The Last Temptation of Christ (film)

The Last Temptation of Christ
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina Harry Ulfland
Screenplay by	Paul Schrader Martin Scorsese (Uncredited) Jay Cocks (Uncredited)
Based on	The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
Starring	Willem Dafoe Harvey Keitel Barbara Hershey Harry Dean Stanton David Bowie
Music by	Peter Gabriel
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Studio	Cineplex Odeon Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	August 12, 1988 (1988-08-12)
Running time	164 minutes
Country	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$8,373,585

The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as Pontius Pilate, and Harry Dean Stanton as Paul. The film was shot entirely in Morocco.

Like the novel, the film depicts the life of Jesus Christ and his struggle with various forms of temptation including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust. This results in the book and film depicting Christ being tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, a notion that has caused outrage from some Christians. The movie includes a disclaimer explaining that it departs from the commonly-accepted Biblical portrayal of Jesus' life, and is not based on the Gospels.

Scorsese received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and Hershey's performance as Mary Magdalene earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Plot

The film begins with a man whispering in despair, "The feeling begins. Very tender, very loving. Then the pain starts. Claws slip underneath the skin and tear their way up. Just before they reach my eyes, they dig in. And I remember. First I fasted for three months. I even whipped myself before I went to sleep. At first it worked. Then the pain came back. And the voices. They call me by the name: Jesus." Jesus of Nazareth (Willem Dafoe) is a carpenter in Roman-occupied Judea, torn between his own desires and his knowledge that God has a plan for him. This conflict results in self loathing, and he collaborates with the Romans to crucify Jewish revolutionaries.

Judas Iscariot (Harvey Keitel), originally sent to kill Jesus for collaboration, instead suspects that Jesus is the Messiah and asks him to lead a revolution against the Romans. Jesus replies that his message is love of mankind; whereupon Judas joins Jesus in his ministry, but threatens to kill him if he strays from the purpose of a revolutionary. Jesus also has an undisclosed prior relationship with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey), a Jewish prostitute, who asks Jesus to stay with her, a request that he considers before leaving for a monastic community. Jesus later saves Mary from a mob gathered to stone her for prostitution and working on the sabbath. Jesus compels the mob to spare her life, instructing "Which one of you people has never sinned? Whoever that is, come up here and throw these", with Jesus offering two stones. (As explained in the DVD commentary track, Scorsese deliberately avoided the overly familiar statement, "He who is without sin cast the first stone.") Later, Jesus preaches to the crowd using many of the parables from the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus acquires disciples, but remains uncertain of his role. He visits John the Baptist, who baptizes Jesus, and that night the two discuss their differing theologies and political views. John believes that one must first gain freedom from the Romans to achieve their end, while Jesus maintains that love is more important and people should tend to matters of the spirit. Jesus then goes into the desert to test God's connection to himself, where he is tempted by Satan as a cobra, a lion, and a pillar of flame (voiced by Barbara Hershey, Harvey Keitel, and Leo Marks), but resists each of these and instead envisions himself with an axe, being instructed by John the Baptist in answer to Jesus' dilemma of whether to choose the path of love (symbolized by the heart) or the path of violence (represented by the axe). Jesus returns from the desert to the home of Martha and Mary of Bethany (both sisters of Lazarus), who restore him to health and attempt to persuade him that the way to please God is to have a home, a marriage, and children. Jesus then appears to his waiting disciples to tear out his own heart and invites them to follow him. With newfound confidence he restores sight to a blind man, changes water into wine, and raises Lazarus (Tomas Arana) from the dead.

Eventually his ministry reaches Jerusalem, where Jesus performs the Cleansing of the Temple and leads a small army to capture the temple by force, but halts on the steps and begins bleeding from his hands. This convinces him that violence is not the right path and that he must die to bring salvation to mankind. Confiding in Judas, he persuades the latter to give him to the Romans, despite Judas' inclination otherwise. Jesus convenes his disciples for Passover seder, later known as the Last Supper; whereupon Judas leads a contingent of soldiers to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, identifying him with a kiss. In the struggle to defend his master, Peter (Victor Argo) cuts off the ear of Malchus; whereupon Jesus reattaches it and turns himself over to the soldiers. Pontius Pilate (David Bowie) confronts Jesus and tells him that he must be put to death because he represents a threat to the Roman Empire. Jesus is subsequently flogged and a crown of thorns is placed on his head. He is then crucified.

