The Last Temptation of Willem Dafoe

There's a Family Guy gag about Willem Dafoe living under Stewie's bed. It's very creepy and disturbing. Therefore, it's a gag I find hilarious. Especially since Dafoe provides his own voice for the cartoon. The joke works because Dafoe is simply such a uniquely creepy actor/person. Willem Dafoe is uniquely Willem Dafoe. So, in The Last Temptation of Christ, it's hard to see Jesus as anything other than creepy Willem Dafoe playing Jesus.

Martin Scorsese's film garnered complaints and protests when it first debuted in 1988. As it is with most protested movies (like Dogma), most of the complaints were generated by people who had not even seen the movie. The controversy stems from the theme of the movie. Based on a book by Nikos Kazantzakis, the film focuses on the human aspects and emotions of Jesus.

In the movie, creepy Willam Dafoe Jesus has serious doubts about God and his own role in God's plan. At the start of the movie, Jesus is a lowly carpenter who builds crosses for the Roman's to crucify seditious Jews on (an ironic image I found quite intriguing). He is also tormented by visions and voices that cause him constant anxiety and worry.

Maybe the most "controversial" part of the film involves Jesus' desire for Mary Magdalene. Though the incarnate Deity manages to control his earthly temptations, he allows himself a final fantasy as he hangs on the cross (Spoilers ahead?). In this fantasy, an angel brings Jesus down from the cross so that he may live an ordinary life with the reasoning that, if God saved Abraham's son from being sacrificed, why wouldn't He save His own son? So Jesus settles down, knows women (in the Biblical sense), and has a large brood of children. Jesus lives a fruitful, enjoyable life, grows old, and comes to his death bed as the Roman's burn Jerusalem.

At this time, the point of the movie is made for me as the elderly versions of Jesus' former disciples pay one last visit to him. Judas, as portrayed by red haired Harvey Keitel (wait, what?!), scolds and rebukes Jesus, calling him a traitor. Jesus lived a happy life, but now it all will burn and fade away. Jesus then weighs his decisions, wondering if it was actually better to enjoy a normal life than to have died in agony to save the world. Eventually crawling from his death bed, the prodigal savior emphatically begs God to crucify him and make the Messiah after all.

That moment made the movie for me, as Jesus realizes the importance of his destiny supercedes all his human desires, emotions, and temptations. Jesus ardently longs to die for the sins of man. He's no longer portrayed as participating in the crucifixion through force or reluctance, but enthusiastically pleading for the fulfillment of his Messiahship.

The movie concludes as Jesus suddenly looks around, realizing that he's still on the cross and that it was all just a fantasy. It was his last temptation, if you will. Clever, huh? Anyway, as he finally expires, he does so with a bit of a smile on his face, overjoyed that he can be the Savior of mankind. It's slight, but definitely an interesting twist on the usual, sad, and depressing crucifix we're all familiar with.

So, sounds like a great movie then, eh? Other than the fact that Jesus is creepy Willem Dafoe, right? Well, no. The "controversial" stuff didn't bother me. It may not be wholly accurate (what is) or traditional, but it certainly makes you think, whether you agree with it or not. And I like to think, so that's a plus. Also, I actually enjoyed the final point made at the end of the film, as described in the paragraphs above.

What's wrong with the movie, then? All the unnecessary, weird crap that gets thrown in throughout the movie. A truncated version of the film that spends more time focusing on the theme than snakes and lions literally speaking to Jesus would have been much better, in my opinion. Forget the controversy, the movie is just plain weird, and not in the good way.

Also, the music is horribly out of place. The score was composed by Peter Gabriel (what?!) which results in Jesus and his disciples walking in slow motion to some bad '80s pop music. I was expecting Judd Nelson to pop on screen at any moment.

Adding to the disbelief is everyone speaking in clear, American dialects (except for Romans, they have British accents - ooo!). I'm sorry, but The Passion of the Christ spoiled me. It may have required subtitles, but the Aramaic spoken in that film went a long way to make it seem authentic. The way people spoke in Last Temptation, it felt like the movie should have been a mob or gangster film instead of taking place 2000 years ago in the Middle East.

So in the end, was this a good film? That's hard to say. I do believe the ideas and themes it brings up are intriguing and makes it worth viewing. However, all the odd, artsy aspects of this film definitely detract a lot from it. But, if you can get past that, I'd recommend seeing it just once for the "controversial" message that really isn't all that controversial. I mean, wasn't part of the reason God became a man was so that we could better relate to Him?

4/7 Toddsperience

And don't call me Boo.