The Last Temptation of Christ
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Paul Schrader
Starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton

Martin Scorsese has recently said that Hugo is his most personal film to date. Surely before that, The Last Temptation of Christ must have landed that honor (not counting Italian American, his short documentary on his parents). Upon its release, his big screen adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ controversial novel was met with bans, protests, and even violence. Now, over twenty years later, the film’s controversies have tempered, revealing a sincere attempt at humanizing Jesus as a means of exploring big questions of faith and spirituality.

As far as I can tell, The Last Temptation of Christ follows the basic story of Jesus fairly closely, with a few major diversions. He’s a carpenter, he inspires his followers (and his twelve apostles), he performs miracles, and he’s ultimately crucified (spoiler). Right from the start though, it’s clear something is a little different about this telling of his story. In the first scene, we see Jesus building part of a crucifix, and subsequently carrying it on his back through town. A clever red herring as in this case, Jesus is merely a craftsman responsible for the construction of the cross. Immediately, this goes against the traditional characterization of Christ, adding a moral dilemma to his story. He essentially makes torture devices on which men slowly die. Beyond that, Jesus seems to resist his divine role and is tempted by the idea of living life as a normal human being. During the crucifixion, a little girl (or boy?) tells him he’s not the chosen one, allowing him to step down from the cross and lead a normal life. He marries Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey), has kids, and grows old. It’s this controversial take on the story that led fundamental Christians to call for the film to be destroyed, even though a title card at the front of the film clearly states it’s not based on the Gospels.

Scorsese’s humanization of Jesus Christ raises some interesting questions about ones own faith and spirituality. Unfortunately, if you’re not a religious person, this examination is probably less powerful than to those who may consider their own beliefs when taking in the film’s hypothetical scenario. For me, The Last Temptation of Christ’s handling of this subject matter is commendable from the perspective of craft and taste, choosing to investigate the complexities of the character of Jesus; something that’s usually missing in big-screen adaptations of his story. To put it into even slighter terms, it’s like comparing the shallow representation of Batman in Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin, versus Christopher Nolan’s more complex, realistic take on the character in The Dark Knight. It’s the mere decision to dig a little deeper and explore these inner conflicts that makes the film stand about amongst the rest. Having said that, I don’t think it has the same emotional resonance for me as it would for somebody who might truly be touched (or offended) by the concept of a Christ who isn’t naturally divine, but rather experiences the same emotions and desires faced by a normal human being. Still, Scorsese succeeds in giving us a daring and complicated examination of a literary figure who’s story has remained the same for thousands of years.

The Last Temptation of Christ is somewhat stylistically restrained, especially coming from a filmmaker like Scorsese. Aside from Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing and a few quick camera push-ins, Scorsese’s aesthetic is mostly absent. Based on the history of the production and the troubles faced while shooting daytime exteriors in Morocco, he apparently had to forgo complex set ups in favor of a more practical, schedule friendly approach. He was continually racing against the sun and struggling to stay under budget, so there was more of a focus on working with the actors rather than indulging in stylistic flourishes. Probably the boldest aesthetic choice is Peter Gabriel’s unique score. He infuses world music into otherwise modern sounding compositions, resulting in a cognitive dissonance that Scorsese has been known to take advantage of from time to time (Goodfellas immediately comes to mind). Cinematically, the film is accomplished and mature, but lacks Scorsese’s typically energetic and inventive brand of filmmaking that might have made up for my lack of personal investment.

Last Temptation of Christ comes to blu ray with a crisp, fairly consistent high definition presentation. The film’s color palette isn’t necessarily vibrant as the entire film takes place in a desert setting. Still, what’s important is recreating the intent of the filmmaker rather than boosting saturation simply to enhance the experience. I will say though, there’s one moment in the film that really did not translate well digitally. It’s the scene in which Jesus draws a circle around himself and is then visited by a snake, lion, and flame in the night. This sequence is surprisingly problematic as there’s a noticeable (yet tiny) amount of macroblocking in the night sky. It also seems as though some DNR has been applied to control some of the grain in the sequence. Most noticeable however, is some extreme banding during the moment in which Jesus is visited by a talking flame. I was actually surprised by how bad this moment looked. Outside of this anomaly, the film looks great on blu ray. As for extras, Criterion has ported the same bonus features previously available on the DVD edition, including on-set video diaries shot by Martin Scorsese; an audio commentary with Scorsese, Willem Dafoe, Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks; multiple image galleries, and an interview with Peter Gabriel. – Jay C.

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