The Last Temptation of Christ | |
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Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
Screenplay by | Paul Schrader |
Based on | The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis |
Produced by | Barbara De Fina |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Michael Ballhaus |
Edited by | Thelma Schoonmaker |
Music by | Peter Gabriel |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 163 minutes [4] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $7 million [6] |
Box office | $33.8 million |
The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 religious drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader with uncredited rewrites from Scorsese and Jay Cocks, it is an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial 1955 novel of the same name. The film, starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Andre Gregory, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie, was shot entirely in Morocco.
The film depicts the life of Jesus Christ and his struggle with various forms of temptation including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust. The book and the film depict Christ being tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, which caused outrage from certain Christian groups, claiming the work as blasphemy. It includes a disclaimer stating: "This film is not based on the Gospels, but upon the fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict."
The Last Temptation of Christ received positive reviews from critics and some religious leaders, and Scorsese received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. Hershey's performance as Mary Magdalene earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Peter Gabriel's music score also received acclaim, including a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Dafoe's performance as Jesus was praised, with some thinking he should have been nominated for Best Actor. In stark contrast, Keitel's performance as Judas received a nomination for Worst Supporting Actor at the Golden Raspberry Awards.
Jesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in the Roman client state, Judea. He is torn between his own desires and his knowledge of God's plan for him. His friend Judas Iscariot is sent to kill him for collaborating with the Romans to crucify Jewish rebels, but suspects that Jesus is the Messiah and asks him to lead a war of liberation against the Romans. While Jesus assures him that his message is one of love for mankind, Judas warns him not to harm the rebellion.
Jesus starts preaching after saving prostitute Mary Magdalene from a stoning and after being baptized by John the Baptist. He acquires disciples, some who want freedom from the Romans while Jesus maintains people should tend to matters of the spirit. Jesus goes into the desert to test his connection to God, where he resists temptation by Satan. Returning from the desert, Jesus is nursed back to health by Martha and Mary of Bethany, who encourage him to marry and have children.
After performing miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus's ministry reaches Jerusalem, where he and his followers chase out money changers from the temple. He begins bleeding from his hands, which he recognizes as a sign that he must die on the cross to bring salvation to mankind and instructs Judas to give him to the Romans. Jesus convenes his disciples for a Passover seder, whereupon Judas leads a contingent of soldiers to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Although acknowledging his virtues and their significance, Pontius Pilate tells Jesus that he must be put to death as he represents a threat to the Roman Empire; he is subsequently beaten, flogged, mocked and taken to be crucified.
While on the cross, a young girl who claims to be Jesus's guardian angel tells him that, while he is the Son of God, he is not the Messiah and that God is pleased with him and wants him to be happy. She brings him down off the cross and takes him to Mary Magdalene, whom he marries. They live a happy life, but when she abruptly dies, Jesus is consoled by his angel and goes on to start a family with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. As an older man, Jesus encounters the apostle Paul preaching about the Messiah and tries to tell him that he is the man about whom Paul has been preaching. Paul 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, stating that salvation cannot be founded on lies.
Near the end of his life, with Jerusalem in the throes of rebellion, an elderly dying Jesus calls his former disciples to his bed. When Judas comes, he reveals Jesus's guardian angel is actually Satan, who tricked him into believing he did not have to give himself up to save the world. Crawling back through the burning city, Jesus reaches the site of his crucifixion and begs God to let him fulfill his purpose, stating "I want to be the Messiah!". 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. Jesus cries out "It is accomplished!" and dies.
Martin Scorsese had wanted to make a film version of Jesus' life and was fascinated by the imagery of Jesus since childhood. [7] He was given a copy of Nikos Kazantzakis's The Last Temptation of Christ in 1962 while attending New York University, but did not read it until 1972. During the filming of Boxcar Bertha he was given additional copies by Barbara Hershey and David Carradine. [8] From 1975 to 1978, he slowly read the book and decided that he should adapt it. [7] Paul Schrader wrote a screenplay based on the novel from 1981 to 1982. Scorsese and Jay Cocks edited Schrader's script over the course of eight months in 1983 and rewrote most of the dialogue. [7] Cocks was initially credited as a writer alongside Schrader on the poster, but was removed after Schrader appealed to the Writers Guild of America. [9]
Production started at Paramount Pictures in 1983 with a budget of $15–20 million. [10] Aidan Quinn as Jesus and Sting as Pontius Pilate were members of the original cast. Jason Miller was considered for John the Baptist, but he dropped out of the production. [11] [10] Management at Paramount and its then 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, disappointed at Paramount's abandonment of the project. [12]
Scorsese and his agent Harry J. Ufland attempted to revive the film and considered filming in Yugoslavia, Spain, or North Africa. [13] In 1986, Universal Studios became interested in the project. Scorsese offered to shoot the film in 58 days for $7 million, [6] and Universal eventually greenlighted the production, as Scorsese agreed to direct a more mainstream film for the studio in the future (which eventually resulted in Cape Fear ). [14]
Scorsese first noticed Willem Dafoe in To Live and Die in L.A. and Dafoe's performance in Platoon confirmed his beliefs about Dafoe's acting ability. [15] Sting was replaced by David Bowie. [16]
John Beard was hired as production designer at the suggestion of Terry Gilliam. Scorsese stated that he did not want the film to be lavish and was avoiding "pomp, solemnity, or excessive reverence". Jean-Pierre Delifer created the costumes for the film. On the first day of filming Scorsese was critical of the cleanliness of the Roman soldiers and had the extras roll around in the dirt. [17]
Shooting was done in Morocco and the village of Oumnast served as Nazareth and Magdala. The desert scenes were shot twenty minutes outside of Oumnast. Meknes was used for the scenes in Jerusalem and the stables of Ismail Ibn Sharif were similar to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which Scorsese had hoped to use for the 1983 shoot. Two days of filming was done in the mountains near Azrou and Itto. [16] There were few special effects in the film and Scorsese relied on lighting and editing instead. [17] The pagan temple featured in the scene depicting the Sermon on the Mount was based on Babylonian designs. [18]
The crucifixion was shot over three days using sixty different camera setups. [18] Filming was difficult as Dafoe could only stay on the cross for two to three minutes. [15] The slow-motion shot of the jeering crowd at the crucifixion was inspired by a painting of the crucifixion done by Hieronymus Bosch. [17]
Principal photography began in October 1987, and wrapped by December 25, 1987.[ citation needed ]
Scorsese stated that Judas "represents violence, the strong arm, but that's not the right way." and that the film was a conflict between the principles of brute force and love. [15]
Scorsese stated that he found "some passages of the book to be a bit hard on women". He noted that the Apostles were the first to abandon Jesus while women remained with him. The angel's line that "There's only one woman in the world. One woman with many faces." was meant to alert the audience that the angel was a trick by Satan. [19]
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 , which won a Grammy in 1990 for Best New Age Album. The film's score itself helped to popularize world music. Gabriel subsequently compiled an album called Passion – Sources , including additional material by various musicians that inspired him in composing the soundtrack, or which he sampled for the soundtrack. The original scores brought together many international artists including Pakistani musician and vocalist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Egyptian kanun player Abdul Aziz, Turkish ney flute player Kudsi Ergüner, Armenian duduk players Antranik Askarian and Vatche Housepian.
The film opened on August 12, 1988. [20] The film was later screened as a part of the Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 1988. [21] In response to the film's acceptance as a part of the festival's lineup, director Franco Zeffirelli removed his film Young Toscanini from the program. [22]
Although The Last Temptation of Christ was released on VHS and Laserdisc, many video rental stores, including the then-dominant Blockbuster Video, declined to carry it for rental, as a result of the film's controversial reception. [23] In 1997, the Criterion Collection issued a special edition of The Last Temptation of Christ on Laserdisc, which Criterion re-issued on DVD in 2000 and on Blu-ray disc in Region A in March 2012 and Region B in April 2019. [24]
The Last Temptation of Christ opened in 123 theaters on August 12, 1988, in the United States and Canada, and grossed $401,211 in its opening weekend. At the end of its run, it had grossed $8,373,585 in the United States and Canada. [25] Internationally, it grossed $25.4 million for a worldwide total of $33.8 million. [26]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 82% of 103 film critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The consensus states: "Contrary to accusations of irreverence, The Last Temptation of Christ's biggest sins are actually languid pacing and some tinny dialogue — but Martin Scorsese's passion for the subject shines through in an oft-transcendent rumination on faith." [27] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 80 based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [28]
In a four-out-of-four star review for the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert, who later included the film in his list of "Great Movies", [29] wrote 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.'" [30] Gene Siskel from the Chicago Tribune said: "Dafoe manages to draw us into the mystery, anguish and joy of the holy life. This is anything but another one of those boring biblical costume epics. There is genuine challenge and hope in this movie." [28]
A review associated with Catholic News Service asserts that The Last Temptation of Christ "fails because of artistic inadequacy rather than anti-religious bias." [31] Halliwell's Film Guide awarded it one star from a possible four, describing it as "beautifully shot and strikingly acted, but wordy and too long". [32] Alan Jones awarded it four stars out of five for Radio Times , calling it "a challenging essay on the life of Jesus" and "neither blasphemous nor offensive", though he felt it was "slightly too long, and Scorsese does pull some punches in deference to the subject matter", but described these as "minor criticisms" and concluded that it was a "sincere work". [33]
On October 22, 1988, an Integralist Catholic group set fire to the Saint Michel cinema in Paris while it was showing the film. Shortly after midnight, an incendiary device ignited under a seat in the less supervised underground room, where a different film was being shown. The incendiary device consisted of a charge of potassium chlorate, triggered by a vial containing sulphuric acid. [34] The attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned, and severely damaged the cinema.
