Search - The Last Temptation of Christ [Widescreen] [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Adult Situations, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1988 DVD Release: 04/25/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 43 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 47 Genres: Drama, Religious Drama, Hagiography

Willem Dafoe plays Jesus Christ in this extraordinarily controversial adaptation of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel. The film depicts a sometimes reluctant, self-doubting Jesus, gradually coming to accept His divinity and the inexorability of His ultimate fate. The much-maligned sex scene with Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) occurs as an hallucination experienced by Jesus as he suffers on the cross. This particular sequence was what infuriated the film's most rabid critics, but in fact it is just one of many iconoclastic musings to be found in the film and its source novel. Equally volatile are the intimations that, as a carpenter, Jesus indifferently shaped the crucifixes for other condemned prisoners long before his own fate was sealed, and that Judas (Harvey Keitel) was literally manipulated into betrayal by a Christ whose preoccuption with his own destiny compelled him to "use" others. None of these departures from the normal interpretation of the scriptures are offered as any more than theory; as such, it was accepted as food for thought by the more open-minded clerics and Biblical scholars who recommended the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Willem Dafoe - Jesus Christ
Harvey Keitel - Judas Iscariot
Barbara Hershey - Mary Magdalene
Harry Dean Stanton - Paul
Harry Dean Stanton - Saul
David Bowie - Pontius Pilate
Verna Bloom - Mary, Mother of Jesus
Andre Gregory - John the Baptist

Criterion Collection's release of Martin Scorsese's controversial film is superb. The studio has compiled a package that will appeal to both the cinephile and the mildly curious. Of the special features, the meatiest is the commentary given by Scorsese, lead actor Willem Dafoe, and screenwriters Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks. The multiple sources provide a depth to the background information that would be difficult to attain if only one commentator had been used. There is a collection of research materials, production stills, and costume designs collected by the director himself, as well as location footage shot by him. There is an interview with the film's composer Peter Gabriel, with supporting stills of the musicians and the unusual instruments used for the soaring soundtrack.
The anamorphic widescreen image is fantastic here, and the colors are earthy yet varied in their palette. The enhanced transfer is straight from the original print and contains very few scratches. Peter Gabriel's powerful opening sequence can be fully appreciated with the Dolby Digital 5:1 track, and the dialogue, though sometimes hard to adjust to after the immense strength of the music, is distinct and very clean. Criterion should be commended for providing a booklet that contains a rebuttal essay addressing the maelstrom of controversy that surrounded this film. This DVD is beyond controversy and can be enjoyed as a complete entertainment package. ~ Marsha Mehran, All Movie Guide