The Last Temptation of Christ – By Anthoney Baker

Title/Year The Last Temptation of Christ - 1988
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Martin Scoresese, American, 1942
Budget: $7 Million
Gross $8.3 Million
Synopsis: A retelling of the life and death of Jesus Christ.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Religious commentary, Assigned Human condition to sacred beliefs.
Characterization/Dialogue: Strong epic dialogue, changed at times to avoid cliché, biblical.
Camera/lighting/editing technique: Very strange visuals of the trials and tribulations of Jesus Christ.
Political/Social Commentary: The untold story of Jesus Christ as if he was an ordinary man who was faced with impossible temptation and asked to lead the people as a messiah.
Historical Relevance/ Recognition: Heavily banned. Heavily criticized and outwardly hated by the religions community.
Random fact, Etc. This was Scorsese’s first film shot on “location” that is to say Morocco, not Jerusalem.

I feel this movie was deemed controversial right from the start because of the subject matter. A retelling and alternative version of the life of Jesus Christ carries with it a wave of controversy no matter how well it is executed. Because many of the elements in the film are not found in the gospels, this film was subject to many experts that bashed it for being insensitive and untrue to popular beliefs. This film was banned in Turkey, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, and continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore. This film also caused many protest and during a screening in a Paris movie theater a Christian fundamentalist group attacked the theater with Molotov cocktails severely burning those inside and damaging the church. A spokesperson for United International Pictures released a statement saying “The opponents of the film have largely won. They have massacred the film's success, and they have scared the public." (Wiki)

Again because this movie is about Jesus Christ is already carries with it the sense the controversy. Even if the film played it safe and just told a story of known, or popularly believed truths, it would be the subject of many non-believers who think this kind of story has no place in the mainstream. However, this story being a fictional retelling of Jesus Christ as a ordinary man who is faced with impossible choices as the messiah brings with it a largely uncomfortable message for all who are easily offended whenever Jesus Christ is mentioned in Cinema.

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” showed that there is a place in the mainstream for a dialogue about Jesus Christ. Although largely a violent film about the crucifixion or Christ (Hence the name
“The Passion”) these two films are largely divided because The Last Temptation shows Jesus is a much more abstract and uncomfortable light. I think if this story was rereleased today it would still carry with it the same baggage as the last time. However, I do wholeheartedly believe that world events in the last decade have changed the American perspective to be a little more open-minded about the artistic and good-natured way of showcasing something as controversial as the story of Jesus. It is important to remember that this story doesn’t outcry the Christian faith. It merely asks the question “What if Jesus was a real man, and ordinary man, who was told by God that he was the one to lead to salvation of the Human race? What would that be like for the man we know today as Jesus Christ?” Moreover, I think if the film was released today it would more than likely go largely unnoticed in the mainstream. I don’t think there’s a dialogue for this kind of story yet, nor will there ever be.

I can’t help but feel that this story felt a little “campy” in places. Yes, the subject matter is deep. Yes, I went into this movie knowing it was banned. I still can’t escape the feeling that the movie left me with a “so what” feeling. I know that underneath its heavily criticized and lambasted exterior there is a deeper story that asks “who was Jesus, really?” I just wasn’t able to extrapolate the deeper meaning as well as I wanted to because the movie was so thick with arrogance. I think those who hate The last temptation of Christ hate it for the wrong reasons. I think those who are disappointed in it are so for the right reasons.

This film is a prime example of a movie that should be viewed no matter what. No matter where you stand in the beliefs of Jesus Christ or Christianity this movie should be viewed at least once. Especially by aspiring film makers as it touches on a very difficult aspect of filmmaking that is hard to articulate. The aspect of “why we make film?”