champion final shots in any film. And Willem Dafoe makes for a candidate for best Jesus in any film. One of the best films of 1988.

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.

Jesus was declared both fully Human as well as Divine at the Council of Chalcedon. So it makes perfect sense that he would not only suffer physically but mentally as well. Why are so many outraged by this depiction rooted in their very own beliefs? Unless of course they never knew what they were in the first place...

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.