comment #1

BurmaShave says ...

Saw it this year for the first time. Dustin Hoffman owes Willem Dafoe a Best Actor Oscar.

comment #2

bdboudreaux says ...

Despite being a devout atheist I love this movie. I'm looking forward to showing this to my kids as part of explaining religion to them. This movie is head and shoulders above the Passion of the Christ AKA Jesus Christ: Beyond the Thunder Dome because it does have a deeper meaning and a deeper understanding of what the story of Jesus and the teaching are supposed to be, rather that the guilt "this is how much he suffered" bullshit.

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

Also Keitel's performance in this has always been unjustly maligned. If you listen to the commentary, the regional accents were exactly what Scorsese was going for. He and Harry Dean Stanton did it better than anyone else.

comment #4

MindlessObamaton says ...

I also saw it the year it came out, while visiting my sister in chicago. Came back home and one day told my english teacher I had seen it. It was during class and he freaked out, saying it was obscene. He was a cool guy, except for that rant, which i came back on. I knew it was a classic. two years later, that same teacher got caught trolling for cock at a local men's room. So it goes.

comment #5

p.Vice says ...

Yet another daring, inspired film that would never even make it in front of a camera today. Willem Dafoe and Harvey Keitel? Religious controversey? Go fuck yourself!

comment #6

scooterzz says ...

i saw this in a screening room on the universal lot shortly before it opened....just me and a local tv movie reviewer....he snored through the entire film....a week later, i happened to catch him on the air saying how much he loooooooooved it.......

comment #7

swordandpen says ...

This is probably Scorsese's most underrated film. Deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Mean Streets.

That Christians embraced Mel Gibson's snuff film/guilt trip rather than this made me wonder if they even understand their own religion. I don't believe in any religion, but the final moments of the movie bring tears to me eyes.

comment #8

Kim Voynar says ...

20 years ago? Good lord. Thanks, now I feel really old. But thanks for bringing up the movie ... one of my favorite films ever, and certainly my favorite religious film.

comment #9

Bilge says ...

The only Jesus film that can match this is THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, but this is clearly one of Scorsese's masterpieces. And yes, I agree with everyone praising Keitel's performance. It's an incredible acting job -- the sheer amount of tenderness and complexity he brings to Judas is amazing.

Watch that scene at the end where Judas confronts the aging Jesus, while the world burns in the background. It's one of the most unforgettable confrontations in the history of cinema, and it constitutes the film's most glorious act of blasphemy: Depicting Judas chewing out Jesus for betraying God and falling prey to the Devil. Delicious...

comment #10

clancy says ...

As a devout Catholic, it was semi-heresy for me to even see the film - it was part of my confession the day after I saw it, in fact. But it struck me then, as it does now, to be a deeply religious film. Seeing it only supported my faith. Those who objected to the film did not buy into the fact that He was both God and man and that temptation only meant something if He ached for it in his heart and his brain. This is a wonderful film.

comment #11

erniesouchak says ...

A great, great movie. I drove an hour and a half to see it because that was the closest it came to me.

comment #12

/3rtfu11 says ...

You weren't terrified of the John the Baptist (Scorsese) casted? That guy and the scene where Jesus' takes out his heart are forever burned into my memory.

The use of wide angle lenses, composition and light make LTOC one of the most beautifully filmed 1.85 matted widescreen movies ever.

The sex in this film is restricted in comparison to the violence.

Unrelated: fuck you Mel Gibson.

comment #13

dangovich says ...

It''s strange, the Christian zealots seem to want a Christ who had no doubt, a guy bathed in light and accompanied by a chorus of angels, like the one in Ben Hur. Yet where's the sacrifice is Jesus knows without a doubt that eternal life awaits him? The Scorcese/Dafoe version was far more compelling, and the people protesting it were/are abject ignoramuses.

comment #14

Devin Faraci says ...

I never get celebs to sign things, but I broke my own rule and had Scorsese sign my Criterion LAST TEMPTATION. His eyes lit up. I told him that if church made me feel the way his movie did, I'd be devout.

comment #15

Edward says ...

