THE LAST
TEMPTATION
OF CHRIST

1988 ***** 162 mins.

The first thing one must do before watching this film is to set aside his beliefs and inhibitions. Just sit back, pop this film in, and be completely swept away by its wonderment and beauty. Is this film controversial? Yes. Is it implausible? No.

Martin Scorsese did put a disclaimer at the beginning of this film saying that this film is not based on the Gospels. It is based directly on the fictional novel by Nikos Kazantzakis.

On the most part, it still holds true with the Bible. Anything that is illustrated in the movie that people find controversial, only find it controversial because it goes against what they believe, not what the Bible has written. The point is, we do not know, exactly, what happened when Jesus was alive. Different people are told different things, and this film shows that there is more than one or two ways of thinking about it. Why, exactly, did Jesus start teaching? All churches teach that it was his calling from God. Is that denied in this film? No. This film shows, though, that Jesus is a man, a human being. He knows what God wants him to do, but he has human doubts about it. He is scared not to do wrong; that is why he does right. Is this implausible? No, it is not.

Even the title "last temptation" is not, wholly, implausible. I mean, at first, I was being a bit blown away by it. I was not sure, exactly, what was going on or why it was going on. Then, though, it all falls into place in the very last shot.

This film is bold, beautiful, and magnificent. The experience of this film is something that will never be forgotten, nor should it be.