Movie Review: THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

1988
R


"God loves me. I know He loves me. I want him to stop."
-- Jesus

The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama directed by Martin Scorsese that's based off Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name. It paints a very different portrait of Jesus (Willem Dafoe) than has been depicted in other films relating to the Gospel story. The film starts with Jesus trying to deal with God's voice in his head as he tries to live his life as an ordinary man. As time continues to pass, however, he begins to accept the path that God has laid before him. He joins with a man named Judas (Harvey Keitel) and begins to recruit his disciples and apostles. The group makes their way into the desert where Jesus meets John the Baptist (Andre Gregory), who sends him into the desert to wait for God's direction. While there, Jesus is tempted by Satan a number of times, but Jesus is able to deny him time and again, returning from the desert with a renewed fervor as he starts his ministry. As more time passes, however, Jesus realizes what his true fate will entail, and he and his apostles begin to prepare for his imminent crucifixion.

While I've known about this film for quite some time, I figured today (being Martin Scorsese's birthday) would be as good a day as any to finally take the time to give it a view. I had heard a little of the film's controversy, but I didn't know just how controversial it had been upon its initial release. A lot of the issues with the film stemmed from Christians' belief that it strayed too far from the four Gospels represented in the Bible; however, the film does offer the following disclaimer at the opening:

"The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God... has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh... and my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met." - Nikos Kazantzakis from the book "The Last Temptation of Christ"

This film is not based upon the Gospels but upon this fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict.

So, if you are able to take that into account, you can see that the filmmakers have at least given themselves an "out" in terms of Christian concerns with sticking to the letter of the Bible.

As a Catholic, watching this film was a rather interesting experience. While I wasn't taken aback by some of the "controversial" subject matter, it did come off as a little bit strange considering how I was raised. Because I know the Gospels' story so well, I was able to follow along with the basic storyline while focusing on the changes they were trying to emphasize. I do admit that seeing some of the sexual aspects of the film was a tad bit off-putting considering my upbringing, I have to applaud Scorsese and Dafoe for making Jesus a very human character. I think I've always had a slightly different image of Christ than is often placed before us. I think he's been conveyed as more feminine than the real Jesus would have been. I mean, the man was a carpenter - at the very least, he must have been an impressive physical specimen. I think that The Last Temptation of Christ found that masculinity and exploited it, bringing a very different image of Jesus than contemporary audiences had ever seen. In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert stated that the filmmakers have "paid Christ the compliment of taking him and his message seriously, and they have made a film that does not turn him into a garish, emasculated image from a religious postcard. Here he is flesh and blood, struggling, questioning..." I think that's what I loved most about this film. Most other films about Christ emphasize the divinity of Christ, but we have to remember that he was also a man and must have struggled just as much as other men have for all of human history.

To talk more structurally about the screenplay, I thought they did well in making it come full circle. While I did think there were a couple "Hollywood" moments that seemed a little out of place, the fact that the film delivers on the basic premise alluded to in its title is a huge plus for me. My only real issue with the screenplay was that of dialogue. As my readers will know, I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to a film's screenplay. For a screenplay to be good, it has to have a legitimate storyline and plot while balancing it with great dialogue. The issue with the dialogue in The Last Temptation of Christ isn't so much what they're saying but how they're saying it. It sounds a little too contemporary, and while this is a more modern retelling of the Gospel story, it was so colloquially American that it started to take me out of the film after a while. It made the characters (including Jesus) just a tad too unbelievable. Now, I don't think they should've gone The Passion of the Christ with it and have spoken in Aramaic, but something a little more period-friendly might have been more effective.

I did have a little bit of issue with the acting in the film, however. While I have no real qualms with Dafoe's performance (it's typical Dafoe, although it's definitely one of his better roles), there were a few acting decisions that left me scratching my head. First and foremost was Keitel's casting as Judas. I don't know about anyone else who's seen this film, but I just couldn't place him in this film at all. I kept seeing him in Reservoir Dogs, and he proved to be a bit of a distraction as a result. His dialogue was the most prevalently colloquial, and I don't think that really helped his character. We do get a few good performances from supporting characters. For example, Barbara Hershey does well as Mary Magdalene, and David Bowie made a fantastic cameo appearance as Pontius Pilate. We even get a decent, albeit minor, performance from Harry Dean Stanton as Saul. However, this is truly Dafoe's vehicle, and it should be treated as such. While it's not the most brilliant performance I've ever seen, it's still strong enough to warrant your attention.

