via Giphy/Courtesy NBC Universal
"There were?"
"Thousands."
"I'd be happier if there weren't."
I was raised Catholic, which included praying the rosary at Advent and Lent. The fourth Joyful Mystery, the Presentation of Jesus, was fascinating and confusing during my boyhood. I couldn't understand why Simeon warned Mary about the sword that would pierce through her soul also. Seeing that first nail driven into the palm of Jesus (Willem Dafoe), as well as the bloodcurdling reaction of The Virgin Mary (Verna Bloom) ... I can't remember when I fully realized just how much Mary and Jesus suffered. Maybe it's finally happened.
The Last Temptation of Christ is this month's second and last movie for Willem Dafoe, as Jesus, and Barbara Hershey, as Mary Magdeline. In the here and now, I'm astonished that Dafoe received no recognition for his portrayal of Jesus. The confusion, determination, heartbreak and ultimate triumph are all portrayed brilliantly. I have an idea why the performance wasn't recognized. It's for the same reason that the only Oscar nod was for Martin Scorsese's direction. Christ was unfortunately overshadowed by controversy. Self-serving moral guardians did what you'd expect, raising hell over the movie playing up Jesus's son of man qualities, namely having doubts about his destiny, having affection for a woman and otherwise acting in a non-traditional way.
"Certainly anyone devoted to maintaining Christ as a lacquered benevolent spirit in a Disneyland of happiness is not going to like this movie."
-- David Denby
Christ is Dafoe's movie all the way. The ensemble, including Harvey Keitel as Judas, act their parts well, but in the end, this is a movie about a personal journey. I found it interesting that in both Christ and Mississippi Burning, Dafoe plays a man frequently at odds with his closest confidant about how to best accomplish their mission. Keitel received a Razzie nomination for playing Judas, but I suspect it had less to do with the acting than it did the fact that he had permed hair and didn't speak like people do in conventional Bible adaptations. Actually, it's inaccurate for me to call Christ a Bible adaptation. It does retell some of the greatest hits (water to wine, Lazarus' resurrection, disrupting money changing at the temple), but the movie was written by Paul Schrader (making his second and last appearance this month) from Nikos Kazantzakis' novel.
*Jesus in the desert is visited by a snake with Mary Magdeline's voice*
"You're afraid of being alone. You're just like Adam. He called me and I took one of his ribs and made it into a woman."
"You're here to trick me."
"Trick you? To love and care for a woman, to have a family, this is a trick? Why are you trying to save the world? Aren't your own sins enough for you? What arrogance to think you can save the world. The world doesn't have to be saved. Save yourself. Find love."
"I have love."
Christ's last 40 minutes, depicting his last temptation, are easily the movie's most controversial. Jesus is lured off the cross by a guardian angel of sorts (Juliette Caton). The situation is like when Abraham nearly killed his son Isaac and furthermore, according to the girl, Jesus isn't actually the messiah. But it's okay, since Earth is beautiful enough to make the angels jealous and now Jesus can marry Mary Magdeline. The wedding and the couple consummating their vows are briefly depicted, followed by a pregnant Mary Magdeline dying. Jesus ends up marrying Lazarus' sister Mary (Randy Danson), living a long life with her and their family before Judas informs him that he was tricked by Satan. Repentant, Jesus basically reenacts the prodigal son parable before we're back at the crucifixion. Reversing of time? A final vision of what could have been? Who cares? The point is that what Christians believe was destiny was fulfilled. "It is accomplished."
Hershey's Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture clinched Christ's place on this month's viewing schedule. I'm glad to have seen the movie, but it really didn't offer me much in terms of showcases for actresses. Bloom, Hershey, Danson and Peggy Gormley (as Martha, Lazarus' other sister) were often most interesting as a sub-ensemble, taking part in the Last Supper and observing the crucifixion. Notable exception are Bloom's work in the scenes when Mary agonized over Jesus' destiny and suffering. Hershey played Mary Magdeline as well as she could. I'm not sure if it's Schrader's fault or Kazanrzakis', but there's too much a feeling of "Hey, wouldn't it be something if those two had a relationship?" rather than fully exploring the idea. Mary Madgeline's dialogue tends to be her protesting about never being intimate with Jesus. One of Dafoe's strengths was playing love for nobody in particular and everybody in every way.
"Father. ... Will you listen to me? ... Are you still there? Will you listen to a selfish, unfaithful son? I fought you when you called. I resisted. I thought I knew more. I didn't want to be your son. Can you forgive me? I didn't fight hard enough. Father ... give me your hand. I want to bring salvation. Father, take me back! Make a feast! Welcome me home! I want to be your son! I want to pay the price! I want to be crucified and rise again! I want to be the messiah!"
Recommended.
Thoughts:
-- "Do you have a wife?" "... No." "How can you live like that in the desert? Tell me the truth. Don't you miss all this? Having a home, a real life." "I admit it. I'd like it, but I'll never have it." "Listen, if you really want God, don't spend your time in the desert. He's not there, he's right here. Read your Scriptures. God doesn't want you to fast and pray. He wants you to make children." "Mary, you're making him uncomfortable. He's a guest." "He knows what I'm talking about."
-- Box Office: Grossing $8.3 million on a $7 million budget, this played in less theaters than it could have thanks to the protests nationwide.
-- Awards Watch: Besides Scorsese, Hershey and Keitel's nominations, there were also Golden Globe and Grammy nods for Peter Gabriel's score.
-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "Exceptionally ambitious, deeply troubling and, at infrequent moments, genuinely transcendent," Janet Maslin wrote. "A film can be blasphemous, or anything else that the director desires, and we should only hope that it can be good as the filmmaker can make it, and convincing in its interior purpose," Roger Ebert wrote in his book on Scorsese. "Certainly useful things can be said about Jesus Christ by presenting him in a non-orthodox way." "One of the very finest, most accessible religious films ever made," according to Gene Siskel. Hal Hinson felt Scorsese ultimately failed at bringing Jesus closer to humanity, "to realize his stated goal of creating a universal figure who symbolizes the spiritual anguish of all men. Somehow Christ's suffering seems to have been fetishized ... (there's) an inescapable sadomasochistic tone." Denby: "Furiously earnest and emotionally demanding ... never lurid or sensational, but certainly painful. ... The passion of Christ. The phrase now makes sense to me."
-- Fanservice Junction: I can't really call it fanservice, given that they often occur when the characters are physically and mentally anguished, but both Dafoe and Hershey have moments of fleeting nudity. John the Baptist (Andre Gregory) is introduced in a somewhat frantic scene with dancing, naked-or-loincloth-clad people being baptized. It actually looks a bit like a stealth parody of televangelism.
-- Hey, It's ...!: Roberts Blossom, Barry Miller, John Lurie, Alan Rosenberg, Nehemiah Persoff, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie. Illeana Douglas' voice was also used for at least one crowd scene.
-- "... You see, you don't know how much people need God. You don't know how happy he can make them. He can make them happy to do anything. He can make them happy to die and they'll die. All for the sake of Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth. The Son of God. The Messiah. Not you. Not for your sake. ... You know, I'm glad I met you, 'cause now I can forget all about you. My Jesus is much more important and much more powerful. Thank you. It's a good thing I met you." Harry Dean Stanton as Paul, ladies and gentlemen!
-- Next: Clara's Heart. On deck: Bagdad Cafe.
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