Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ"

[Hurm...]

I recently watched this film on DVD and I found myself slightly obsessing over it. From the incredible cinematography to Dafoe's finest performance (IMO), I find that the film is widely overlooked by many people. In fact, I think this is one of Scorsese's best films. Even when searching for reviews for the film, I find very few that actually REVIEW the film itself. Anyway, I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on the movie and how you would compare it to some of Scorsese's other works.

My main complaint with the film is probably the Brooklyn accent that some of the cast fail to hide...HARVEY KEITEL.

Trailer:
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[Thebumwhowalks]

Aw man, I had this great videotape with that movie, that also had this David Lynch documentary, and someone nicked it, I keep meaning to buy it on dvd but always forget, I am dying to see it again, I really liked it.

Interesting note about the movie, i heard this was true anyway, but when De Niro heard Scorsese was adapting the book, he shaved his head so that he couldn't talk him into playing Jesus, as he could see the sh**storm coming with that one.
I recall all the tabloid papers at the time it came out, man, it was pretty phenomenal the fire that movie came under.

 

[Hurm...]

Aw man, I had this great videotape with that movie, that also had this David Lynch documentary, and someone nicked it, I keep meaning to buy it on dvd but always forget, I am dying to see it again, I really liked it.

Interesting note about the movie, i heard this was true anyway, but when De Niro heard Scorsese was adapting the book, he shaved his head so that he couldn't talk him into playing Jesus, as he could see the sh**storm coming with that one.
I recall all the tabloid papers at the time it came out, man, it was pretty phenomenal the fire that movie came under.

It'll be coming out on Blu-Ray in March so I definitely plan on picking it up.

Good call by De Niro to avoid the controversy, but I personally think that the public overreacted big time.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Good call by De Niro to avoid the controversy, but I personally think that the public overreacted big time.

Aye, all they focused on was the fact that you had Jesus and Mary Magdalene having sex and a bunch of Jesus children, but they failed to latch onto, or didn't want to know, was that it was part of a What If? sequence of events in the story, where he imagines what would have happened if he had decided not to go through with the crucifixtion.
I didn't know who Scorsese was at the time, I just vividly recall reading about it in the paper, it had a big center spread outraged feature on it, with pics from the flick and all the protestors outside the cinemas in the states.

I keep forgetting to get the dvd, I saw a clip on a movie doc a few weeks ago that reminded me, but i forgot again, so thanks for reminding me, haha, I really want to see what my mum thinks of it, and I wanna give it a retrospective look myself, haha.

 

[gkokujin]

Aye, all they focused on was the fact that you had Jesus and Mary Magdalene having sex and a bunch of Jesus children, but they failed to latch onto, or didn't want to know, that it was part of a What If? sequence of events in the story, where he imagines what would have happened if he had decided not to go through with the crucifixtion.
I didn't know who Scorsese was at the time, I just vividly recall reading about it in the paper, it had a big center spread outraged feature on it, with pics from the flick and all the protestors outside the cinema in the states.

I keep forgetting to get the dvd, I saw a clip on a movie doc a few weeks ago that reminded me, but i forgot again, so thanks for reminding me, haha, I really want to see what my mum thinks of it, and I wanna give it a retrospective look myself, haha.

you beat me to it.

I watched this years ago and it is now in my top 10 of all time.
i love this movie.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

and the funny thing is of course, now there are the obvious big selling books and adaptations out there all about this scenario, and they are actually purporting it to be real. Dan Brown and his rip off books of the Holy Blood Holy Grail research. It's just that you don't get to see Jesus in the soft focus sex scene in those, haha.

Eh, whatever Jesus did in his life 2000 yrs ago is gonna stay there, no matter what people say, I'm sure if he was around nowadays he'd be wanting to do the proper jobs if he was up to them, and wouldn't care what the media threatened him with, because they don't know what is going on with him anyway. So, they could be making the wrong calls on things in regards to him, their judgements can't always be counted on as being unbiased or accurate.

 

[Cokebottletree]

Harry Dean Stanton's cameo as St. Paul at the end is fascinating. I love his performance and the meaning of this dialogue with Jesus is massively thought provoking to me.