Overall, The Last Temptation of Christ is a strong, albeit slightly strange, film that's probably not for everyone. If you have strong Christian convictions, I can be reasonably sure that you've going to find issue with some of the film's scenes. However, if you can look past that, then you'll find there's a very strong film with a very strong message to be learned. Is this film going to change my personal view of Christ or religion? Of course not. At the end of the day, it's one individual's personal opinion, and it happened to make it to the screen. If you want something straight from the Bible, watch the aforementioned Passion of the Christ. However, if you want something a little bit different, give this one a chance. You just might be surprised.

Movie Review SummaryGrade: A-
1.5 Thumbs Up

Movie Review: INSIDIOUS

INSIDIOUS

2011
PG-13

Insidious is a 2011 horror film directed by James Wan that follows the story of a family who is terrorized by a number of spirits. When the Lambert family moves into their new home, everything seems to be right as rain. On one of their first nights there, however, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai's (Rose Byrne) eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls from an old ladder in the attic. Initially, he seems fine, but when he doesn't awake the next morning, the parents take him to the hospital where doctors cannot figure out just what's wrong with him. The two have no choice but to keep Dalton at home where they give him as much care as they can. However, strange occurrences start to happen around the house, forcing the family to flee in fear of their haunted home. Unfortunately, the paranormal menace follows them to their next home. With the help of Josh's mother Lorraine (Barbara Hershey), the family enlists the help of a paranormal expert named Elise (Lin Shaye). With the help of her two semi-bumbling assistants (Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson), the crew sets out to discover the mystery being Dalton's "illness."

I originally saw Insidious at an early screening last summer. It was a work-in-progress, with some of the visual effects still unfinished. Even from the rough cut, however, I grabbed a very distinct opinion of the film: I didn't like it. It was a little too out there for my tastes, and ultimately, it wasn't that scary (which isn't good, considering it's a horror flick). Then again, there's a lot of films that scare me that modern audiences wouldn't find all that horrifying, but I think I have a different taste in terror. For me, true horror is all about the suspense and the build-up of a story. While Psycho may not make you jump out of your seat, there's something more underlying and sinister about the film that makes it completely terrifying for me - there's a reason I think it's the greatest film ever made. However, Insidious delves into the type of horror that's become more of a mainstay in recent years. They go for the cheap thrills, hoping literally to scare the audience out of its seats. I don't think this is true horror because it's not the type of scare that's going to stay with you past the actual screening. Psycho has stuck with me since I saw that infamous shower scene when I was five, but Insidious didn't interrupt one minute of sleep since I saw it last summer. But I digress...

I'm going to start with the acting for two reasons: I have fewer negative things to say about it, and I'm set in how I feel about it. Wilson and Byrne are okay as our leads, and I suppose they do enough to warrant our attention, but I never really felt that strong of a bond towards them. They never really made me care about their characters, and that doesn't bode well considering at least one of them is on-screen for nearly the entire film. The supporting actors are a little more effective. Hershey, who some of you may recognize from 2010's Black Swan, is decent in a limited number of scenes, and Shaye probably delivers the best performance of the film (it's not great, but in comparison to everyone else, she deserves an Oscar). Whannell and Sampson are good for a couple of well-placed laughs, but they're ultimately expendable at the end of the day.

I'd like to take a moment to trash the film's musical score, if that's okay with you. While it has its bearable moments, the screeching score from Joseph Bishara was so loud and obnoxious that it completely took me out of the film. It almost hurt my ears, it was that bad. However, if you take a look at my grading system, you'll see that my rating for a film's music isn't about whether the music is good or bad; instead, it's more about how well the music flows with the film. Bishara's score doesn't flow; it simply conflicts, proving to be more detrimental than anything else.

