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Analysis of the Last Temptation of Christ

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“The Last Temptation of Christ”
The Last Temptation of Christ is a highly controversial film that was released in 1988 by Martin Scorsese who claims his film is purely fiction. This story is based upon the analogy of the fictional novel entitled The Last Temptation of Christ, written by Nikos Kazantzaki. If you’ve ever wondered if there was any struggle between the spirit and flesh of Jesus Christ during his life as a human then this film tries to answer just that question. The main idea of this movie is suppose to give you a glance at the sinful temptations that Jesus Christ may have been subjected to while living as a human. By giving you a perception of the human side of Jesus and the agony he endured accepting his destiny; Scorsese hopes that Jesus becomes more identifiable in a manner where you can relate to the suffering he may have experienced in the process leading up to him dying on the cross for the sins of humanity.
The main casting characters in this film are Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, Andre Gregory as John the Baptist, and Verna Bloom as Mary, mother of Jesus. As the film begins, Jesus is a cross maker, he builds crosses for the Romans to be used during the punishment of Israelites. According to Jesus, he works with the Romans to spite God. He is angry because God loves him and he cannot stand to bare the pain of that love. The character of Jesus comes across as being a confused man by the voices he hears in his head, doubtful, depressed, and even deranged, nothing like a biblical figure at all as he tries to live with knowing his divine destiny that God has willed for his life. One can understand that if Jesus freely answered to the call of his fate without agony or sinful temptation, there would not be great sacrifice.
The film quickly becomes un-interesting as it drags on and on forever leading to the next sequence. Both the dialogue and character choices are horrible as Dafoe is poorly fit for the role of Jesus as he does not come across as being able to connect with the audience or being believable in his role of how Jesus suffered and what it meant . As the film continues, Jesus punishes himself by wearing a belt with nail studs around his waist because he feels that he is a coward and weak for not wanting to be subject to temptation or be chosen by God to save humanity. Scorsese has portrayed Jesus to look worst than any character in the film; from bad teeth, horrible clothing, unattractive looks, to looking completely un-kept at times. Even though many Christian movie goers who saw this film may have been uncomfortable with this depiction of Jesus Christ but according to the Holy Bible, God often chose to use those whom were normally looked at as being unfit for his calling as a way of showing his mighty power through them.
As the path of Jesus is revealed to him; he travels to teach many about the Holy God who comes to him, instructing him through dreams and visions on how to live through love and righteousness. Jesus tries to make clear since of the things he has been told by God but at times finds the instructions to be rather confusing. He gains many followers and also withstands ridicule from many who are in disbelief of his teachings. As many Christians and non Christians alike who may watch this film can all agree that they are able to relate to things that Jesus endures at this point because they have either been confused by what God has said to them and or has had the experience of the temptation to commit a sinful act. The connection that Jesus has to the prostitute Mary Magdalene is confusing and not understood at first until later in the film when Mary professes her fantasy of being in love with Jesus and wanting to have a family with him. Why would “Scorsese” link Jesus as wanting to be with a prostitute in his heart instead of any other woman? This wild imagination of “Scorsese” seems to really demean the godliness of the coming Messiah. John the Baptist is seen a few times throughout the film and was portrayed as being a weird and scary looking individual, similar to that of a witch doctor and not even coming close to the perception of what an honest man of God would look like.
Another disconnection in the film was in the scene of Mary, Jesus’ mother as she watched her son be sentenced at the cross for declaring that he was the Messiah. The emotions showed during this scene were not enough to allow the movie watchers to connect with some type of emotion that a mother would feel in the same situation. The few things throughout the film that are worth discussing are the character of Judas and Satan. Judas was the only character that was truly believable to some extent. The most intriguing issue was the relationship that Jesus and Judas shared with one another. Judas leaves his life behind to follow Jesus and to be at his side, a true friend who must have been tormented by the very act of having to be the link to the hour that Jesus is to meet his destiny. As for Satan, his character often changes as he continues to temp Jesus in several cunning and conniving forms.
As you move along near the ending of the film; the coming scenes appear a little confusing, leaving you not sure of what is completely happening. Jesus now has come to his ultimate sacrifice and is at his greatest weakness as he hangs nailed to the cross and begins to cry out asking God "Why have you forsaken me?" It is not clear if these next occurrences are actually taking place or is a hallucination that Jesus is having. A young child appears that seems as though only Jesus can see, removes his nails and tells him that he was not the Messiah after all and is relieved of his suffering. Jesus is then lead into a valley where he meets Mary Magdalene; they marry and have children. Jesus later ages and becomes ill. Jesus then is visited by aged apostles as they express to Jesus what is happening to the world because he chose to live as a human on earth and not fulfill his destiny that God had set before him.
The next thing you see is that Jesus has regained consciousness and is back on the cross accepting his death and then says “It is accomplished”. You are now left to decipher if the last scenes you just saw were Jesus being tempted by Satan one last time, showing Jesus that if he abandoned his destiny he could live happily on earth or was this God showing Jesus a vision of the future if he does not carry out his destiny and reassuring Jesus that he will not be forsaken and that his sacrifice would not be in vain. Overall the tone, dialogue, and characters were mediocre at best. For either the book or film although fictional to attempt to capture how Jesus may have suffered during his life on earth was a brilliant idea. One message this film will leave you with is that evil can be overcame if you allow God to lead you and follow his ways.

Cited Works
Film, Martin Scorsese, The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988

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