Clearly, those wed to a literal interpretation of Scripture would take issue with this notion. With this humanization as the central focus, other familiar figures from the story-particularly Judas and Mary Magdalene-could be seen in a fresh dramatic light.Īs for the work’s title, the “temptation” is simply that to be only human-to forgo divinity and martyrdom in exchange for a normal life. If he had not within him this warm human element, he would never be able to touch our hearts with such assurance and tenderness he would not be able to become a model for our lives.” And so instead of dealing with Christ as a remote icon, Scorsese’s film would explore what it meant for him to be fully human as well as divine-as the Gospels say it was Jesus’ unique condition to be. Written in 1951, The Last Temptation of Christ, according to its author, shows that the “part of Christ’s nature which was profoundly human helps us to understand and love him and to pursue his passion as though it were our own. Kazantzakis’s novel had long fascinated Scorsese, who saw in it an opportunity to create a religious epic like no other, a “Passion project” if ever there was one. Unfortunately, serious discussion of it has often been blocked by a yowling mob of right-wing zealots. Brilliantly directed by Martin Scorsese, this adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’s imaginative retelling of the life of Christ is, without question, one of the most serious, literate, complex, and deeply felt religious films ever made. In the becalmed atmosphere of today’s Hollywood, it’s hard to imagine the tumult that greeted The Last Temptation of Christ when it was released in 1988.

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