Drama

The Last Temptation of Christ

Universal Pictures

Cineplex-Odeon Films

United States of America

Canada

English

Willem Dafoe

Harvey Keitel

Paul Greco

Steve Shill

Verna Bloom

Barbara Hershey

Roberts Blossom

Barry Miller

Gary Basaraba

Irvin Kershner

Victor Argo

Michael Been

Paul Herman

John Lurie

Leo Burmester

Andre Gregory

Peggy Gormley

Randy Danson

Robert Spafford

Doris von Thury

Tomas Arana

Alan Rosenberg

Del Russel

Nehemiah Persoff

Donald Hodson

Harry Dean Stanton

Peter Berling

David Bowie

Juliette Caton

Mohammed Mabsout

Ahmed Nacir

Mokhtar Salouf

Mahamed Ait Fdil Ahmed

Russel Case

Mary Sellers

Donna Magnani

Penny Brown

Gabi Ford

Dale Wyatt

Domenico Fiore

Ted Rusoff

Leo Damian

Robert Laconi

Jonathan Zhivago

Illeana Douglas

D.J. Sharp

Khalid Benghrib

Redouane Farhane

Fabienne Panciatili

Naima Skikes

Souad Rahal

Otmane Chbani Idrissi

Jamal Belkhayat

Giovanni Cianfriglia

Martin Scorsese

Thelma Schoonmaker

Barbara De Fina

Nikos Kazantzakis

Michael Ballhaus

Harry J. Ufland

Peter Gabriel

Paul Schrader

Cis Corman

Ron Bochar

John Frankish

Alberto Tosto

Elio Altamura

Bruce Pross

Aldo Signoretti

Joseph P. Reidy

Philip Stockton

Florian Ballhaus

Thomas A. Gulino

Jeffrey Stern

Eliza Paley

Bona Nasalli-Rocca

Luigi Rocchetti

Mirella Ginnoto

Claudia Bianchi

Fabio Jephcott

Steven Visscher

Lisa J. Levine

Ahmed Hatimi

Mario Tursi

Manlio Rocchetti

Sergio Serantoni

Julie Alter

Maurizio Silvi

Zhor Bennani

Todd Kasow

Marc S. Shaw

Amelio Verona

Rachel Griffiths

Zineb Bendoula

Geraldine Peroni

Gail Showalter

Douglas Murray

Laura Fattori

Mario Michisanti

Ferdinando Merolla

Jay Cocks

Skip Lievsay

Tom Fleischman

Andrew Sanders

Jean-Pierre Delifer

Giorgio Desideri

John Beard

Orlando Ragusa

CinemaSerf

I come to this film as a bit of an agnostic, and so I rather appreciated the innovative take on the biblical events surrounding the life of Jesus Christ. It's an excellent Willem Dafoe who takes on that role as he roams the land of Palestine trying to spread a message of love. It's clear at the start that this is not Gospel-based, and that becomes evident as his closest ally is the sceptic "Judas" (Harvey Keitel) and by the fact that he makes a living making the cross-beams for the crucifixion crosses that the Romans use to execute his fellow citizens. As the story evolves, we are introduced to the characters who ended up being his apostles and we uncover more of a man who is constantly facing temptation - of the spirit and of the flesh - at the hands of a father who seems determined to test the very fabric of his son's essence. It largely follows the well trammelled path of previous "King of Kings" style chronologies but there are plenty of variations in the detail of the characterisations and some of the more memorable quotations and "miracles" are adapted. That doesn't always work and many of the most significant phrases from Christian literature are delivered a little underwhelmingly. A bit like saying "Alas poor Yorick - he used to be a mate of mine..." sort of thing, and that's where it feels a little uncomfortably akin to "Life of Brian" (1979). It's the last forty minutes that offers us much of the potency of the film (and it's title) and that's where the story becomes much more provocative - both intellectually and physically. In hindsight, given the way the life of Jesus is continually depicted as having/living, this offers us a perfectly rational continuation of his forty day ordeal in the desert and it also imbues the man with an innate degree of humanity and frailty that I found touching and plausible. It also quite openly postulates that "God" might be vengeful, might not be this benign entity and that perhaps deities in general are a creation of mankind's necessity for hierarchy and search for an understanding of the inexplicable rather than evidentially based on some miraculously benevolent being whose love of his children (us) is boundless. Barbara Hershey provides an emotionally engaging performance as the prostitute Mary Magdalene and there's the odd laugh in here too (especially if you are named Judith) to temper the accruing intensity of the story. I didn't really love the photography, and the occasional use of slo-motion seemed a bit incongruous, but that's nit picking. It's thought-provoking regardless of whether or not you have a religious frame of mind, and though a little on the slow side out of the starting gates, matures into something that challenges established and contrary perspectives and is well worth a watch.

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The Last Temptation of Christ

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Cast

Willem Dafoe

Harvey Keitel

Paul Greco

Steve Shill

Verna Bloom

Barbara Hershey

Roberts Blossom

Barry Miller

Gary Basaraba

Irvin Kershner

Box office

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