The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Neither blasphemous nor offensive, this faithful adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' book sees Christ torn between divine destiny and an all too human awareness of pain and sexuality, departing most dramatically from the gospels in the last 40 minutes, a clearly fantastic sequence in which Jesus is led from the cross by an angel who offers him a normal life as husband and father. The performances - especially Keitel (Judas) and Bowie (Pontius Pilate) - are excellent; the recreation of biblical times is effective and plausible; and the percussive ethnic score for the most part admirably complements the superb photography. The dialogue, however, is often astonishingly banal and the miracles mundane. More seriously, Scorsese fails to illuminate the soul of Christ - essentially what the film is all about. Nevertheless, it remains a sincere, typically ambitious and imaginative work from America's most provocatively intelligent film-maker.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Barbara DeFina
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Paul Greco, Steven Shill, Verna Bloom, Barbara Hershey, Roberts Blossom, Barry Miller, Irvin Kershner, André Gregory, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie full cast
Duration: 163 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now