Last Temptation of the Christ

mavie

I just discovered this film for the first time tonight. What an amazing piece of work!

The portrayal of Jesus and Judas as men who both wanted freedom from Roman rule yet were vastly different in their approach was thought provoking.

The constant battle Jesus had to wage against the desires of the flesh throughout the film showed him to be very human. I found this refreshing.

I was reminded so many times during this film of parallels in Buddhism, especially when Jesus was tempted in the desert. Mara tempted the Buddha to hang on to the things of this world many times. The Buddha rejected them as they were not really his to begin with and were temporary similar to Jesus rejection of a family, power, or heavenly kingship. Jesus insight that the Kingdom of God is already here reminded me of the Tao. Everything is contingent and dependent on everything else. The Kingdom of God is what we make of our time here and now.

Pauls meeting with an elderly Jesus was realistic. Paul was simply taking advantage of our need for something greater than ourselves.

One more thing. Of course Judas was doing his duty betraying Jesus. Hello? Omniscient being?

Bravo Mr. Scorsese.

FlyingHighNow

What did you think of Satan in the Garden of Gesthemene?

TheSilence

Satan in the Garden of Gesthemene? I saw The Last Temptation of Christ and I may be wrong, because it's been a while since I saw it, but I don't remember that scene. I do know that Satan was in the Garden of Gesthemene in the movie Passion of the Christ. Is that the scene you're thinking of?

Jackie

FlyingHighNow

You know, I'm tired. You're right. Two different movies.

TheSilence

Okay, I thought maybe I was confused because I had seen it quite some time ago. To answer your question I found the whole Garden of Gesthemene scene interesting in Passion however I didn't react to it much beyond that. I was dispassionate throughout the entire movie. I think it is because I tend to shut down/out any type of religious propoganda... a carry-over from being raised a witness.

And yes, mavie, I thought Temptation was an interesting movie, too. I think it was very misunderstood and I enjoyed the concept of it.

Merry Christmas! ;)

Jackie

JeffT

I liked Temptation, although I some parts of it were a little of the top for my taste, as was some of the horror expressed by my fellow Christians.

The ending was very powerful.

justhuman

The writter of this is Nikos Kazantzakis, the Greek writter who also wrote Zorpas and many other excellent books. It was like he was trying to show a temptation that Jesus could face just before he died on the Cross. He tried to give the human nature of Jesus, and the straggle to cope with the human feelings.

They were many who didn't like at all that novel. In fact some in the Orthodox Church they tried to exocommunicate Nikos Kazantzakis. There is no connection between the Orthodox way of "disfellowship"with the WT. The only thing is that you are not allowed is to have the Blood and Flesh of Christ in the Church.

Nikos Kazantzakis belongs to the world wide spiritual herritage

mtsgrad

In the UK the film caused a huge scandal. It was rated 18 because of adult material. Was that true?

mtsgrad

MegaDude

Great film. One of my favorites. Here's a scene where Pilate interrogates Jesus, played by David Bowie and Wilhelm Dafoe respectively. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rtCxmNEttQ&feature=related

Twitch

Great flick; it's a top 5 fav. The book is even better and the soundtrack is quite powerful on it's own (one of Peter Gabriel's more ethnic/ambient works of sonic emotion, reminiscent of Brian Eno). I like how it portrayed the characters as mere human, with all the strength and weakness any one might have had in such times of great portent. The scene with Paul and old Jesus was especially enlightening.

Last Temptation of the Christ

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