Review of The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) by Hugo S — 12 Mar 2008

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988).

Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey«Brothers, my old friends! Listen to me! It's me the prophets preached about.»The Last Temptation of Christ is the though-provoking film by Martin Scorsese relating the fictional but plausible story of Jesus. In the film Jesus isnt God's son but rather an ordinary man who is haunted by God's voice or maybe he is simply a lunatic or a mad man. Scorsese doesnt give any answers, he simply tells his story which is supposed to make you think. Some hardcore religious people will call it blasphemy while hardcore non-believer will be happy to see the film even though there is a middle to everything. Everyone should be opened to the idea.Jesus is a charsimatic character with ideas, people follow him cause they believe he might just be the messiah, even if others before him pretended to be the one. He isnt pure, he has envy but he's scared of God's reaction and he decides to preach is own understanding of what God is.The film isnt saying Jesus never lived, its only saying he was most likely an ordinary man but that ordinary man managed to spread the message we all know today, even if lots of people, back then or these days, dont really get it.Wether your are a believer or not this film should make you question what you know about the man and everything related to religion. The Last Temptation of the Christ is meant to be a great spiritual experience but, of course, you have to be open-minded.At the end when Jesus is being crucified, he has his last temptation, he wishes he wasnt God's son, he dreams of sex, love, a family and to die old. Thats probably the most shocking part cause Jesus isnt supposed to want those things, but in the movie he does and its probably closer to reality than what was written in The Holy Bible. Two weeks ago there was a car wreck not too far from my home, one guy said it was nothing just a little scratch, another said three people died and a girl hadnt even heard about it. The Holy Bible was written several years after Jesus died, even some chapters by people who never knew him. Its been translated many times, from one language to another. The message stayed but the story was most likely changed and the film tries to hint us about that idea. If people are confused about the car wreck that happend only two weeks ago, imagine what it might be about something that happened 2000 years before you were born. Okay this isnt a theological discussion but a review, but the film is supposed to make you think about stuff like that.Martin Scorsese directed this film with master hands. Every shots seem to have been precisely framed. Its not too stylish, its actually very sober most of the time and it sure is effective.I need to mention one sequence in the desert, where he spent forty days. Thats when he finally understood his gift, when he saw everything God was telling him as a revelation. He has to face his inner demons and his first temptations. Thats probably the very best moments of the film and it just shows what this film is about.Willem Dafoe is almost perfect as Jesus. He doesnt go over-the-top like he often does in other movies. Harvey Keitel as Judas is quite interesting and gives the man real depth. Barbara Hershey is amazing as Mary Magdalene.There are some touching moments in the film as well but even if the film has a lot of qualities it feels a bit too long and after a while we get the point, it becomes just casual Jesus stuff. Its understandable though, that stuff had to be kept in the movie, it wouldnt have been acceptable to cut off some of the highlights of Jesus's life. All in all its a pretty damn good film with great cinematography and a great soundtrack by Peter Gabriel.