I have to echo what everyone before has said. It's a profound, moving, spiritual film like no other.

comment #16

Tim says ...

I remember going to see Tucker when Last Temptation was playing at the same theater. There was a huge mob out in front with placards and megaphones, protesting the movie..

Then, the greatest thing happened. Three guys in their twenties came upon the scene chanting "Down With Tucker" and holding signs that said, "Tucker is Immoral."

They must have had a lot of time on their hands but I've appreciated them ever since.

comment #17

tommysunshine says ...

love scorsese, dafoe, but I am never going to see this movie. I know what value system I subscribe to and if someone decides to violate it, then it's time to move onto the next dish on the menu.

comment #18

lazarus says ...

Sunshine, Scorsese is a very religious Catholic. I don't know what "value system" you have, but I don't think making a film out of controversial source material that manages to reaffirm your Catholic beliefs is somehow a violation.

Oh yeah, Jeffrey would be well-served by getting rid of your ass completely from this site. You've posted nothing but conservative bullshit since you're been on here.

comment #19

York "Budd" Durden says ...

Nice JW parody.

I live in SC, we had major protests (ie a few hundred folks) screaming at us hipster types lined up to see the film. Very memorable.

Come to think of it, we also had Life of Brian protests.

comment #20

Dan Revill says ...

I was 7 or so when it came out, and I remember going to see The Land Before Time with my father at a theater we never went to regularly across town and there was some controversy with the theater because they were playing Last Temptation. I remember my parents having a discussion about what whether or not we should go to said theater. Talk about a lasting imprint.
Fast forward 19 years and I finally saw the Scorsese film on DVD. And I was blown away. Sure it's not scripture based, but anyone with half a brain can understand what Scorsese is doing. It's a beautifully realized testament of faith. I'll take it over the Passion any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

comment #21

Edward says ...

tommy, you might be surprised how this film will reaffirm your values.

comment #22

p.Vice says ...

Sunshine, why do I feel like you're putting all of us on with this lunacy about "value systems" etc over the last few months? You only have something to say when there's a liberal/conservative/religious debate going on?

comment #23

/3rtfu11 says ...

love scorsese, dafoe, but I am never going to see this movie. I know what value system I subscribe to and if someone decides to violate it, then it's time to move onto the next dish on the menu.

I encourage you to see it once. You won't be moved by it because I wasn't being that I am a Christian too. See it being a film fan it works on that level for me only. I admire it because he didn't have a big budget to make it. The lack of funds makes Scorsese more creative. In fact I wish Martin Scorsese were still working in lower budgets because that's when he's always thinking on his toes.

comment #24

/3rtfu11 says ...

tommysunshine says ...

love scorsese, dafoe, but I am never going to see this movie. I know what value system I subscribe to and if someone decides to violate it, then it's time to move onto the next dish on the menu.

I encourage you to see it once. You won't be moved by it because I wasn't being that I am a Christian too. See it being a film fan it works on that level for me only. I admire it because he didn't have a big budget to make it. The lack of funds makes Scorsese more creative. In fact I wish Martin Scorsese were still working in lower budgets because that's when he's always thinking on his toes.

comment #25

BurmaShave says ...

/3rtfu11, I thought the casting of Andre Gregory as John the Baptist was certainly a stunt but one of the more inspired choices Scorsese made.

comment #26

lipranzer says ...

Two elements that don't get mentioned enough: Barbara Hershey gives what is probably her best performance as Mary Magdalene (figures she'd be passionate, considering she was the one who gave Nikos Kazantzakis' source novel to Scorsese in the first place), and Peter Gabriel's score. Instead of the usual Hollywood strings, the music added a level of spiritual and emotional meaning to a film already rich in both.

Oh, and the tension between Scorsese's Catholicism and Schrader's Calvinism, while not as stark as in TAXI DRIVER, also helps deepen the picture.

The only other Jesus movie that worked for me (Pasolini's film is interesting in the fact that a Marxist director would emphasize Christ's divinity rather than His humanity, but left me somewhat cold) was Denys Arcand's JESUS OF MONTREAL. The modern setting, of course, allowed it to avoid period cliches, but it was also both satirical and deeply felt.

comment #27

sumo-pop says ...

