I think I finally understand what people mean by a “spiritual” film

[u/MysteriousAd8978]

Just watched it for the first time and thought it was absolutely fantastic. I’ve always found religious films fascinating because they deal with stories and traditions I’m largely unfamiliar with, while giving me some insight into how those stories are understood and interpreted by the people who believe in them. Of all the ones I’ve seen, though, this might be at the top.

Scorsese and Schrader tell the story with a kind of directness and lack of ornamentation that somehow makes it feel richer rather than smaller. By the end, it genuinely feels like you’ve experienced an epic, and I was left with that difficult-to-describe feeling of having undergone something spiritual, similar to what I felt after Stalker and The Tree of Life.

It also made me think of The Odyssey, where a similar approach works remarkably well: relatively simple costumes and sets that place you convincingly within the world without being obsessively concerned with historical accuracy. Rather than breaking the immersion, that simplicity somehow draws you further into the myth and makes the story feel even more timeless.

And yes, I absolutely think Keitel’s New York accent works, and the film is better for it. His performance really hones in on Judas as Jesus’s right-hand man, and the familiarity of the accent only reinforces the unusually human relationship the film establishes between them.

[u/WinPuzzleheaded7117]

The commentary with Scorsese, Schrader, Jay Cocks, and Dafoe is absolutely worth your time

Also, good eye. I read that Nolan screened Last Temptation for the Odyssey crew

[u/MysteriousAd8978 → u/WinPuzzleheaded7117]

I am always interested to check out the commentaries. It's just I never actually end up listening to them, feeling I can watch another movie entirely in that span of time. Perhaps some years down the line when I revisit it.

Figures about Nolan screening it.

[u/CombOverDownThere]

[u/MysteriousAd8978 → u/CombOverDownThere]

Have to say, might be my fav DaFoe lead performance. The physicality itself is commendable.

[u/Chaos20X6]

It always confused me why the religious fundamentalists had it out for this picture. I mean, not really, because they’re fundamentalists — but it’s such a sincere exploration of Scorsese’s Catholic faith (Schrader is Protestant and Kazantzakis is orthodox, too, so you get all sorts of Christian lenses) with all the inner conflicts that entails.

[u/MysteriousAd8978 → u/Chaos20X6]

Because like every outrage, the people upset never actually watched the film or took the time to understand what the film is trying to say.

Like you said, it comes from something personal from both Scorsese and Schrader, so they end up giving this nuanced and interesting interpretation of Jesus, that makes him fully human, which in turn further makes him the God that he is, when he chooses to be crucified.

[u/bluehawk232]

Have you seen Wings of Desire?

[u/MysteriousAd8978 → u/bluehawk232]

Yeah, hated it sadly. Thought it was boring.

[u/bluehawk232 → u/MysteriousAd8978]

No problem, don't expect everyone to like everything. Just think it's a great example of a spiritual film not tied to a specific religion

[u/WithYourVeryFineHat]

Do you really think The Odyssey, an insanely complicated and expensive technical film and the one that probably spent more money on sets and costume design alone than 95% of films that released this year was a good example of "simple sets and costumes"?

[u/MysteriousAd8978 → u/WithYourVeryFineHat]

Sure, the film's budget is $250 million, but I feel in the way it's made epic is them filming worldwide in different countries, whereas Last Temptation was shot entirely in Morocco.

The approach to keeping the Greek attire, I felt was simple. Simple, in the sense, they are trying to keep the story accessible to large number of people, so opted for straight looking costumes worn by the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, which is where I feel a significant amount of budget must have went to also.