I stand by what I said about this film. It feels very personal for Scorsese, very Catholic, very meaningful. Dafoe is tremendous in this. This is probably the most fresh-faced and innocent he has ever looked. Keitel brings a mob-style bruiser quality to Judas that shifts the dynamic of the character. There's a fascinating comparison to be made between his interpretation and Carl Anderson's, but I don't have the bandwidth to dive into it right now. Movie good. See movie. Eat chocolate rabbit. Originally posted 24 Sep 2016. 
Don't ask me where I found time to watch this. Honestly, my brain has been so overstuffed with information the last week I don't even remember when I watched this. But I watched it and we're going to talk about it.
Jesus of Nazareth (Willem Dafoe) is a carpenter fighting against the voices in his head telling him that he is the son of God. After a long fast in the desert, he decides to go with it and see where it takes him with his best friend, Judas (Harvey Keitel), in tow.
Most, if not all, of you know how that story ends. For those that don't, don't spoil it. Just let them watch it. It'll be educational.
I don't know how most of you feel about Jesus, personally. And that's okay. This isn't a religious blog. The movie takes pains to say at the beginning that this is not based off of the Jesus of the Gospels but the Jesus of the book, The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. This blog post is not about the Jesus of the Gospels, or the novel, but the movie based on the novel. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk.
First off, Willem Dafoe is an excellent Jesus. The man is an incredible actor anyway but he does a great job as Jesus. In fact, this entire cast is bananas. Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, and David freaking Bowie all on the same screen. You should own it just for that. Top it all off with being directed by Martin Scorsese and that's enough star power to get this thing to outer Andromeda.
Now it's time for the criticism. I really do think you need a working knowledge of the gospel account of the the life of Jesus to fully appreciate everything in the movie. I'm not saying you have to be Christian but at least a solid familiarity with the Cliff Notes. There isn't a lot of explaining happening in the film which might leave some watchers confused. There's also a lot of early Christian symbolism as well as an assumption of historical knowledge about the timeframe.
At its heart, this is not so much a religious film as it is a philosophical one. The good of the many versus the good of the one. It seeks to balance Jesus the Messiah with Jesus the man, offering an insight into his doubts and fears. Personally, I found it to be a complex experience, one that will no doubt require multiple views to fully digest.
Don't ask me where I found time to watch this. Honestly, my brain has been so overstuffed with information the last week I don't even remember when I watched this. But I watched it and we're going to talk about it.Jesus of Nazareth (Willem Dafoe) is a carpenter fighting against the voices in his head telling him that he is the son of God. After a long fast in the desert, he decides to go with it and see where it takes him with his best friend, Judas (Harvey Keitel), in tow.
Most, if not all, of you know how that story ends. For those that don't, don't spoil it. Just let them watch it. It'll be educational.
I don't know how most of you feel about Jesus, personally. And that's okay. This isn't a religious blog. The movie takes pains to say at the beginning that this is not based off of the Jesus of the Gospels but the Jesus of the book, The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. This blog post is not about the Jesus of the Gospels, or the novel, but the movie based on the novel. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk.
First off, Willem Dafoe is an excellent Jesus. The man is an incredible actor anyway but he does a great job as Jesus. In fact, this entire cast is bananas. Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, and David freaking Bowie all on the same screen. You should own it just for that. Top it all off with being directed by Martin Scorsese and that's enough star power to get this thing to outer Andromeda.
Now it's time for the criticism. I really do think you need a working knowledge of the gospel account of the the life of Jesus to fully appreciate everything in the movie. I'm not saying you have to be Christian but at least a solid familiarity with the Cliff Notes. There isn't a lot of explaining happening in the film which might leave some watchers confused. There's also a lot of early Christian symbolism as well as an assumption of historical knowledge about the timeframe.
At its heart, this is not so much a religious film as it is a philosophical one. The good of the many versus the good of the one. It seeks to balance Jesus the Messiah with Jesus the man, offering an insight into his doubts and fears. Personally, I found it to be a complex experience, one that will no doubt require multiple views to fully digest.
No comments:
Post a Comment