Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel and Barbara Hershey in the Martin Scorsese movie ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’

We travel back five decades for a decidedly personal, humanist, even brave to explore the challenges of the spiritual and physical endured by Jesus of Nazareth in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie was inspired by the 1952 book The Last Temptation of Christ by Níkos Kazantzákis. Screenplay writing credits rest with Paul Schrader, with uncredited rewrite credits resting with Scorsese and Jay Cocks.

(From left, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, Victor Argo as Peter the Apostle and Verna Bloom as Mary (Mother of Jesus Christ) in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ).

The movie itself opens with an account of Jesus that deviates dramatically from the tales shared of the holy man and the events surrounding his life as shared in the New Testament of the Bible. We first encounter Jesus, as portrayed by Willem Dafoe, in Judea. The carpenter’s son is confronted by Judas Iscariot, as portrayed by Harvey Keitel, with a mandate to murder his friend for collaborating with the Romans to crucify Jewish rebels. Judging the messianic path in front of Jesus, Judas declines the mandate and spares his friend, warning him away from harming the rebellion.

(From left, Randy Danson as Mary, sister of Lazarus, and Peggy Gormley as Martha, sister of Lazarus in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ).

After being baptized by John the Baptist, as portrayed by Andre Gregory, and saving the prostitute Mary Magdalene, as portrayed by Barbara Hershey from a stoning, Jesus begins preaching in accordance with the visions he receives from God. A cursory telling of Jesus‘ preaching yields to a dramatized period of deprivation with temptation by Satan, portrayed in vocal form by Leo Marks. Having passed these tests, Jesus emerges from the desert and his nursed back to health by the sisters of Lazarus, namely Mary as portrayed by Randy Danson and Martha as portrayed by Peggy Gormley. Besides raising his health, the sisters encourage Jesus to follow the dictates of his flesh by settling down, getting married and having kids.

(Tomas Arana as Lazarus in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ).

Lazarus, dramatized in being saved from death by Jesus, was portrayed by Tomas Arana. It is with his ministry reaching Jerusalem that the Cleansing of the Temple of Jerusalem followed by the betrayal of Jesus at Gethsemane is dramatized following a dramatized negotiation for such between Judas and Jesus. It is in the court of Pontius Pilate, as portrayed by David Bowie, that Jesus‘ remaining passion is decided, with the aforementioned arrest, visit to Pilate and subsequent whipping, humiliating walk through the streets and crucifixion.

(From left, David Bowie as Pontius Pilate and Willem Dafoe as Jesus in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ).

The steps in punishment meted out by the hand of Pontius Pilate are shown, with the story of the moment just before death introducing a new storyline at the moment just before death. A Girl Angel, as portrayed by Juliette Caton, representing herself as a Guardian Angel for Jesus indicates to the savior that he’s suffered enough. Oblivious to the crowd gathered at the crucifixion site, Jesus is taken away to marry Mary Magdalene as God has found pleasure with Jesus and wants him, Jesus, to be happy. This lasts until Magdalene abruptly dies, Jesus living with Lazarus‘ sisters into old age with children, and Paul as portrayed by Henry Dean Stanton proclaiming the resurrection. With the Siege of Jerusalem burning Jerusalem revealed to Jesus among other things, the story has Jesus realize this temptation was indeed a ruse by Satan. Crawling back to the crucifixion and begging to die per the original vision, the temptation of family, marriage and a burning city is rebuffed with Jesus‘ death.

(From left, Juliette Caton as Girl Angel and Willem Dafoe as Jesus in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ).

The tug between the spiritual and the physical feels like the full value proposition that the film’s director, and the writers for the source book and the movie, had in mind. To say that exploring this point through the telling of this controversial temptation, as mentioned in the introduction to this summarization and review, was brave is perhaps the best light that I have to place on the emotions I experienced with my screening of the movie. While I understand the choices made in conveying the pull between the wants for spirituality and physicality, that exploration didn’t need to use the leader of what has been passed to us as Christianity to do so. I give The Last Temptation of Christ as directed by Martin Scorsese 3.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, March 16, 2024

Annie Lennox and the album ‘A Christmas Cornucopia’

In her fifth studio album, Annie Lennox of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom set her musical gaze on the Christmas season with the holiday album 2010 album A Christmas Cornucopia. Set to music genres including holiday, pop/rock, carols, Christmas and holidays, musicians assisting Lennox on the presentation of this album included Dave Robbins, Mark Stevens, Mike Stevens, Barry Van Zyl and the African Children’s Choir.