In Roger Ebert's book Scorsese by Ebert, the critic wrote of the reaction to The Last Temptation of Christ, "...Scorsese was targeted by death threats and the jeremiads of TV evangelists". [35] The threats were significant enough that Scorsese had to use bodyguards during public appearances for a few years. [36]
Because of the film's departures from the gospel narratives—and especially a brief scene wherein Jesus and Mary Magdalene consummate their marriage—several Christian groups organized vocal protests and boycotts of the film prior to and upon its release. One protest, organized by a religious Californian radio station, gathered 600 protesters to picket the headquarters of Universal Studios' then parent company MCA. [37] One of the protestors dressed up as MCA's Chairman Lew Wasserman and pretended to drive nails through Jesus' hands into a wooden cross. [20] Evangelist Bill Bright offered to buy the film's negative from Universal in order to destroy it. [37] [38] The protests were effective in convincing several theater chains not to screen the film. [37] One of those chains, General Cinemas, later apologized to Scorsese for doing so. [20]
Mother Angelica, a Catholic nun and founder of Eternal Word Television Network, described Last Temptation as "the most blasphemous ridicule of the Eucharist that's ever been perpetrated in this world" and "a holocaust movie that has the power to destroy souls eternally." [39] [40] In some countries, including Greece, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, the film was banned or censored for several years. As of February 2024, the film continued to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore. [41] In February 2020, Netflix revealed the film to be one of the five titles that have been removed from the Singapore version of Netflix at the demand of the Singapore government's Infocomm Media Development Authority. [42] [43]
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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Academy Awards | Best Director | Martin Scorsese | Nominated |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Barbara Hershey | Nominated |
Best Original Score – Motion Picture | Peter Gabriel | Nominated | |
Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Supporting Actor | Harvey Keitel | Nominated |
Grammy Awards | Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television | Peter Gabriel | Nominated |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Director | Martin Scorsese | Runner-up |
MTV Movie Awards Mexico | Best Miracle in a Movie | Willem Dafoe for "The wine at Caná (Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding)" | Nominated |
National Board of Review Awards | Top Ten Films | 5th Place | |
Venice International Film Festival | Filmcritica "Bastone Bianco" Award | Martin Scorsese | Won [a] |
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American filmmaker. He emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He has been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1998, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
Mary Magdalene was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be a toponymic surname, meaning that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea.
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks in his first film role. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, the film follows Travis Bickle, a veteran Marine and taxi driver, and his deteriorating mental state as he works nights in the city.
Jesus Christ Superstar is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with much of the plot centered on Judas, who is dissatisfied with the direction in which Jesus is steering his disciples. Contemporary attitudes, sensibilities and slang pervade the rock opera's lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the depiction of political events. Stage and film productions accordingly contain many intentional anachronisms.
The Last Temptation of Christ or The Last Temptation is a historical novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in its original Greek in 1955 before being translated into English in 1960. The novel depicts the life of Jesus and his struggles with various forms of temptation, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust.
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mel Gibson. It stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It also draws on pious accounts such as the Friday of Sorrows, along with other devotional writings, such as the reputed visions attributed to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.
William James "Willem" Dafoe is an American actor. Known for his prolific career portraying diverse roles in both mainstream and arthouse films, he is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, four Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Movie Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Lars von Trier, Julian Schnabel, Wes Anderson, and Robert Eggers. Dafoe was a founding member of experimental theater company The Wooster Group.
After Hours is a 1985 American black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Joseph Minion, and produced by Amy Robinson, Griffin Dunne, and Robert F. Colesberry. Dunne stars as Paul Hackett, an office worker who experiences a series of misadventures while attempting to make his way home from Manhattan's SoHo district during the night.
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader has also worked extensively as a director: his 23 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis.
Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey, is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including westerns and comedies. She began acting at age 17 in 1965 but did not achieve widespread critical acclaim until the 1980s. By that time, the Chicago Tribune referred to her as "one of America's finest actresses".
The King of Kings is a 1927 American synchronized sound epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It depicts the last weeks of Jesus before his crucifixion and stars H. B. Warner in the lead role. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the RCA Photophone sound-on-film process.
Kundun is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grandnephew of the Dalai Lama, stars as the adult Dalai Lama, while Tencho Gyalpo, a niece of the Dalai Lama, appears as the Dalai Lama's mother.
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Kristo is a 1996 Filipino biblical drama film depicting the life of Jesus Christ. Produced by Cine Suerte Productions, Fallout Studios and Oasis of Love Movement, Kristo stars Mat Ranillo III in the title role, together with Rez Cortez, Ruel Vernal (Peter), Michael Locsin (John), freelance model and then college student Charmaine Rivera, Amy Austria.
Silence is a 2016 historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō, marking the third filmed adaptation of the novel. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Tadanobu Asano, Ciarán Hinds and Liam Neeson. The plot follows two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel from Portugal to Edo period Japan via Macau to locate their missing mentor and spread Catholic Christianity. The story is set in a time when it was common for the faith's Japanese adherents to hide from the persecution that resulted from the suppression of Christianity in Japan after the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) against the Tokugawa shogunate. These are now called the Kakure Kirishitan, or "hidden Christians".
Mary Magdalene is a 2018 biblical drama film about the woman of the same name, written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett and directed by Garth Davis. It stars Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Tahar Rahim.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Below are the titles we've removed to date, as of February 2020 — just nine in total since we launched. ... In 2019, we received a written demand from the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to remove The Last Temptation of Christ from the service in Singapore only.