Just watched this for the first time a few weeks ago, and I've found myself going back to certain clips every now and then. It's a phenomenal movie by my standards.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
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MiracleSleeper wrote:Just watched this for the first time a few weeks ago, and I've found myself going back to certain clips every now and then. It's a phenomenal movie by my standards.
TOP 3 Marty material, in my opinion.
It's so captivating.
Best Jesus film ever. One of the greatest scores ever, too.
And yeah, one of Scorsese's absolute best. It's funny, for some reason I thought he would change his style for a film like this, but he really doesn't.
And yeah, one of Scorsese's absolute best. It's funny, for some reason I thought he would change his style for a film like this, but he really doesn't.
Ah, böwakawa! Poussé, poussé...
Ah, böwakawa! Poussé, poussé...
Ah, böwakawa! Poussé, poussé...
Ah, böwakawa! Poussé, poussé...
Ah, böwakawa! Poussé, poussé...
Yeah, that's why out of 31 votes in our NolanFans poll it has none 
Kids voted with Departed 
To be fair I think it's one of Scorsese's films least seen. I myself only saw bits and pieces of it
Kids voted with Departed To be fair I think it's one of Scorsese's films least seen. I myself only saw bits and pieces of it
The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my top five favorite movies, and I'm not even Christian. I'd go as far as saying that it may even be Scorsese's best film.
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
who are youEternalist wrote:The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my top five favorite movies, and I'm not even Christian. I'd go as far as saying that it may even be Scorsese's best film.
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
Post in the real life picture thread.Eternalist wrote:The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my top five favorite movies, and I'm not even Christian. I'd go as far as saying that it may even be Scorsese's best film.
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
who are youmchekhov 2: Chek Harder wrote:Post in the real life picture thread.Eternalist wrote:The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my top five favorite movies, and I'm not even Christian. I'd go as far as saying that it may even be Scorsese's best film.
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
Posts: 55632
Joined:
May 2010
mchekhov 2: Chek Harder wrote:Post in the real life picture thread.Eternalist wrote:The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my top five favorite movies, and I'm not even Christian. I'd go as far as saying that it may even be Scorsese's best film.
What I admire most about the movie is how it doesn’t take the life of Jesus for granted, it delves head-first into who he may have been as a man with fears and desires, carrying the unimaginable burden of divine destiny on his shoulders. Fundamentalists predictably raged against it – they’d prefer a non-thinking film.
If you haven't read it already, Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review for the film:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... 70303/1023
"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 name… Jesus."
Boy, am I glad I saw this thread. The Last Temptation of Christ had a huge impact on me (still does, I guess). I wouldn't say it's my favorite Scorsese picture - as a matter of fact, I don't think I'll ever pick one (just don't want to, since I consider 99% of them to be masterpieces) but Last Temptation is surely up there, among my chosen top ones.
Back in 89, besides the fact that it was a Scorsese picture, I was very much anticipating watching it because of all the controversy it has generated months before its release. Though I've been raised to be a catholic, I never became one, but I always enjoyed Biblical stories and I think that the Passion of Christ is the most powerful one. Like most of us, I've seen several movie adaptations of it, but nothing could've prepared me for this particular take on this epic tale. Even though we're talking about Jesus, after all these years, I still find that the best way to describe the movie is "beautifully angry" (in the sense of the intensity in which it expresses its message). I'm not gonna make comments on the book (which I only read years afterwards) cause, to be honest, it didn't give me the same satisfaction as the movie did. And what a satisfaction that was!
The cast is amazing - but I credit Scorsese for making it work so well. Dafoe's Jesus is radical and loving (and, why not? very cool - never seen Dafoe like that before, and to be honest, at first, I thought it was an odd choice for Jesus). Keitel's Judas was also very intense and cool (the bloody revolutionary of a cause that, in his own way, embraced the revolution of the spirit). Though Mary Magdalene is briefly exploited, Barbara Hershey (with those awesome tattoos) delivers a powerful performance. And the remaining supporting cast Among others, great choices like Verna Bloom as Mary, mother of Jesus, Barry Miller (that guy from Fame, remember?) as Jerobeam, the late Irvin Kershner (director of Empire Strikes Back among others) as Zebedee, Victor Argo (whom we've seen many times in gangster roles) as Peter, Andre Gregory as John the Baptist, Harry Dean Stanton as Saul / Paul, Juliette Caton as the angel and last, but not least, David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. Also worth mentioning is English screen and playwriter Leopold Marks as the voice of Satan (very classy), and (why not?) Scorsese as the voice of the Lion (I thought it was Keitel at first).
