L'ultima tentazione di Cristo

Condemned by Fundamentalists upon release, delayed by outcries from hypocrites and liars, and boycotted in any city where it played "The Last Temptation of Christ" is one of the most controversial movies ever made. Instead of showing Christ as a fearless and perfect person, "The Last Temptation" depicts Him as a person who fought his destiny and wished to be just another mortal human being. Religious groups who couldn't (and still can't) accept the fact that Jesus was human were shocked by such ideas and refused to see the film or read the landmark novel on which it was based. They'll never know that they attacked one of the most honest and loving depictions of Christ.

The Christ we see in the film is not based on the teachings of the Gospels, or any scripture for that matter. Instead we get a portrait of Christ the man, not Christ the Savior. We get to see his faults, his fears and anxieties. Then, we get to see him overcome those and find the strength to fulfill his destiny. The Last Temptation of Christ is not afraid to say that Jesus was weak before he became the Savior, and that makes the film all the more satisfying. This is a tale of redemption, courage, and love like no other.

There is no reason to miss this film. Not everyone will like it, but at the very least it will let you see another perspective of the story. And even if you can't accept the story, you won't be able to deny the greatness of Scorsese's direction. From the epic crowd scenes, to the intimate one-on-one conversations, to the stunning final shot (which was actually caused by an overexposed section of film, but is beautiful nonetheless), you will be awed by Scorsese's work here.

Also stunning is the work of the two leads. Willem Dafoe inhabits the role of Christ perfectly, bringing perfectly controlled emotion to each and every scene. Harvey Keitel as Judas has been the subject of debate because of his NYC accent. That was on purpose (Scorsese used accents to denote the descent of characters. American accent = Israelite; British accent = Roman), but it doesn't even matter. Keitel is brilliant no matter what his accent is.

Honest, human, loving, and unafraid, "The Last Temptation of Christ" is one of the great cinematic achievements of all time. Martin Scorsese crafted with this film his most personal masterpiece, and perhaps his greatest masterpiece ever.

If you want a new perspective on an old story this film is for you. I can see why so many devout christians were upset about this film because it really presents a Jesus that is threatnig to traditional beliefs. If you have read Kazantzakis' novel the intro outlines he true nature of this story. It deal primaraly with the idea of being both human and god and what kind of implications that might have had on Jesus as an individual. Scorsese shows us Jesus' personal stuggle to try and deny his importance as he wants to reced into the life of a normal person. At no time did Scorsese or Kazantzakis claim this story to be anything but fiction, however it does make you wonder about the psyche of "the christ."

I must state before I talk about the movie that I have been a Christian for the last five years. I live my life to be Christlike, as well as I do believe with all of my heart in the story of the gospels.

I must say, of all of the variations I've heard telling the story of Jesus Christ, through seven years of presbyterian school and nineteen years of catholic upbringing, this movie by far offers the most compelling, the most accessible, and is the only one that really makes Jesus out to what I believe him to be.

Supposedly Jesus was the Son of God and supposedly Jesus was a human. So what is wrong with him being tempted as every man is? There is a huge difference between being tempted and actually committing the sin. The miracle of Jesus is that he did not sin. He did not succumb to the carnal desires that all men must invariably do. Yet his struggle to resist temptation as well as find out who He really was makes him all the more human and the story of Christ so much more inspiring.

Scorsese's vision coupled with Willem DaFoe in the best performance of his career capture that struggle and that humanity. And as a result, I've never been more proud to be a Christian.

This is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen! I was amazed with all of the performances. This is certainly one of Martin Scorsese's great accomplishments in his extensive and highly acclaimed carrier. This movie was very important to Scorsese and he would put it off several times because he felt he wasn't ready to do it. I think that the wait was worth it, because this was an outstanding movie.

This is one of those movies that you either really liked, or really didn't like. Most of the people who didn't like this found it to be a mockery of the Gospels and Christ himself. I liked it because it did follow the Bible very closely, it was a fantastic telling of Jesus Christ's last days and his greatest accomplishments, and because the acting was very good.

I thought Willem Defoe was spell binding as Jesus Christ. Some people will say that he wasn't enough like Jesus, but you do have to realize that this is probably the hardest character to play and I think that Defoe did the best job that anyone could have done at playing Christ. Harvey Keitel did an equally excellent job at playing Judas, Jesus's best friend, who eventually betrays Him so the world can be saved. This may be Keitel's best performance (if not, it is one of the three). Barbara Hershey was also a great supporting roll as Mary Magdalene.

This movie is certainly not for everyone. Many people with very strong religious convictions will see this movie as offensive, simply because Christ is portrayed a frightened man who sees his fate as a burdon through 'half' of the film, and I implicate the word 'half' for a reason. For everyone else, I say go rent this, because this is a powerful and magnificent version of the final months of Christ. When you watch this, you just might have to wonder (I know I did), what will be the last temptation of Christ? 10/10

I thought this movie was an excellent piece of film making. A fabulous score and stunning cinematography take us through the inner struggle of Jesus in accepting his role and his duty. It tells how he faced temptation, ridicule , torture and triumph. Before you burn my name in effigy for liking this movie, be open minded and just experience a good film. The "disclaimer" at the beginning of the movie says it all. It is not necessarily based on events in the Bible. Just as Jesus used parables as a way of teaching, this movie tells a story of a man's life and events that we can all somehow personally relate to. By the way, the portrayal of Satan was the best I've seen yet.