This week on the Reel Spirituality Podcast, we try to get a handle on the controversy that surrounded Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ back in the 1980s. For many Christians, the film represents the worst things about Hollywood. For many in Hollywood, the film represents the worst things about Christians. Somehow that seems appropriate for a film about a man who claimed he didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword.
If there anything of worth in Scorsese’s passion project? Should the film have been surrendered to the Evangelical pundits for public burning? What’s the deal with Judas’ accent? Listen in and find out.*
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*Two notes: First, at one point, we incorrectly identify one of Scorsese’s favorite films as Only Angels Have Wings. While Scorsese might possibly be fond of the Howard Hawks film, the movie we should have named is Angels With Dirty Faces. Second, the article Elijah Davidson reads from in this episode can be read in full here on the Criterion Collection website.