While on the cross, Jesus converses with a young girl who claims to be his guardian angel (played by Juliette Caton). She tells him that he is neither the Son of God nor the Messiah, but that God loves him, is pleased with him, and wants him to be happy. She brings him down off the cross and, invisible to others, takes him to Mary Magdalene, whom he then marries. They are soon expecting a child and living an idyllic life; but Mary abruptly dies, and Jesus is consoled by his angel; wherefore he takes Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, for his wives. He starts a family with them, having many children, and lives his life in peace. Jesus is next seen as an older man who encounters the apostle Paul preaching about the Messiah and tries to tell Paul that he is the man about whom Paul has been preaching. Paul (who in this film has slain the resurrected Lazarus) repudiates him, saying that even if Jesus had not died on the cross, his message was the truth, and nothing would stop him from proclaiming that. Jesus debates him, claiming that salvation cannot be founded on lies.

Near the end of his life, an elderly Jesus calls upon his former disciples to his deathbed. Peter, Nathaniel, and a scarred John visit their master as Jerusalem is in the throes of rebellion; whereupon Judas comes last and reveals that the youthful angel who released Jesus from the crucifixion is in fact Satan. Crawling back through the burning city of Jerusalem, Jesus reaches the site of his crucifixion and begs God to let him fulfill his purpose and to "let him be God's son."

Jesus then finds himself once more on the cross, having overcome the "last temptation" of escaping death, being married and raising a family, and the ensuing disaster that would have consequently encompassed mankind. Naked and bloody, Jesus cries out in ecstasy as he dies, "It is accomplished!", and the screen flickers to white.

Cast

• Willem Dafoe as Jesus
• Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot
• Steve Shill as Centurion
• Verna Bloom as Mary, mother of Jesus
• Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene
• Roberts Blossom as Aged Master
• Barry Miller as Jerobeam
• Gary Basaraba as Andrew
• Irvin Kershner as Zebedee
• Victor Argo as Peter
• Paul Herman as Philip
• John Lurie as James
• Leo Burmester as Nathaniel
• Andre Gregory as John the Baptist
• Alan Rosenberg as Thomas
• Nehemiah Persoff as Rabbi
• Harry Dean Stanton as Saul/Paul of Tarsus
• Peter Berling as Beggar
• David Bowie as Pontius Pilate
• Leo Marks as Voice of Satan
• Juliette Caton as Girl Angel
• Martin Scorsese as the Voice of the Lion (uncredited)

Production

Martin Scorsese had wanted to make a film version of Jesus' life since childhood. Scorsese optioned the novel The Last Temptation in the late 1970s, and he gave it to Paul Schrader to adapt. The Last Temptation was originally to be Scorsese's follow-up to The King of Comedy; production was slated to begin in 1983 for Paramount, with a budget of about $14 million and shot on location in Israel. The original cast included Aidan Quinn as Jesus, Sting as Pontius Pilate, Ray Davies as Judas Iscariot, and Vanity as Mary Magdalene. Management at Paramount and its parent company, Gulf + Western grew uneasy due to the ballooning budget for the picture and protest letters received from religious groups. The project went into turnaround and was finally canceled in December 1983. Scorsese went on to make After Hours instead.

In 1986, Universal Studios became interested in the project. Scorsese offered to shoot the film in 58 days for $7 million, and Universal greenlighted the production. Critic and screenwriter Jay Cocks worked with Scorsese to revise Schrader's script. Aidan Quinn passed on the role of Jesus, and Scorsese recast Willem Dafoe in the part. Sting also passed on the role of Pilate, with the role being recast with David Bowie. Principal photography began in October 1987. The location shoot in Morocco (a first for Scorsese) was difficult, and the difficulties were compounded by the hurried schedule. "We worked in a state of emergency," Scorsese recalled. Scenes had to be improvised and worked out on the set with little deliberation, leading Scorsese to develop a minimalist aesthetic for the film. Shooting wrapped by December 25.

The film opened on August 12, 1988.

Controversy

Content

The film contains many elements not found within the texts of the four Gospel writers in the New Testament, and not supported by any historic teachings of the major traditions of Christianity. This has been a source of contention and controversy despite the disclaimer stating that it is "not based on the gospels" and is "fictional".

One of the dominant sources of controversy stems from an "alternate reality" near the end of the movie in which Jesus is depicted as marrying Mary Magdalene instead of dying on the cross. The rationale behind this scene is that embracing his full humanity represents the true last temptation of Christ; that is, the temptation to forego the cross and lead a life of a normal man, free from the burden of being crucified and of being the salvation of mankind. In the image of a beautiful, androgynous child, Satan suggests to Jesus that there is no real reason to die, and that he should come down from the cross and lead a normal human life, telling Jesus he is in fact not the Messiah. In this dreamscape, Jesus marries and raises a family, and lives through many other experiences considered part of a normal human existence.

Other controversial factors in the film include Jesus's vocation as a builder of crosses for the Romans, kissing other men on the lips, being tormented by the voice of God, lamenting the many sins he believes he has committed, using the divine name in the form Jehovah, and concluding the film with crucifixion rather than resurrection.

Protests

In 1989, Albuquerque high school teacher Joyce Briscoe showed the film to history students at La Cueva High School, raising a storm of controversy by parents and local Christian broadcaster KLYT.

In some countries, including Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, the film was banned or censored for several years. As of July 2010, the movie continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore.

Attack on Saint Michel theater, Paris

On October 22, 1988, a French Christian fundamentalist group launched Molotov cocktails inside the Parisian Saint Michel movie theater while it was showing the film. This attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned. The Saint Michel theater was heavily damaged, and reopened 3 years later after restoration. Following the attack, a representative of the film's distributor, United International Pictures, said, "The opponents of the film have largely won. They have massacred the film's success, and they have scared the public." Jack Lang, France's Minister of Culture, went to the St.-Michel theater after the fire, and said, "Freedom of speech is threatened, and we must not be intimidated by such acts." The Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, said "One doesn't have the right to shock the sensibilities of millions of people for whom Jesus is more important than their father or mother." After the fire he condemned the attack, saying, "You don't behave as Christians but as enemies of Christ. From the Christian point of view, one doesn't defend Christ with arms. Christ himself forbade it." The leader of Christian Solidarity, a Roman Catholic group that had promised to stop the film from being shown, said, "We will not hesitate to go to prison if it is necessary."

The attack was subsequently blamed on a Christian fundamentalist group linked to Bernard Antony, a representative of the far-right National Front to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and the excommunicated followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Lefebvre had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church on July 2, 1988. Similar attacks against theatres included graffiti, setting off tear-gas canisters and stink bombs, and assaulting filmgoers. At least nine people believed to be members of the Catholic fundamentalist group were arrested. Rene Remond, a historian, said of the Catholic far-right, "It is the toughest component of the National Front and it is motivated more by religion than by politics. It has a coherent political philosophy that has not changed for 200 years: it is the rejection of the revolution, of the republic and of modernism."

Critical reception and interpretation

The film has been supported by scholars, film critics and some religious leaders. In his review of the film, Roger Ebert, who gave the film four out of four stars, writes that Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader "paid Christ the compliment of taking him and his message seriously, and they have made a film that does not turn him into a garish, emasculated image from a religious postcard. Here he is flesh and blood, struggling, questioning, asking himself and his father which is the right way, and finally, after great suffering, earning the right to say, on the cross, 'It is accomplished.' Ebert later included the film in his list of "Great Movies".

Writers at NNDB claim that "Paul Schrader's screenplay and Willem Dafoe's performance made perhaps the most honestly Christ-like portrayal of Jesus ever filmed."

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the picture has been given a "Fresh" rating of 83%, with an average rating of 7.6 out of 10 as of December 2010.

Soundtrack and music

The film's musical soundtrack, composed by Peter Gabriel, received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Score - Motion Picture in 1988 and was released on CD with the title Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ, which won a Grammy in 1990 for Best New Age Album. The film's score itself helped to popularize world music. Gabriel compiled additional material by various musicians as Passion - Sources.

Various vocal samples of Willem Dafoe as Jesus were used in the single "The Prophet" by C. J. Bolland. The track was released in 1997 and was a worldwide dance club hit.^{[citation needed]}

Limited home video release

The film's controversial reception has limited the scope of its video release, although as a part of The Criterion Collection series it has received deluxe treatment on DVD and Laserdisc. This includes a commentary track in which Scorsese mentions his frustration at Blockbuster Video not putting the movie on its shelves. The film will be re-released on March 13, 2012 on DVD & Blu-ray.

External links

• The Last Temptation of Christ at the Internet Movie Database
• The Last Temptation of Christ at AllRovi
• The Last Temptation of Christ at Box Office Mojo
• The Last Temptation of Christ at Rotten Tomatoes
• Pictures of opening day protests against "Last Temptation of Christ" at Wide Angle/Closeup