THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Martin Scorsese Writer: Paul Schrader (based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis) Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Verna Bloom, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie, Andre Gregory, Juliette Caton, Victor Argo, Irvin Kershner, John Lurie, Barry Miller
What happened if Jesus Christ was given a choice in whether or not he was crucified and died "for our sins?" What if Jesus wasn't as perfect as he is said to be, and was instead a human being, almost cursed with the thought that he was the Messiah, the son of God? Director Martin Scorsese's epic motion picture, which retells the traditional story of Jesus in a whole other manner ponders these questions, and does it in a way that presents a kind of film that is extrememly rare: a philospophical motion picture.
Based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, the story tells the latter part of Jesus's life (played by Willem Dafoe, who, well, looks like Jesus...or the general perception of him), with most of the pretty important parts (like the Sermon on the Mount, the whole fasting in the desert with the temptations of Satan, the Last Supper, etc.) being told, but in a way that shows that Jesus was a human being. I've never read the bible personally, but when you're forced to go to church for the first 18 years of your life, you do hear a lot of stories from the bible, and one of the big myths is that Jesus was a flawless man. This film breaks him down to be a man.
Of course, why wouldn't he be a regular man with a tremendous burden on his shoulders? Although being born to a virgin woman (played by Verna Bloom, who was also Dean Wormer's wife in "Animal House"), he still grew up a man. It seems that him being perfect was just a myth in the bible, a way that the different men who wrote it bent the truth a bit to touch people (which is touched upon later in the film). The way that Schrader (who wrote the script), Scorsese (who directed the film), and Dafoe (who played Jesus) present it is that he's a man who's almost cursed to die for everyone's sins, and is saddled with the birthright of being this perfect human being, when he confesses to a couple confidences that he can't help but want to have sex with attractive women when he sees them, just like the rest of us...well, sorta.
The film poses the question "What would happen if Jesus was able to live like the average human being?" Luckily, it doesn't arrive at this question until the two-hour mark. Before this time, the film shows his life prior to the crucifixtion where he is told he's allowed to come off the cross and be a regular schmo by a young female angel (Juliette Caton). Why is it lucky they did this? Because the film would seem gimicky if they had just jumped to it without backing itself up.
For the first two hours, the film tells his early story, from when he's making crosses for the romans, to when he's being followed around by Judas (Harvey Keitel) and eleven other apostles, to his inevitable crucifixtion. Not being of great knowledge as to his mid-life (the most details I know about are his birth and death, since the Christmas and Easter seasons are so close together on the church calendar), I don't know how much is true, but this is a work of fiction, since everything has a new twist to it.
For example, he is constantly confessing his fear of living the way he does, and shows constant apprehension to die for everyone else, which brings on the anger of Judas, who calls him a coward throughout the film. He also has to suffer the cruelties of others thinking of him as a madman, as he does sound like one a lot of the time. And, of course, he suffers scrutiny for taking into his little clique the prostitute, Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey, saddled with a near impossible role of being the woman who is the object of Jesus's affection), since he's supposed to be this big sign of purity.
The final forty-five minutes of the film chronicle his life after being let down of the cross, where he marries another woman named Mary (hinting at an oedipal complex with his mother, also named Mary...or maybe not...), and settles down to a simple and happy life, with lots of children. There is a powerful ironic ending which thankfully stays in tact with the rest of the film. Also, instead of being just a cheap ironic twist, it spurns out a deeper philosophical idea, which makes this a brilliant work of biblical satire.
The way the film is constructed is interesting, as it seems to bring out a fascination Scorsese has with his best works: concentrating on a person or persons who are trapped by a lifestyle or something deeper. In "Goodfellas" and "Casino," the mafiosos were trapped by the lifestyle they had chosen; and in "Raging Bull," Jake LaMotta was trapped in the world of boxing, the boxing ring being a metaphor for his life. Jesus is similarly trapped, but by the fact that God chose him to be his son. It's a tragedy of a movie, as Jesus discovers that his place was never to be a man like everyone else, but to be the ultimate martyr - to stop death, and save everyone's soul.
The direction is very bizarre, and creates a film that is extremely surreal. The opening is dizzying, probably to get the sense of the confusion Jesus is suffering at the particular point in his life. And there's lots of scenes of nudity, blood, and assorted gore, including a freaky deaky scene where Jesus approaches his desciples after fasting in the desert, and he pulls out his heart and holds it in front of them. The surrealism helps the film, though, and also creates a hypnotic feel to it, which holds the audience's attention the full way through.
Unfortunately, as brilliant and philosophical as it is, the film is one of the most controversial pieces of art of all time. Like Monty Python's "Life of Brian" (which was a comedy that dealt with a man mistaken for Christ, but not once picking on Christ himself), the film spurned a lot of picketing, featuring people who had mostly not even seen the movie. It's a shame that people are so narrow-minded and don't take a chance of expanding their thinking to something higher and more profound. Sure, there's a scene where Jesus does have sex with Mary Magdalene. But it's not pornographic, and never flashy - it's just poignant. People need to realize that just because a piece of art expounds on the "holy scriptures," it doesn't necessarily mean it's "blasphemy." The passages in the bible were meant to be thought about in such a manner. At least that's my opinion; I could be wrong.
The acting is not amazing, but does feature a wonderful performance from Willem Dafoe, who creates a sympathetic and pithy Jesus. This man is no Brian Deacon - he shows Jesus in a completely different way, and he pulls it off amazingly. Harvey Keitel is a great Judas (sorry, folks, there is no hanging scene), and there are two great cameos from character actor Harry Dean Stanton as Saul/Paul (see the movie to understand this), and David Bowie as none other than Pontious Pilate (he rocks in his one scene).
Scorsese received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his directing, which is luckily never heavy-handed or preachy. Every scene is a mini-masterpiece (save a corny scene where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead), as he paints each scene with the appropriate feel. He shows he is once again one of the best directors, if not the best, working today.
"The Last Temptation of Christ" is one of those hard-to-find films which is overly-bashed for moronic reasons. I'm not even a Christian (agnostic, if you must know), but I found the film to be a poignant, and brilliant way to look at the gospels of Jesus.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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