Review of The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) by Nik B — 29 May 2011

Don't forget, the film opens up straight away with a "this is not based on scripture" message. So let's get that out of the way.

The film opens with Jesus struggling. He is tortured by visions. He works as a carpenter. Building the crosses that will act as the tools of murder to his own people. When he strays to find his answers he seeks first to get forgiven by his romantic love, Mary Magdalene. He then strays to the desert where he is purified and at least accepts that he's a prophet of some kind. Even if he consistently questions his fear. His lack of understanding of his own intuitive words.

He grows a flock of followers on his message of love. He is respected, but his followers Judas and John the Baptist insist that strength and the destruction of Rome should be his primary goal. Not love. Jesus goes to the desert to find the answer. He is tempted by promises of love; a wife and family. The power of mankind. Then, Jesus is given an axe. His sign.

He still does the same stuff. Water into wine, making the blind see. But Jesus' motivation is less now about the salvation of mankind and more about army building. When he denies his mother, he does so without shame or regret.

The "last temptation" comes at the crucifixtion. Jesus' angel comes to him and says, "You're not the messiah. You've suffered enough. You can now live on earth with love and happiness." That's where our controversy comes in.

Willem Dafoe's portrayal of Jesus is great. As is Harvey Keitel's Judas. Dafoe especially plays Jesus with sympathy during the first portion of Jesus' story and later as a grimacing egotist as Jesus changes his focus to the axe. Scorsese's direction is fantastic. At almost three hours, some editing would benefit the final product I think. That's the only reason I can think about what kept from the full enjoyment of the movie. Since you already know the ending, there just may have been too much info to get there.