Well, I could go on, and on, but I guess that's enough to show my appreciation for this masterpiece. No doubt, one of Scorsese's most inspired moments.
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 name… Jesus."
Boy, am I glad I saw this thread. The Last Temptation of Christ had a huge impact on me (still does, I guess). I wouldn't say it's my favorite Scorsese picture - as a matter of fact, I don't think I'll ever pick one (just don't want to, since I consider 99% of them to be masterpieces) but Last Temptation is surely up there, among my chosen top ones.
Back in 89, besides the fact that it was a Scorsese picture, I was very much anticipating watching it because of all the controversy it has generated months before its release. Though I've been raised to be a catholic, I never became one, but I always enjoyed Biblical stories and I think that the Passion of Christ is the most powerful one. Like most of us, I've seen several movie adaptations of it, but nothing could've prepared me for this particular take on this epic tale. Even though we're talking about Jesus, after all these years, I still find that the best way to describe the movie is "beautifully angry" (in the sense of the intensity in which it expresses its message). I'm not gonna make comments on the book (which I only read years afterwards) cause, to be honest, it didn't give me the same satisfaction as the movie did. And what a satisfaction that was!
The cast is amazing - but I credit Scorsese for making it work so well. Dafoe's Jesus is radical and loving (and, why not? very cool - never seen Dafoe like that before, and to be honest, at first, I thought it was an odd choice for Jesus). Keitel's Judas was also very intense and cool (the bloody revolutionary of a cause that, in his own way, embraced the revolution of the spirit). Though Mary Magdalene is briefly exploited, Barbara Hershey (with those awesome tattoos) delivers a powerful performance. And the remaining supporting cast
Among others, great choices like Verna Bloom as Mary, mother of Jesus, Barry Miller (that guy from Fame, remember?) as Jerobeam, the late Irvin Kershner (director of Empire Strikes Back among others) as Zebedee, Victor Argo (whom we've seen many times in gangster roles) as Peter, Andre Gregory as John the Baptist, Harry Dean Stanton as Saul / Paul, Juliette Caton as the angel and last, but not least, David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. Also worth mentioning is English screen and playwriter Leopold Marks as the voice of Satan (very classy), and (why not?) Scorsese as the voice of the Lion (I thought it was Keitel at first).I feel the same way. IMO, it feels like Paul Schrader's screenplay adaptation (along with - uncredited - Scorsese and Jay Cocks) and Scorsese's actors direction takes a more contemporary approach, distancing itself from a classic one (and again, IMO, it works very well). As a matter of fact, guess you could say this about the whole film. I dare say that because of this, in a way, the most strong feeling I had (have) about The Last Temptation is that it brought me closer to Jesus. I mean, that's a Jesus I can relate to more than the iconic Biblical one.ArmandFancypants wrote:Best Jesus film ever.
No doubt, I also feel very strongly about this. OK, I've always been a big fan of Peter Gabriel and loved the adaptation of some of his songs in the soundtrack of Alan Parker's Birdy (1984), but in this case, it was such a rich and original musical approach that the soundtrack became notorious as a precursor for the "world music" genre. After all these years, I still listen to it, especially tracks like "Of These, Hope", "Lazarus Raised", "Zaar", "Open", "With This Love" and "Passion", to name a few. So yes, the score is fantastic, but in the end, we gotta congratulate Scorsese for making such a bold choice with Gabriel.ArmandFancypants wrote:One of the greatest scores ever, too.
I thought so too, but boy, am I happy he didn't. His (and Thelma Schoonmaker's too) style is very present here and IMO, is an aspect that makes the film even stronger. The amazing crucifiction sequence is a good example of Scorsese visual style narrative, filled with expressionism, great editing and overwhelming music.ArmandFancypants wrote:(…) It's funny, for some reason I thought he would change his style for a film like this, but he really doesn't.
Well, I could go on, and on, but I guess that's enough to show my appreciation for this masterpiece. No doubt, one of Scorsese's most inspired moments.