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=/&gl=US#/watch?v=EJvRdwqctn0

 

[danoyse]

I remember the controversy when this movie first came out. There were people getting arrested in protests outside the movie theaters in NY. It was right after the riots in Tompkins Square Park, and I remember one protester getting arrested on the news screaming "THIS IS TOMPKINS SQUARE ALL OVER AGAIN!!" as the cops pulled him away.

My mom made the mistake at work saying that she wouldn't mind seeing the movie, and at least two women at her office completely stopped speaking to her...to the point where their boss had to tell them to knock it off and apologize to her. Of course, they all wound up becoming good friends, and these ladies continued to see movies they swore they'd boycott forever because people involved in Last Temptation of Christ worked on them.

People are dumb.

 

[Motown Marvel]

great movie. it took me a minute to get past dafoe as jesus, which is just an idea so crazy that it might work (and did).

 

[Hurm...]

The lead up to the crucifixion scene, as well as the scene itself, is executed so hauntingly that it takes a huge dump on Gibson's 2 hour torture fest. Great acting from Dafoe and even the extras. Peter Gabriel's score is just...wow.

 

[Spider-Who?]

Been YEARS since I've seen this. I can understand people having an issue with the movie. Jesus is depicted as more human than in any other retelling and that bugs people who believe him to be much more than that. I think to discount religous peoples ruffled feathers kinda defeats the point of the movie. This movie begs for dialogue between various groups and I (as a Christian) applaud the movie for being brave (or sacreligious) enough to cast the life and trails of Jesus in a less "pretty" light.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I really want to see this. Dafoe as Jesus? ****ing badass and epic all at once. on a superficial level, if I had to choose my image of Jesus, it would be Willem Dafoe as Jesus.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Excellent film. Far better than the putrid Gibson film.

 

[Mace Dolex]

It rarely gets shown on TV or cable I'm surprised people remember it considering it barely got a mention when Passion Of The Christ was released.

 

[Brother Jack]

Been YEARS since I've seen this. I can understand people having an issue with the movie. Jesus is depicted as more human than in any other retelling and that bugs people who believe him to be much more than that. I think to discount religous peoples ruffled feathers kinda defeats the point of the movie. This movie begs for dialogue between various groups and I (as a Christian) applaud the movie for being brave (or sacreligious) enough to cast the life and trails of Jesus in a less "pretty" light.

I don't think it's sacrilegious, it just explores an aspect of Christ that is not commonly covered and raises some questions. Namely the dichotomy between Jesus the mortal man and Jesus God incarnate, and the temptation of denying the divine. Some don't want that kind of conflict within Christ's characterization.

 

[Hurm...]

I don't think it's sacrilegious, it just explores an aspect of Christ that is not commonly covered and raises some questions. Namely the dichotomy between Jesus the mortal man and Jesus God incarnate, and the temptation of denying the divine. Some don't want that kind of conflict within Christ's characterization.

I completely agree. Jesus in this film still does things that are told in the Bible, but the film presents a much more psychological view behind Jesus' actions. Jesus is used in a way to add greater power to classic themes of redemption and fulfilling your destiny, which wouldn't be as effective without exploring both his human and divine side. The film is a masterpiece IMO.

 

[Hurm...]

I really want to see this. Dafoe as Jesus? ****ing badass and epic all at once. on a superficial level, if I had to choose my image of Jesus, it would be Willem Dafoe as Jesus.

He is definitely the best Jesus that has been on film. However, he did have more to work with than other actors since the book explores the psychology of Jesus.

The film is on Youtube

 

[Spider-Who?]

I don't think it's sacrilegious, it just explores an aspect of Christ that is not commonly covered and raises some questions. Namely the dichotomy between Jesus the mortal man and Jesus God incarnate, and the temptation of denying the divine. Some don't want that kind of conflict within Christ's characterization.

I think people thought that it was pushed too far. Did they have to show Jesus sitting in a room with others watching as Mary got it on? Did they have to show them have sex (even in a "what if" dream)? No, they didn't need to be so in your face about some things - which I can see people's issue with - and at times is seems more like the director trying to be controversial than anything else, which hurts whatever message he was trying to convey.

I don't think it's sacrilegious, but I certainly do see how other people could see it as such. I mean, how would you think muslims would take a movie that portrays Mohammed in such a "honest to the human condition" way? For 2000 years, people have treated and portrayed Jesus as an unwavering deity in human form, whose only temptation was during his 40 day fast , and the "temptation" is usually depicted quite poorly:

Devil: Hey, Jesus. You want this?
Jesus: Nah, I'm cool, brah.
Devil: ...Ok.