One of the all time underrated performances from a far too overlooked actor (Dafoe). I'm with you, the last 20 minutes slays me. When Temp came out I was covering the controversy for my college newspaper and all I could think as I was walking through the crowd of protesters was "none of you bastards has even seen it." People who protest shit sight unseen kill me. Besides, where are these people when a Michael Bay pic opens?

comment #28

MindlessObamaton says ...

I guess it's ok not to see a movie if you think it won't gel with your ideals and stuff, but you're missing out. Some people forget, or don't know, that Scorsese wanted to be a priest as a young man (as did I) and that he has been conflicted all his life about his faith or lack of. That might sound like a tired cliche, but i think everyone struggles, to a degree, about faith and god and life and all that. The fact that Jesus seems to suffer the same thing in this film only makes his sacrifice al lthe more amazing. I know it isn't the Bible, but i think a jesus who sins, a Jesus who battles his demons like we all do, rings more true for people of all or no faiths.

comment #29

Renfield says ...

Tommysunshine,

The film preaches exactly what Christianity tells you... Jesus was the son of God in human form. The variation is: He is tempted by evil during his demise with an alternate reality. He can give up the pain he is going through and thus lead a normal life as a human and relishes in the fact that he overcomes it in the end.

It not only celebrates Jesus through his teachings, struggles and hardships but is also one hell of a film.

I'll ask you this... What's worse? The fact that the film brought me closer to my God or that I was sent to detention while in Catholic school for telling other kids to see it?

comment #30

Filthy Rich says ...

Tommysunshine "love scorsese, dafoe, but I am never going to see this movie. I know what value system I subscribe to and if someone decides to violate it, then it's time to move onto the next dish on the menu."

That post just proves Jeff's point, and those who have voice their support for his view and for the film: that christians aren't capable of rational, criticial thinking especially when it involves questioning the so called sanctity of your own beliefs. Pathetic.

On a personal note: I was a hardcore, pentecostal christian when this movie came out and when I expressed my desire to see it I was mocked and insulted and pretty much assaulted by them for it. It was then that I realized I subscribed to a very different value system than other christians because I seemed to be the only one willing to challenge my own beliefs and question those proclaiming their authority over me. It wasn't long before I became a avowed athiest.

comment #31

Filthy Rich says ...

Also, I love how tommysunshine proclaims that Scorsese violated HIS value system. Because if you have your own mind you are violating tommy's value system. True colours, my friend, true colours.

comment #32

DavidF says ...

I'm not Christian so I bring a different perspective but, aside from its greatness as a FILM, I've always thought it's one of the most thoughtful, pro-Jesus movies there is.

Passion of the Christ is nice to look at but it doesn't have 1/10 of the brains or ideas that went into Scorcese's film (or the source book).

It strikes me as an attempt to resolve paradoxes that the people who love Gibson's film prefer to gloss over or ignore in "blind faith."

-If Jesus was human, how did he deal with who he was?
-Why is his death a sacrifice if he simply went willingly?
-How is Judas a traitor if his actions were ordained by God to give everyone salvation?
etc

The answers in the movie - that Jesus chose his death over a simple life, that Jesus needed Judas because he was the only one he could trust etc - are what make it, its story, its telling and its message so special. I'd like to think that in the 20 years since the "Controversy" some of those outraged Christians have given it a real look.

comment #33

ZacharyTF says ...

The moment when I realized that some Christian conservatives are idiots was when they protested the first Harry Potter movie at the theater near my house.

A small group of them were outside the theater with signs and chanting "Harry Potter is teaching your kids about witchcraft." I stopped on my way in and asked if any of them had seen the movie. Not surprisingly, none of them had. I told them that maybe they should see the movie before protesting against it. I still remember the look on the guy's face as he realized how stupid he was.

comment #34

leape says ...

Like to see Hollywood do a story of Muhammad...Guess not! About as much ballz as the Ruckus Society taking their show to Beijing.

That is my litmus test of tolerance and acceptance.

comment #35

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