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The Last Temptation of Christ: The Criterion Collection
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Criterion Collection Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (11th April 2012). |
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The Film
 "The Last Temptation of Christ" was a project that filmmaker Martin Scorsese had wanted to make for years, a passion project. A Catholic, Scorsese had wanted to make a film about the life of Jesus since childhood, having watched the Hollywood religious epics and being inspired by them. He would give up a life in the priesthood to become a filmmaker. Having optioned the book of the same name by author Nikos Kazantzakis in 1970, it would be 18 years before his vision could be seen on the big screen, and it caused quite a stir among the Christian population that protested the film and called it a work of blasphemy. The issues people took offense to were that the film contained elements not found within the texts of the four Gospels. Despite there being a disclaimer at the start of the film that it's "not based on the gospels". Somewhat surprising (but not entirely so) was that many of the vocal advocates for the banning/boycotting the of film had never actually seen it. "The Last Temptation of Christ" is a film which depicts the life of Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe) as he meets his ultimate end. The Story of Christ is undoubtedly the most well known story of all time, however this story explores the life of the Savior in a more personal and human manner. His struggles with temptation take a front seat in Scorsese's opus as he deals with forms of fear, doubt, depression, reluctance and lust. The film features an incredible cast including Harvey Keitel and Barbara Hershey (who was nominated for a Golden Globe in the best performance by an actress in a supporting role category for her part as Mary Magdalene). This film is not like the usual religious epics we've previously seen from Hollywood, the types that romanticize the era and portray the figures as pillars for morality throughout their struggles, matched with immaculate costumes and lush scope photography. No. "The Last Temptation of Christ" is humanistic in character, smaller and a much more personal film. The costumes are not immaculate, the locations and photography are not lush. The tone of the film feels real for the era, and thus adds a sense of reality despite the subject matter. You feel like you can brush the dust off of the old and tattered robes yourself, Scorsese and his cohorts (production designer John Beard and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus) are masters at placing viewers right in the middle of whatever era he's capturing and "The Last Temptation of Christ" is no different. Upon released the film captured a lot of negative press, primarily from Christian fundamentalists whom took offense to the notion that Christ was being tempted by imagining himself engaged in sexual activities, you can see how this could outrage a few people. Furthermore the film's final act sees Christ being crucified, while in the throws of being sacrificed, he fantasizes about living a normal life, a life in which he not the Messiah. He marries Mary Magdalene, has children and lives out his life. This, being his last temptation. To be human, to live a quiet life. To not be the son of God... this as well, was a sore point of contention. it's a bold vision, and one that should be explored. After all Christ was human, and like all of us, is susceptible to all the temptations we are. Scorsese has crafted a visionary look at Christ, one that challenges its viewers, opens the table for conversation and is certainly one of the most compelling takes on the life of Christ committed to the silver screen. Criterion are correct in including it in its collection of important films, it should be seen by everyone, Christian or not.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 The Criterion Collection have released this film in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. True to form Criterion have created a transfer that has been supervised and approved by both the film's cinematographer and editor. The film underwent a transformation in its prep for release, a process that restored and remastered the image from its original negative. Criterion technicians spent time removing dirt, scratches and dust, cleaning up the film and removing inherent flaws of he film medium such as judder, jitter, flicker etc. The result is a solid image, although does at times suffer from a bit of softness. This edition offers an upgrade to the formally released DVD edition from Criterion, the image is much more crisp, colors appear more vibrant and detail, textures and depth all improve in this format. Grain is evident and is retained to maintain that filmic look (thankfully no DNR here), it's nice to see a distributor not be afraid of what film really looks like and how it should be presented. I was overly pleased with this image, slight softness aside in some shots and still a little bit of dirt remains here and there, but it's the best we've ever seen this film look.
Audio
There's a single audio track presented here in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, this new audio track was created using the original six-track magnetic masters. The result is a spacious audio track that presents dialogue cleanly without the usual hiss, clicks and pops that tend to be heard on tracks of this age. Depth sounds good, although a little limited (due to the limitation of the original recording process), while its mostly a front heavy track surrounds are used on occasion for environmental and directional effects as well as the film's score. Overall it's a great effort and the audio sounds great for a film of it's age. Optional subtitles are only included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
The Criterion Collection originally released this film on Laserdisc back in 1997 (released at the astounding retail price of $99.95 at the time!), they produced a collection of terrific supplements including an audio commentary, a collection of galleries, a featurette and an interview with the film's composer. The subsequent Criterion DVD released in 2000 featured the same supplements and for a third time they've been ported over for this new Blu-ray disc. It's always nice to see all the supplements make it over, however it would have been great had they gone back to produce some new extras, ones that don't seem as dated anyway. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is the feature-length screen-specific audio commentary with director Martin Scorsese, actor Willem Dafoe, and screenwriters Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks. Now 15 years-old, this track is worth listening to whether it's your 15th time or your first (for me this makes the third time I've listened to it, once on each format this film was released on by Criterion). This is how commentaries should be done, the current batch of tracks are too focused on random non-sense facts, or feature too many gaps of silence. These participants comment on the process of bringing this material to the screen and is filled with some excellent behind-the-scenes information that really gets you into the mindset of these filmmakers and what they were trying to achieve. They share their thoughts on the message of the film, its themes and vision. It's nice to hear the screenwriters comment on their challenges and how they overcame some tough story elements, and as always its wonderful to listen to Scorsese talk film, whether his own or others, his passion and enthusiasm really shines and makes this an enjoyable track to listen to. "Costume Designs" is a gallery (1080p) that features 41 images of costume design art and production set photos of those costumes, it offers viewers a look at the evolution of the costumes. Next up is the "Stills and Research" gallery (1080p) is a collection of 71 images featuring some production, publicity stills, as well as religious works of art and notes. These are materials the filmmakers used to get a better understanding of the era and to ensure authenticity. Following that is the "On Location in Morocco" featurette (1080p) which runs for 15 minutes 44 seconds, although short this (original shot on VHS) clip features footage shot by Scorsese during the film's production in 1987. It features some rare and candid footage as the filmmakers strive to create this film on location. An interview with composer Peter Gabriel (1080p) runs for 12 minutes 3 seconds and also features an introduction text about Gabriel's involvement in the film. The clip offers Gabriel the opportunity to comment on the film's score, developing the musical cues as well as his favorite parts of the score. A photo gallery (1080p) is also featured with 6 images of instruments used to create the unique and interesting score and also on the editing process. Rounding out the supplements package is a liner-notes booklet that features an essay written by film critic David Ehrenstein entitled "Passion Project" which was originally written for the 1997 Laserdisc release and had been updated for this release.
Overall
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