The Last Temptation of Christ

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Starring: Willem Dafoe
Barbara Hershey
Harvey Keithel
1988

The Last Temptation of Christ (or The Last Temptation; Greek: Ο Τελευταίος Πειρασμός, O Teleftaíos Peirasmós) is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1951. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective. The novel has been the subject of a great deal of controversy due to its subject matter, and appears regularly on lists of banned books.

The central thesis of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that humans face, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust. By facing and conquering all of man's weaknesses, Kazantzakis argues in the novel's preface, He struggled to do God's will, without ever giving in to the temptations of the flesh.

In its movie adaptation, The Last Temptation of Christ is arguably Martin Scorsese's most passionate work.It is very rare that a film comes along and has the power to change the way someone thinks. Martin Scorsese's epic masterpiece does just that. What happened if Jesus Christ was given a choice in whether or not he was crucified and died "for our sins?" What if Jesus wasn't as perfect as the myths make him out to be, and was instead a human being, who was almost cursed with the idea that he was the son of God? The main reason that the fundamentalists right wingers have come out so strongly against The Last Temptation of Christs is that the film depicts the dual nature of Christ as fully devine and fully human. Other than a brief moment at the end of the film in which Christ ponders what might have been had he lived a normal life, the film is not anti-Christian in the least. As one critic put it, "ironically, The Last Temptation of Christ probably would have drawn more people to Christianity than years of annoying pamphlets and systematic brainwashing." Scorsese's direction is very bizarre and creates a film that is extremely surreal.This is the most intelligent film about Jesus to ever be created.