Last Temptation of Christ [WS] [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Willem Dafoe plays Jesus Christ in this extraordinarily controversial adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis's novel. The film depicts a sometimes reluctant, self-doubting Jesus, gradually coming to accept His divinity and the inexorability of His ultimate fate. The much-maligned sex scene with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) occurs as an hallucination experienced by Jesus as he suffers on the cross. This particular sequence was what infuriated the film's most rabid critics, but in fact it is just one of many iconoclastic musings to be found in the film and its source novel. Equally volatile are the intimations that, as a carpenter, Jesus indifferently shaped the crucifixes for other condemned prisoners long before his own fate was sealed, and that Judas (Harvey Keitel) was literally manipulated into betrayal by a Christ whose preoccuption with his own destiny compelled him to "use" others. None of these departures from the normal interpretation of the scriptures are offered as any more than theory; as such, it was accepted as food for thought by the more open-minded clerics and Biblical scholars who recommended the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: All
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: English
• Features:
  • • New widescreen digital transfer, approved by the filmmakers and enhanced for widescreen televisions
    • New Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack by original supervising sound editor Skip Lievsay
    • Audio commentary by Martin Scorsese, Willem Dafoe, Paul Schrader, and Jay Cocks
    • Extensive collection of research materials, production stills, and costume designs
    • Location production footage, shot by Scorsese
    • Video interview with composer Peter Gabriel, plus a stills gallery of the instruments used in the film
    • English subtitles
    • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Director - 1988 (Martin Scorsese)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1988 (Peter Gabriel)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic - 1988 (Barbara Hershey)

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated 10 Best Films - 1988

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Martin Scorsese

• Producer:

  Barbara de Fina, Harry Ufland

• Screenwriter:

  Paul Schrader

• Book Author:

  Nikos Kazantzakis

• Cinematographer:

  Michael Ballhaus

• Composer (Music Score):

  Peter Gabriel

• Editor:

  Thelma Schoonmaker

• Production Designer:

  John Beard, Andrew Sanders

• Art Director:

  Andrew Sanders

• Executive Producer:

  Harry Ufland

• Set Designer:

  Giorgio Desideri

• Costume Designer:

  Jean-Pierre Delifer

• Makeup:

  Manilo Rocchetti

• Special Effects:

  Iginio Fiorentini, Gino Galliano

• First Assistant Director:

  Joseph P. Reidy

• Stunts:

  Franco Salamon

• Choreography:

  Lahcen Zinoune

• Casting:

  Cis Corman

• Script Supervisor:

  Rachel Griffiths

REVIEW:

• Canceled in 1983, finally made in 1987, and embroiled in controversy, Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) is the ultimate labor of love and a singularly thought-provoking take on the life of Jesus. Though fundamentalists loudly protested a brief scene featuring Willem Dafoe's Christ procreating with Barbara Hershey's Mary Magdalene, the real "offense" was portraying Jesus as fully human as well as fully divine, and thus subject to doubts, fears, and temptation via a deceptively angelic girl offering a vision of normal life. Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader's aim to think through the meaning of Christ's dual nature and the Passion, however, becomes a sincere affirmation of faith through its very humanism and, yes, humor. Shot on a minimal budget in Morocco, Scorsese's rough, stripped-down style avoids Hollywood biblical gloss and turns Jesus and his Apostles into accessible, rough-accented human beings, paradoxically making Jesus' acceptance of his fate all the more effective (though Harvey Keitel's Brooklynite Judas provoked some derision). Released amid vociferous criticism (from fundamentalist Christians who refused to actually see it), The Last Temptation of Christ earned good notices and Scorsese an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Certain video chains, however, won't stock it. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi