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

Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Kate Beckinsale in the Martin Scorsese movie ‘The Aviator’

An epic biographical drama of United States business magnate Howard Hughes as directed by Martin Scorsese captures our attention today. Starring an ensemble cast portraying the business, government and movie star classes throughout Hughes‘ life, The Aviator (2004) was written by John Logan for the movies to dramatize a view of Howard Hughes from the late 1920s through the middle 1940s.

(From left, John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich and Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Starting with a foreshadowing for the path the Hughes story will take, The Aviator begins in 1913 Houston, Texas with 9-year-old Howard taught to fear the germs of of a cholera outbreak while bathed by his mother. Portrayed by Jacob Davich and Amy Sloan respectively, Howard‘s mother would have him spell quarantine. The stage was being set for the forming personality that would begin to be revealed to the audience with the 1927 film Hell’s Angels (1930) that Howard Hughes, now portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, was directing.

(From left, Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Adam Scott as Johnny Meyer, Jude Law as Errol Flynn and Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Noah Dietrich would begin managing the day-to-day business of the business empire that was growing for Hughes. It was upon seeing the movie The Jazz Singer (1927), a movie partially including sound, that Howard Hughes would begin reworking his movie to also include sound. Despite positive reviews without the sound, Hughes insisted upon bringing sound and realism to the movie in a manner that indicated an obsessive need to get there. Hughes became romantically involved with Katharine Hepburn during this period. Hepburn, as portrayed by Cate Blanchett, helped Hughes keep the symptoms of his obsessive-compulsive disorder in check.

(From left, Danny Huston as Jack Frye, Kelli Garner as Faith Domergue, Alec Baldwin as Juan Trippe, Emma Campbell as Helen Frye and Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

It was in 1935 that we are introduced to the Hughes H-1 Racer. The introduction comes with Hughes setting a speed record and crash-landing the plane when it runs out of gas. On the heals of flying around the world in four days in 1938, we learn of Hughes purchasing the controlling interest of Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA), later renamed to Trans World Airlines. A rivalry develops from here with Pan Am (Pan American World Airways), Juan Trippe, and Maine Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. With Hepburn having moved on, Hughes would date Faith Domergue and Ava Gardner while maintaining feelings for Katharine Hepburn.

(From left, Ian Holm as Professor Fitz, Alan Alda as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

With a series of new construction contracts for the American military in the works, with the Hughes XF-11 reconnaissance plane and the Hughes H-4 Hercules / Spruce Goose flying boat converging into false arguments against the Hughes companies. A crash in Beverly Hills, California and the expense of the other plane converge with the airline industry inquiries and fundamental issue in Howard Hughes‘ personal life that speak largely to the true partner Hughes had in Noah Dietrich.

(From left, director Martin Scorsese and actress Kate Beckinsale in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator).

Five Academy Award wins would be granted to The Aviator, which was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Received well by critics and moviegoers alike, the movie was based on the book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life by Charles Higham. The sets felt period appropriate with excellent flourishes of cinematography include. I grant The Aviator as directed by Martin Scorsese 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe and Frances McDormand in the Alan Parker movie ‘Mississippi Burning’

The movie Mississippi Burning (1988) originates its sense of setting with the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael ‘Mickey’ Schwerner. For a historical account of their disappearance and murders near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, you may review this description. Mississippi Burning was woven into a crime thriller with two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in fictional Jessup County. The hostility encountered from the town’s residents, local police, and the Ku Klux Klan launches a police procedural that becomes the story.

(From left, Willem Dafoe as FBI agent Alan Ward (based on Joseph Sullivan) and Gene Hackman as FBI agent Rupert Anderson (based on John Proctor) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The movie begins with an introduction to one black and two Jewish civil rights workers tasked with helping African Americans register for voting. The three disappear, which sufficiently alarms the national organizations supporting the workers to contact the FBI. Agents Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson, as portrayed by Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman, respectively, are dispatched to work in a reluctant local community to get to the truth and bring a sense of justice to a situation bent in a decidedly different direction. The FBI agents have a decidedly different approach for engaging the people in the local community.

(From left, Brad Dourif as Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell (based on Cecil Price) and Gailard Sartain as Ray Stuckey, Sheriff of Jessup County (based on Lawrence A. Rainey) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The difficulty engaging the community begins with the fanatical presence of the Ku Klux Klan, which has penetrated the police where the disappearances occurred. The black community is afraid lives in legitimate fear while the white community sees and / or administers the hate and abuse rampant in the town. Jessup County Sheriff Ray Stuckey and Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell, as portrayed Gailard Sartain and Brad Dourif, respectively, are prominent leaders in this underlying truth.

(Frances McDormand as Mrs. Pell (as based on Conner Price, standing) and Park Overall as Connie (seated) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

A fair portion of the investigative portion of the movie offers insight into the differing approaches for learning the fate of the civil rights workers. The older FBI agent Rupert Anderson and the more senior FBI agent Alan Ward have distinctly different styles, wherein the more by-the-book approach reigns supreme from the start of the movie. This really ruffles the elder field agent, and the exposition for how this works out really offers credit to the storytelling, if not the historical accuracy, of the movie. While the absence of significant focus on the black population in the storytelling is a problem for some, the incorporation of Mrs. Pell and Connie, as portrayed by Frances McDormand and Park Overall, has it merits.

(From left, Darius McCrary as Aaron Williams and Lou Walker as Vertis Williams in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The break that ends the law enforcement tension above happens with a cost. Aaron and Vertis Williams, as portrayed by Darius McCrary and Lou Walker, respectively, suffer at a key point that brings about a swift transition in approach that may or may not be decisive. That this shift occurs is emotionally satisfying, whether Ward and Anderson actually come to appreciate each other afterward or not.

(From left, R. Lee Ermey as Mayor Tilman, Stephen Tobolowsky as Clayton Townley (based on Samuel Bowers) and Michael Rooker as Frank Bailey (based on Alton Wayne Roberts) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

Zeroing in on the community dedication to participating in or tacitly approving of it, outside the local police, included businessman Clayton Townley, Mayor Tilman and believer Frank Bailey. Stephen Tobolowsky, R. Lee Ermey and Michael Rooker portrayed Townley, Tilman and Bailey, respectively. That an attempt to connect the dots with these three, plus Lester Cowens (based on Jimmy Snowden), was an appreciated touch in the portrayed story. Pruitt Taylor Vince portrayed Lester Cowens.

(Actor Gene Hackman and director Alan Parker on location for the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

There is so many interesting choices made in the movie that we receive with Mississippi Burning. The choices in what to include and exclude thematically, both from the historical sense and then from the emotional sense of helping folks feel the importance of the story were solid. The decision not to take the perspective of the aggrieved parties themselves further, or the aggrieved class of people further, is interesting as a limitation; my sense is that the movie still works despite not going further. Additionally, the depth of the cast that told the story included additionally needs to be called out as a recommendation for this movie. I grant Mississippi as directed by Alan Parker 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, February 26, 2022

Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe and the film ‘Motherless Brooklyn’

The film Motherless Brooklyn (2019) sets itself against the backdrop of 1950s New York City with a puzzle for lead character and private detective Lionel Essrog, as played by film director Edward Norton, in the starring role. Essrog battles Tourette’s Syndrome, and as a result is taken under the wing of Frank Minna, as played by Bruce Willis, from childhood.

(Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Laura Rose, left, and Edward Norton as Lionel Essrog in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

Frank Minna sets the story in motion with a shady proposition to extort more payment for his business from businessmen whose background Minna keeps deliberately vague. Using the photographic memory of Essrog to plant puzzles for a crime solving plan for the private detective, things turning sideways for that deal reveals a story that offers a degree of potential character depth that isn’t present in many contemporary movies.

