Every once in a while I like to watch a good religious movie, you know, one about the life of Jesus Christ. One of the ones I continually recommend is Jesus of Nazareth, a massive 6-hour plus work that does one of the best jobs of depicting Christ's life and work according to the Gospels. I also watch two other favorites, The Greatest Story Ever Told and King of Kings, and no, I'm not prepared to give a recommendation as to which actor did the "best Christ."

"But I've seen all those - aren't there any other tales of Christ," you ask? Of course, one of the best is the film we are examining right now, The Last Temptation of Christ, by Director Martin Scorsese, whose low-bucks treatment does not compare with the blockbuster epics like King of Kings but whose message shines a light on some truths of its own that are too often ignored by the divine emphasis of the epics.

The movie has a delicious sense of irony and pokes fun at a few stereotypes along the way as it tells the story of Jesus' path to the cross by first showing the adult Jesus the Carpenter working as a government contractor producing crosses for the Romans. There seems to be no shortage of pesky messiahs, zealots, and so on running around occupied Judea!

Unlike most one-dimensional portrayals of Christ, The Last Temptation of Christ puts an all-too-human face on him as he faces the prospects of living up to his Father's plan for him. We see Jesus (Willem Dafoe) as alternately fearful, angry, doubtful. He imagines what it would be like to bed prostitute Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) who, far from the typical white bread portrayal, is shown as an attractive sexual creature covered with inscrutable tattoos. But is this so far from the truth? After all, the Bible says that Jesus cast seven demons out of her. - And these are exactly the kinds of issues real men struggle with every day. I believe Scorsese was trying to explore the man side of Jesus, a side that is all too quickly glossed over by most treatments of His life and, perhaps more importantly, maybe even most peoples' meditations about his life.

Objections have been raised by the devout that Dafoe grimaced after he cured a blind man but the Bible supports this, it said that power flowed out of Jesus when a woman with an unclean discharge touched him. In other words it cost Christ something to do his miracles - it was physical stress. It even adds glory to the traditional view of Christ that his fully human side chose to accept the pain and ignominy of death on the cross rather than sin and be disqualified.

The "last temptation" is a hallucination brought about by Jesus' suffering on the cross. It is in no way depicted to have happened but is presented to Christ by Satan to show what might have been.

Besides the excellent script, the acting is the real meat of this film. William Dafoe makes a compelling Christ, showing all aspects of his character and triumphing at the end just as he should. Barbara Hershey does the same as Mary Magdalene, while Harvey Keitel makes an interesting take on Judas.

This is an excellent movie that will help a person understand the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice; it is not the disgrace that detractors say it is.

Keep an open mind and see it for yourself.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening