Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

Purely Joyful Movie!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Anyone interested in religion and frightened off by all the negative hype in the 90's when this was released should see this film. The first time I watched it, out of curiousity, and although quite lengthy, (stick with it) the last hour will blow you away! With Keitel (Judas) and DeFoe, their combined presence is ample to engross the movie fan, add David Bowie's cameo and understated pilate and Peter Gabriel's score, Barbara Hershey, this is a film to be reckoned with and a profound experience...

I recently saw A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995), arguably one of the most extensive and accessible documentaries about American film. Scorsese brings you into the beautiful world he first discovered very young, populated with rich characters, reverence towards film technology and awe towards auteurs he had come to respect. His contribution to the world of modern cinema is history making in its own right. A seasoned director and producer, Scorsese has also taken upon himself to champion film preservation on behalf of not just Hollywood movies, but movies worldwide; something for which I truly admire.Other aspects of the iconoclast I respect beyond measure are his non-gangster related films. Don't get me wrong I love Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), The Departed (2006) et al. but his other prestige projects; Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and, of course The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) hold a special place in my heart I must express. I consider those three films in particular, the staples of Scorsese's quest for absolution for which The Last Temptation is the culmination of his artistic expression during his early period.Scorsese has always said that if he hadn't caught the film bug and started pursuing pictures as a vocation, he would have become a priest. Indeed it was probably the filmmaker's religious instruction in youth that helped make Last Temptation and further inform its versatility, beauty universality. The film is in fact based on an immensely controversial book of the same name written by Nikos Kazantzakis. Both the film and book dares to expose the life of Jesus Christ as both human and divine, filled with both holy obligation and temporal temptation. The film diminishes Jesus in the eyes of some, making him out to be frail, afraid and even pedestrian.  I won't bore you with the actual plot of Last Temptation as it, for the most part comports with biblically recorded events. The difference is in the mind of its central character. Unlike Nicholas Ray's King of Kings (1961) or some of the earlier Hollywood hagiographies, Jesus is dispossessed of symbol status. He is not quite clear on his purpose and in the tradition of Abraham questions the decisions made by God. It is through his faults that the Devil finds a way into his tortured soul. In the 2/3rds mark, the devil, which up until then takes the temporal shape of a serpent, tempts Jesus with life free from godly responsibility. In a haze brought on by crucifixion, Jesus imagines living the life of a normal Judean plebeian, falling in love with Mary Magdalene, having children and dying of old age.Ultimately unfettered by the Devil's temptations, Jesus ultimately makes the choice to become the sacrificial Lamb of God, thus securing his divine status. Yet it was that very temptation among other liberties that made Christians go absolutely bonkers about The Last Temptation of Christ. Groups boycotted the film for its supposed blasphemies and religious extremists even firebombed the St. Michael Theatre in Paris during its theatrical release injuring ten. In the fervor of the film's release many of its detractors hurt their cause by purporting the Jews of Hollywood were out to destroy their religion.Destroy? I much doubt it. If anything Martin Scorsese's film is life and faith affirming. The film accepts and celebrates the Christian divinity of Jesus Christ while exposing an uncommon characterization that is much more believable. Not only believable but expresses the very thing that made Christ an important figure, his humanity! Furthermore the film creates a historical context which helps explain simultaneously how someone like Jesus could have existed and why his teachings were so prevalent and dangerous to the likes of Pontius Pilate and the Roman Empire.The Last Temptation of Christ is ultimately about a man who fights and ultimately accepts his narrative through faith in sacrifice. Nine years after hospitalization and treatment for cocaine addiction, Scorsese was no doubt galvanized by its message of a man fighting inner demons.While Last Temptation was made eight years after Raging Bull and twelve years after Taxi Driver, with four feature length films in- between I place Last Temptation among the triptych because they depict personal struggles on the part of the protagonists which mirror Martin Scorsese's own struggles with addiction. But while Raging Bull ends ruefully and Taxi Driver nihilistically, Last Temptation comes full circle, ending with a spiritual affirmation that even staunch zealots cannot deny.

It's been well over two and a half decades since this classic film directed by Martin Scorsese came out and what a following it had and not always for the better I might add. Not that I had anything negative to say about it, but it did cause an uproarious impact to over zealous religious fanatics who thought this film was blasphemous and an insult to the Bible let alone God's beloved son Jesus Christ. And even after so many years one has to wonder why? What was the reason for any kind of outrage? The reason "The Last Temptation of Christ" angered the religious community was how Jesus Christ was portrayed. He was depicted not as a patron saint, but as a normal man who conveyed emotions, concerns, fears, doubt and acceptance for who he was. This story is about as real to the person as any other film that portrayed him and refrained from making Christ look like a storybook character, but a real human being with exceptional talents with believable emotions. And it never once goes against any message that Christ has preached about through the years. The opening scene in which Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe) laying on the ground looks just like a picture page taken from the Bible. When he awakens we observe the man is in excruciating pain. During the course of time he is seen travel around from town to town, looking for knowledge as he remains both enthusiastic and fearful over what God has planned for him. One nailed to the cross The Devil persuades him to live a normal life as regular everyday person, married, with kids and an occupation which he gladly takes in. He eventually lives a fulfilling life as a mortal getting old and happy. While counting his last breaths as Jerusalem is in an inferno, he learns what he did wrong and pleads to his father for his wrong-doing and and to return to the cross and to die for everyone's sins. The humanistic plot point is that we get a better understanding of Jesus and why he sacrificed himself for the sake of our humanity. Whether he was a deity or a human is unimportant, the bottom line was that he was a great service to himself and to all of God's creatures big or small. The primary idiosyncrasy that makes this film more passionate than a certain anti-Semitic Mel Gibson interpretation was that director Martin Scorsese and scriptwriter Pal Schrader took the adaptation by Nikos Kanzantakis by detail and refrained from making it big-budgeted or grandeur. Though inspired by his predecessors from the 1950's he took his low-key interpretation and successfully kind spoke to the viewers instead of just making feel preachy and self-righteous. One of the primary things that turned people off about this movie was the usage of modernized dialect and the obvious New York accent by Harvey Keitel (Judas). My guess is that Scorsese just wanted to attract the moviegoers and to give them a indicator of what's happening in the scenes. If you wanted realism, the film should have been done in Hebrew with subtitles. If there was something that "The Last Temptation of Christ" ticked me off was the overabundance of major Hollywood stars. Sure they put in remarkable performances, but if they're just there to stuff money in their wallets than that is just unexceptional. Dafoe was an excellent choice in the role of Christ, but when regular Scorsese alums like Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Barbara Hershey no disrespect for David Bowie (RIP) playing supporting characters can be quite jarring at times. At least Scorsese corrected his mistake when he directed his next religious based film "Kundun" which was a career best for him.For me "The Last Temptation of Christ" is truly right up there with other Scorsese greats like "Taxi Driver", "Mean Streets", and "Raging Bull". The conflicts depicted here are equally poignant in terms of being both spiritual as it was physical. It was still not close to "Kundun" where the spiritual revelation is in full effect. But "The Last Temptation of Christ" has enough charm and enlightenment to lure anyone for a chance to see a film about Jesus Christ in more humane form rather than as a caricature.

IMDb STORYLINE: "The carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for Him. But as His mission nears fulfillment, He must face the greatest temptation; the normal life of a good man. Based, not on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name." Written by Nick Lopez ([email protected])"He must face the greatest temptation; the normal life of a good man." But is it the life of a "good" man? The temptation is so powerful because it is presented so attractively. In his fantasy- temptation, the make-believe Jesus sees himself in ripe old age surrounded by many women and children, having fallen for the misogynistic lie "There is only one woman in the world.": In his imagination, he betrays his pregnant wife Magdalene, the woman who has loved him since girlhood, by simultaneously impregnating Mary of Bethany. He goes on to imagine that he sleeps with her sister Martha in Mary's absence. But most obviously, he is tempted to betray his best friend, his close disciples, his other followers, the trusting crowds of Jerusalem, to turn his back on them, to walk away into a lush Eden-like landscape, to escape and hide. At last, this imaginary life of a "good" man is dramatically revealed as a temptation when his guardian "angel of light" dissolves in a flare of Satanic flame. So the real Jesus rejects this temptation once he sees through it. He remains to die on the cross.