(Bruce Willis as Frank Minna, left, Willem Dafoe as Paul, center, and Alec Baldwin as Moses Randolph in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

The pieces suggest involvement by characters Paul, as played by Willem Dafoe, Laura Rose as played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Moses Randolph as played by Alec Baldwin. Randolph, a character written into the book Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, resembles power broker Robert Moses as described in the book The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro. The intrigue within the movie, a project brought to the movies due to Norton, includes intrigue that in part includes character Tony Vermonte as played by Bobby Cannavale.

(Bobby Cannavale as Tony Vermonte in the film Motherless Brooklyn).

The Rotten Tomatoes listing for the film Motherless Brooklyn rightly mentions the film takes the story from the “gin-soaked jazz clubs in Harlem to the hard-edged slums of Brooklyn”. The film aims for setting a mood, a place, and a feeling of corruption fighting that works if understood through the lens of those constructs, some of which Norton seems to have added into the film’s screenplay. The film largely worked for me due to this, which leads me to my rating of 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Hercule Poirot, Kenneth Branagh, and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’

When it comes to detective novels and murder mysteries, Agatha Christie is perhaps best known for her detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. The first movie edition of Murder on the Orient Express (1974) was received warmly by critics and audiences alike. The recent remake, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), received less warmth from critics and audiences.

(Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot)

Kenneth Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in the 2017 rendition of Murder on the Orient Express. A star-studded cast joined Branagh, including Michelle Pfeiffer as Caroline Hubbard, Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff, Willem Dafoe as Gerhard Hardman, Penelope Cruz as Pilar Estravados, and Johnny Depp as Edward Ratchett. Many others joined in the story.

(Michelle Pfiefer as Caroline Hubbard)

This version of the movie maintains the larger framework of the book written by Agatha Christie while looking to bring in a contemporary moralizing and sensibility from a book written in 1934. If written today, the more likely means of locomotion would be an ocean cruise at sea for 2-3 days or a transcontinental flight meant to be in the air for a good long time with delays built in.

(Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff)

The movie begins as an extravagant train ride through Europe that, on the surface is a vacation for Hercule Poirot and the guests alike. The keen detective that is Poirot has his antenna up from the beginning when, quickly into the tale, the suspense and thrills of murder, clues, and detection begin.

(WIllem Dafoe as Gerhard Hardman)

Everyone seemingly has a motive for murder. The really baffling quality of the mystery here is that one lead after another after another leads to apparent dead end. The clear culprit defies the straightforward explanation that one would expect. Is the murderer Caroline Hubbard or Princess Dragomiroff? Might it have been Gerhard Hardman or Pilar Estravados? Many have plausible motives for murder, though not one of these suspects lends themselves to a satisfactory answer to the question who committed the murder?

(Penelope Cruz as Pilar Estravados)

My goal here is to give you a sense of the suspense. The discovery of the answer is one that I recommend you determine through reading the book or watching one of the movies.

(Johnny Depp as Edward Ratchett)

The critics consensus for this version of this movie, as shared on Rotten Tomatoes, is this:

“Stylish production and an all-star ensemble keep this Murder on the Orient Express from running off the rails, even if it never quite builds up to its classic predecessor’s illustrious head of steam.”

The critics consensus for the 1974 version, from Rotten Tomatoes, is more generous:

“Murder, intrigue, and a star-studded cast make this stylish production of Murder on the Orient Express one of the best Agatha Christie adaptations to see the silver screen.”

I personally enjoyed the 2017 version of the movie. That there were clues to unravel, multiple folks whose guilt was in question, and the underlying cleverness of an Agatha Christie murder mystery to outsmart were all there. For the very astute watcher, the solution to the crime is detectable. Regardless of the above stated critical reception, this basic quality was present in the movie.

The new Murder on the Orient Express is worth a stream through Amazon Prime, HBO, or any other service of choice. Rent a copy from the library if you must. I’ve read the book. I am interested to see the 1974 version all the more for the glowing review above. My recommendation is to choose your path and immerse yourself in the mystery.