...and his only moment of weakness was right before being arrested. Showing any other moment of human traits/weakness outside of those two instances is unheard of, because to many, it makes Jesus appear less god-like. But the fact is, Jesus WAS human, and god or not, he did not live in a bubble, hidden away from any of the immorality/fear/weakness that defines being human. IMO, that mentality does not make what he did special. But realizing that he WAS faced with those human emotions and weaknesses, and how he handled those times is what counts. I believe that Scorsese wanted to show this, but a desire to be controversial as well hurt his message for a lot of people.

 

[Spider-Who?]

He is definitely the best Jesus that has been on film. However, he did have more to work with than other actors since the book explores the psychology of Jesus.

The film is on Youtube

I really liked Caviezel as Jesus. Say what you will about Gibson and his movie, but the man is a great director and aside from the blood and gore, The Passion was a beautifully shot film. I wish that The Passion was more than what is was. I would have really liked to have seen more of Jesus' life with that actor and Gibson at the helm.

 

[Brother Jack]

I really liked Caviezel as Jesus. Say what you will about Gibson and his movie, but the man is a great director and aside from the blood and gore, The Passion was a beautifully shot film. I wish that The Passion was more than what is was. I would have really liked to have seen more of Jesus' life with that actor and Gibson at the helm.

Yeah, I agree with that. Caviezel was magnetic as Jesus, and looked the part more than a lot of actors have (though he was under a lot of makeup and hair).

 

[Bim]

I really liked Caviezel as Jesus. Say what you will about Gibson and his movie, but the man is a great director and aside from the blood and gore, The Passion was a beautifully shot film. I wish that The Passion was more than what is was. I would have really liked to have seen more of Jesus' life with that actor and Gibson at the helm.

Well the thing is realistically, and from what i've read about crucifixions, Mel's portrayal of the brutality of it and the flagellation was accurate. It's tough to look at and shocking, but it does bring it to a level we hadnt seen in a movie before. The movie was about the passion so it was limited to that but i agree, i think a life of Jesus movie with Mel and Caviezel would have been something i personally would have liked to see.

Whether you believe in Jesus or not, you have to wonder how a person can withstand that punishment like that.

As far as this movie goes, i loved the fact that it focused on Jesus' human traits. This aspect in my opinion is sadly unexplored for the most part, and i think believers arent getting a full picture of him when focusing on just one aspect of him. The balance between his divinity and his humanity has always been something that intrigued me, but i can understand why some people would raise their eyebrows to this one; you must have a very open mind and heart in order to be open to a movie like this, and faith and religion is always a touchy subject.

 

[Figs]

This was one of the few Scorsese films I haven't seen before. I ended up watching it last night and have to ask if anyone else thought the majority of the acting was terrible.

I also didn't like the voiceover, it kind of took me out of the film at times.

 

[Pink Ranger]

My main complaint with the film is probably the Brooklyn accent that some of the cast fail to hide...HARVEY KEITEL.

"Aaai, oooh, outta da way, I'm betrayin' over heah!"

Devil: Hey, Jesus. You want this?
Jesus: Nah, I'm cool, brah.
Devil: ...Ok.

Thanks. Now for the rest of my life, I'm going to picture Jesus walking around in a Miami Heat jersey and sideways baller cap.

 

[Ajendo]

Robert Powell and Jim Caviezel (sp?) are my personal favourite actors to portray Christ and like Bim said, anyone who knows about how people were crucified and chastised back in those days would know that Gibson's portrayal was pretty spot on, in fact, the events of Jesus' arrest up to his crucifixion was far worse than what's ever been filmed for a movie. Punishment back then no joke, they really effed people up. Screw human rights and soft spots for people, the Romans were heartless sadists.

 

[Vengeance of Bane]

Yeah, I agree with that. Caviezel was magnetic as Jesus, and looked the part more than a lot of actors have (though he was under a lot of makeup and hair).

Caviezel was great as Jesus. I think The Passion was too violent, but it did have some beautiful moments. The fact that they actually spoke a mixture of Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic also made the movie more special.