Film Far-fetched But In Dubious Taste
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday November 14, 1988
Fourteen years ago, at the behest of the Herald, I attended the Sydney premier of The Exorcist. TV news crews stalked the cinema foyer, interviewing anyone wearing a cross or clerical collar. I spirited a tame theologian back to this office, where his 1,000 words of revealed wisdom were reduced to about four paragraphs.
Events surrounding the screening of The Last Temptation of Christ have seemed to this reporter like a re-run. Both films raise genuine theological problems in addition to matters of taste. A problem with The Exorcist was that the power of the Devil seemed to rival that of Christ. A problem with The Last Temptation is that Judas is shown (certainly in the film's early stages) as a stronger figure than the Saviour.
A scene in The Exorcist depicted the possessed child (Regan) taunting the priest-exorcist about his own human failings. At one point the priest's"mother" (Satan/Regan in disguise) gazes at him from the bed, remonstrating with him over his failure to visit her more often.
The Bible says the Devil is the "master of deceit". Shortly after seeing The Exorcist I attended a real-life exorcism. The youth being prayed over emitted both human and animal sounds, and (in a female voice) invited onlookers to indulge in sexual congress. With each "voice" his physical features showed a marked (but not total) change.
I was reminded of all this by the reverie sequence in The Last Temptation of Christ. Satan appears as a child/angel, removes the nails, puts ointment on His wounds, and carries Him down from the cross.
Though far-fetched, that Satan could appear in this guise is theologically respectable. What is less reasonable is that Christ, though wracked by pain from the cross, should fail - until the film's final minutes - to see through the Devil's trickery.
According to Luke 22:42, Christ really did go to the Mount of Olives and pray: "Father, if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done." However, the passage goes on to say: "An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened Him."
The author, Nikos Kazantzakis, and director Martin Scorcese treated the above text less than fairly.
Is Christ imagining the things in his reverie, or is He doing them? Dream sequences are frequently used to solve problems in TV soapies. In Dallas, even Bobby Ewing's demise was explained in this way.
Where the Saviour is concerned, there are theological difficulties.
The Bible teaches that to sin (sexually) in the mind is the same as doing it in the flesh. For the sinless Christ this raises a contradiction. What He is imagining appears to include marriage and making love to Mary Magdalene(she appears with bridesmaids in tow so we must assume marriage comes first)and a further relationship, after the death of Mary Magdalene, with Martha and her sister Mary.
The depiction is (to put it mildly) in dubious taste, and was possibly done to overcome identity problems (just who poured perfume over the Saviour and wiped His feet with her hair?) concerning the three women in the New Testament.
The Rev Dr Paul Barnett, visiting Fellow in History at Macquarie University, has written an absorbing five-page critique of The Last Temptation of Christ.
He points out, as have many others, that a film which offended the beliefs of Aborigines, Hindus or Muslims would not have been tolerated. He also objects to TV commentators labelling protesters as "fundamentalists".
Dr Barnett, who also lectures in Divinity at Sydney University, assesses the modern practice of producing quasi-fictional works about real people.
Dr Barnett finds this "more worrying than offensive ... A similar, though less blatant disdain for biographical truth was displayed in Amadeus, in which the young Mozart is portrayed as a raunchy scatterbrain".
"Fiction portraying fantasy may be acceptable, but fiction presented as truth is not. It is a characteristic of societies in bondage that its citizens have slanted versions of history presented to them.
"Our historical past is a precious inheritance for culture and society, at least as important as the physical environment we inhabit. I protest at the pollution and spoliation of history."
Quasi-fictional works concerning Christianity are not new. The Robe, Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar are examples. In the 1970s, a book, I Judas, showed Judas as a misunderstood figure, whose betrayal of Christ was(a) intended to goad Jesus into demonstrating His powers, and (b) part of a Divine plan, with Judas as a key instrument.
Some of these aspects are explored in Martin Scorcese and The Last Temptation of Christ, on SBS TV tonight at 10.
This interesting documentary looks at other films about the life of Christ. Until comparatively recently it was considered faintly blasphemous for an actor even to play Christ. Shots of the Saviour were usually from the side and rear to avoid identification.
I recall the raised eyebrows when it was announced that there would be a"full frontal" Christ in the 1961 remake of Cecil B. de Mille's 1927 King of Kings. Care was taken to ensure that the actor chosen for this role - Jeffrey Hunter, a young American - should have led an "appropriate" life, free from divorce, alcoholism or similar scandal.
The aurora lingers. I remember being faintly surprised, on interviewing Robert Powell, star of the 1977 movie Jesus of Nazareth, to learn he was an atheist.
* The golden jubilee service of Australian Church Women (NSW), formerly the NSW Women's Inter-Church Council, will be held on Friday at St Stephen's Uniting Church, Macquarie Street, at 11am.
* The Catholic Audio Visual Centre, at Homebush, has won a Pater Award (for programming excellence) for its production Turning Around, which deals with relationships and reconciliation.
© 1988 Sydney Morning Herald