(The Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia was released in November of 2010).

Angels from the Realms of Glory opens A Christmas Cornucopia as a carol reminiscent of many worship services I’ve attended over the years. Upliftingly presented with backing orchestration and chorus, the music for the song was published as written by hymnwriter and poet James Montgomery of Scotland in 1816.

(Scottish born hymnwriter, poet and editor James Montgomery wrote the hymn Angels from the Realms of Glory. The song is the first on the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen follows the album opener with tidings of comfort and joy upon the birth of the historical Jesus. The charm for me is the focus on the singing featuring Lennox throughout, the subtle vocal accompaniment for the first stanza, and the orchestration through the full performance. The accentuating drums add a full-bodied beauty for me that combines with subtlety for what I take as flute through the last quarter of the song, ending as flute in isolation.

See Amid the Winter’s Snow manifests more beautiful orchestration as led by Dave Robbins throughout this album. First published in 1858 for English hymn writer Edward Caswall, English organist and composer John Goss composed a hymn for the original piece in 1871. The presentations then and now express joy in the birth of Jesus Christ at the commemoration of his original arrival.

Il est né le divin Enfant is French for He is born, the divine Child. Lennox sings the French Christmas carol in the original language in narrating the story of the 4,000 year wait for the humble birth of Jesus in a manger.

(A Christmas Cornucopia album by Annie Lennox was released in November of 2010).

The First Noel as a piece of music is “a traditional English carol most likely from the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th century”, as quoted here. The chorus vocals in a brief dreamy spell between verses at a pair of points elevates the piano and strings that accompany the Annie Lennox singing for this song. The trumpeting of the joyous event of Jesus‘ birth to close the song presented an unexpectedly uplifting conclusion to this piece.

Lullay Lullay (The Coventry Carol) draws from the Gospel according to Matthew to tell of the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem as ordered by Herod. The song results in a lullaby that mothers would have sung, and Lennox did sing, to their children as a means of comfort.

The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional folk Christmas carol of British origin. The song harkens back to the association between Christmas and holly, which has origins in the Middle Ages (or Medieval times). The cadence performs a bit quicker than my senses and heart wanted to experience this song.

(This portrait of Christina Rossetti was made by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, her brother. Christina Rossetti‘s poem In the Bleak Midwinter was published under the title A Christmas Carol).

Written as a poem by Christina Rossetti, In the Bleak Midwinter is frequently performed as a Christmas carol as done by Annie Lennox on A Christmas Cornucopia. The song postulates a series of cJoseph (Earthly Father of Jesus Christ)omparisons of religious importance foe how Jesus came to exist, the prophesied two comings of Jesus, Jesus‘ birth and surroundings, and the affection types offered Jesus by angels and Mary, his birth mother.

As Joseph was a Walking (The Cherry Tree Carol) surprised me as both a Christmas carol and a children’s ballad. The lyrical version presented by Lennox includes an angel previewing the birth of Jesus for Joseph, Jesus‘ father on Earth.

O Little Town of Bethlehem plays to different music than I’ve heard it presented previously. The song is presented solemnly and traditionally with an almost understated piano accompaniment. The chorus that joins Lennox at periodic points makes for a beautiful rendition of this song.

Silent Night with lyrics by Joseph Mohr and composition by Franz Xaver Gruber presents the second to last song on A Christmas Cornucopia. Presented with a traditional piano approach that grows to include a children’s choir and strings, the musical arrangement does as much for the song as does the Annie Lennox singing.

(Universal Child is a single released in 2010 to support the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).

Universal Child is the original Annie Lennox composition on A Christmas Cornucopia. As quoted here, the song is an advocacy for all kids to experience “Safety, security, access to medical care, to love, protection, education, a future, a decent place to live – a child must have all these things.”

Matt – Wednesday, December 13, 2023