Matt – Monday, September 17, 2018

Film review for a winner of four Academy Awards, ‘Platoon’

Director Oliver Stone and Producer Arnold Kopelson first released Platoon (1986) on a limited basis in movie theater’s in December 1986. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for Best Picture, Film Editing, Sound, and Direction. To underscore that this movie was well received by the academy would be a disservice to the film.

(Oliver Stone in cameo in Platoon)

While arguably first a movie with an ensemble cast set in the Vietnam War circa 1967, the story of the movie is a tale of idealism and innocence lost in the jungle of Vietnam as seen through the eyes of Chris Taylor (as played by Charlie Sheen) and others. The character of Chris Taylor volunteers for service after dropping out from college with little worldly experience, which in my opinion serves as a metaphor for much of how the United States viewed itself at the time.

(Charlie Sheen)

While the enemy that the United States was fighting in Vietnam was the communist ideal and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the argument offered in the movie was that there was an internal struggle within America for the fight. The movie wasn’t aiming to argue those politics, though the internal American struggle was viewed through the lens of youthful innocence and some degree of rich versus poor.

(Willem Dafoe, left, and Tom Berenger, right)

Sargent Barnes as played by Tom Berenger serves as the jaded by war experience and morally corrupted platoon leader. Barnes has a quite unsympathetic and unfeeling attitude toward the Vietnam natives in country, and takes ruthless and criminal actions against the people of a farming village that the platoon in the movie comes upon. Sheen’s Taylor finds sympathy with the platoon faction lining up behind the more sympathetic Sargent Elias, who is played by Willem Dafoe.

The characters of Elias and Taylor take illicit drugs during the course of the movie. Barnes does not take that step, receives praise for his toughness within members of the platoon, and is shown for moments of leadership fallibility and moral turpitude, especially amongst the Vietnamese farming villagers as well as in the fate of Sargent Elias.

(Forest Whitaker)

In underscoring some of the military policy of integrating the military that was part of the legacy of the Vietnam War, the notion of the larger ensemble cast also sharing in the taking of sides between Sargent’s Barnes and Elias was clear. Big Harold, as played by Forest Whitaker, gave voice to the same inner turmoil that Chris Taylor (Sheen) was experiencing. This was communicated most strongly, perhaps, after the Vietnamese village was raised and farmers were killed.

(Keith David)

In the role as King, Keith David was a voice of moralizing that helped the character of Chris Taylor come to his own sense of moral clarity within the film. David’s initial role was in taking stock of the character that Taylor was as well as helping guide the change that Taylor would experience by the end of the movie. The character of Rhah, as played by Francesco Quinn, was another strong voice for the audience and Taylor in speaking for the directorial messages of immediacy and vision that I heard in the film.

(Francesco Quinn)

There is no question that Platoon lands firmly in the camp of war movie. The scenes of war action were real and intense for their day, though later surpassed by some of the film quality of a picture like Saving Private Ryan. Similar in ensemble quality to Saving Private Ryan, I would be remiss if I were to not point out that Johnny Depp also served as Private Gator Lerner in Platoon.

(Johnny Depp)

Part of the larger power of the movie that worked so well as a war movie is that the experience offered was that of the platoon level combatant. The notion of Taylor losing the ability to write home, and his platoon mates asking him about it were quite real. The notion of staying morally forthright while facing many opportunities to lose innocence and idealism were also fair, gritty, and in ways unpleasantly real. The depictions of combat, of corrupted leadership and the counterpoint rectitude, and the coping with having thoughts on each while feeling powerless to affect the course were strong and cogent messages.

With all these things said, the reason that I watched Platoon without Lynn reflect the same reason that I watched Dunkirk, reviewed here, without Lynn. The violence and sensibility of war that were parts of Platoon and Dunkirk were not things that Lynn would enjoy. Quite easily put, there was nothing to be gained by subjecting her to an experience that she would not enjoy.

Platoon, still, was worthy of Academy Award attention.

Matt – Sunday, March 18, 2018