And now onto the screenplay. I currently have mixed emotions about the story we're given (the dialogue isn't anything great, but it's not terrible, so that's all I'll say about that). The story is definitely...unique. Without giving away too many spoilers, I'll tell you that the story revolves around the concept of "astral projection" - basically, a glorified term for an out-of-body experience. According to the film, an individual who can astrally project can navigate their soul around the world outside of their physical body. The film's central situation stems from the fact that Dalton, who happens to be a gifted astral projector, somehow gets lost during one of his experiences and ventures into a realm that Elise refers to as "the further." If you're scratching your head right now, you can imagine what I've been wondering since last summer. Basically, Insidious is a film that requires you to suspend your system of beliefs. If you can do that, you stand a much better chance to enjoy it. For the time being, I've given the film a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to rate it higher than the grade I've given it at the end of this post.

Overall, I'd warrant caution if you're gonna go see Insidious. I personally didn't find it to be that effective in hooking me into the storyline or scaring me out of my wits. Those two things spell certain doom for any horror movie, so I'm still trying to figure out how it's garnered as many positive reviews as it's received (it currently holds a 59% approval rating on the online review aggregate Rottentomates.com, but I saw it as high as 71% at one point). If you like cheap thrills, this one's probably up your alley, but otherwise, I'd say save your money.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: D
1 Thumb Down

Movie Review: BLACK SWAN

BLACK SWAN

2010
R

You can watch the trailer here

When a film generates as much Oscar buzz as Black Swan has since its arrival at film festivals a few months ago, you can be sure I'll be one of the first in line to see it. I had an opportunity to see the film about a month ago at an early screening, but it conflicted with my work schedule, so I had to wait like the rest of society. Due to its limited release, I had to drive about forty minutes away on the freeway in order to see the movie, and let me tell you right now: it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Black Swan follows a young ballerina named Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) who is vying for the lead role in the company's upcoming rendition of "Swan Lake." After all her hard work, she is finally awarded the part, but this proves to be a little bit problematic. Thomas (Vincent Cassel), the director of the ballet, has re-imagined the role for the lead to play both the White Swan and the Black Swan, a feat which he believes Nina unable to fulfill. She struggles throughout the film as she tries to embody both roles, all the while fighting off an apparent opponent for the part in Lily (Mila Kunis) who appears to be doing everything in her power to sabotage Nina's chance at stardom.

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the screenplay for most of the movie. I thought it was good, but everything seemed to be held together by Portman's performance (more on that in a second). However, the final scenes of the film are really the selling point. I won't go into detail because I would never want to ruin the surprise, but I will say that I found the final resolution to be absolutely beautiful.

And now, where can I even begin with Miss Natalie Portman? I've been a fan of hers since I first saw her grace a screen (although for much of that time, it was purely based on her stunning beauty). However, I gradually began to see her expand as an actress, and when I heard about Black Swan about a year ago, I began to let myself grow an eager excitement. Ladies and gentlemen, she does not disappoint. Portman takes us through every stage of stress-induced psychosis, all the way to the film's final scene. The character arc she brings is extreme, and she really got the chance to show off her wide range. It should be noted that Cassel and Kunis, as well as Barbara Hershey (who plays Nina's mother), are all very good themselves, but this really is Natalie's show. I can definitely see an Oscar in her near future.

If anyone else deserves a commendation, it's Darren Aronofsky for his stellar direction. I don't often talk about the director's role in the filmmaking process, but here, it bears mention. Aronofsky, whose previous films include Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler, holds nothing back this time around. He has placed his stamp on a trippy set of films, and Black Swan is definitely no different. He creates a fascinating world of seeming insanity, and we can see and feel the emotional distress that Nina feels as she slowly loses her mind. I honestly can't really explain this all - I'm drawing a blank as to how to word it - but Aronofsky has easily put forth his best career effort with this film.

I could probably go on and on about the psychology of this film (trust me, I could talk for hours on end about it), but I'll spare you all that for the moment. However, I have found a rather fascinating review from The Globe and Mail's Rick Groen about the film that you may enjoy. Trust me when I say that you should absolutely see this film. I know I'll be making another trek to the theater to see it one more time, although I'll be waiting until the release expands to somewhere a little closer. But please, do yourself a favor and see this movie.

Movie Review Summary:
Grade: A
Current All-Time Rank: Best - #23
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