The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers (WGA):

Nikos Kazantzakis (novel)
Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 August 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the temptations that all humans face during their lives, and his final temptation upon the cross.

Plot Keywords:

Heart In Hand | Female Nudity | Alternate History | Controversial | Desert

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Willem Dafoe	...	Jesus
Harvey Keitel	...	Judas
Paul Greco	...	Zealot
Steve Shill	...	Centurian (as Steven Shill)
Verna Bloom	...	Mary, Mother of Jesus
Barbara Hershey	...	Mary Magdalene
Roberts Blossom	...	Aged Master
Barry Miller	...	Jerobeam
Gary Basaraba	...	Andrew, Apostle
Irvin Kershner	...	Zebedee
Victor Argo	...	Peter, Apostle
Michael Been	...	John, Apostle
Paul Herman	...	Phillip, Apostle
John Lurie	...	James, Apostle
Leo Burmester	...	Nathaniel, Apostle
Andre Gregory	...	John The Baptist
Peggy Gormley	...	Martha, Sister of Lazarus
Randy Danson	...	Mary, Sister of Lazarus
Robert Spafford	...	Man At Wedding
Doris von Thury	...	Woman with Mary, Mother of Jesus (as Doris Von Thury)
Tomas Arana	...	Lazarus / Voice in Crowd
Alan Rosenberg	...	Thomas, Apostle
Del Russel	...	Money Changer
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Rabbi
Donald Hodson	...	Saducee
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Saul / Paul
Peter Berling	...	Beggar
David Bowie	...	Pontius Pilate
Juliette Caton	...	Girl Angel
Mohammed Mabsout	...	Other Apostles
Ahmed Nacir	...	Other Apostles
Mokhtar Salouf	...	Other Apostles
Mahamed Ait Fdil Ahmed	...	Other Apostles
Russel Case	...	People at Sermon
Mary Seller	...	People at Sermon
Donna Magnani	...	People at Sermon (as Donna Marie)
Penny Brown	...	Voice in Crowd
Gabi Ford	...	Voicein Crowd
Dale Wyatt	...	Voice in Crowd
Domenico Fiore	...	Voice in Crowd
Ted Rusoff	...	Voice in Crowd
Leo Damian	...	Voice in Crowd
Robert Laconi	...	Voice in Crowd
Jonathan Zhivago	...	Voice in Crowd (as Jonathon Zhivago)
Illeana Douglas	...	Voice in Crowd
David Sharp	...	Voice in Crowd
Khalid Benghrib	...	Dancer
Redouane Farhane	...	Dancer
Fabienne Panciatili	...	Dancer
Naima Skikes	...	Dancer
Souad Rahal	...	Dancer
Otmane Chbani Idrissi	...	Dancer
Jamal Belkhayat	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giovanni Cianfriglia	...	Roman Soldier (uncredited)
Leo Marks	...	Satan / Archangel (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Martin Scorsese

Writing credits (WGA)
Nikos Kazantzakis		(novel)
Paul Schrader		(screenplay)

Produced by
Barbara De Fina	....	producer
Harry J. Ufland	....	executive producer (as Harry Ufland)

Original Music by
Peter Gabriel

Cinematography by
Michael Ballhaus		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Thelma Schoonmaker

Casting by
Cis Corman

Production Design by
John Beard

Art Direction by
Andrew Sanders

Set Decoration by
Giorgio Desideri

Costume Design by
Jean-Pierre Delifer

Makeup Department
Zineb Bendoula	....	hair assistant
Zhor Bennani	....	makeup assistant
Claudia Bianchi	....	hair assistant
Mirella Ginnoto	....	hair stylist
Federico Laurenti	....	makeup artist
Ferdinando Merolla	....	hair assistant
Mario Michisanti	....	makeup artist
Luigi Rocchetti	....	makeup artist
Manlio Rocchetti	....	makeup supervisor
Aldo Signoretti	....	hair stylist supervisor
Maurizio Silvi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Laura Fattori	....	production manager
Marco Valerio Pugini	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ahmed Hatimi	....	second assistant director
Fabio Jephcott	....	second assistant director
Joseph P. Reidy	....	first assistant director (as Joseph Reidy)

Art Department
Elio Altamura	....	prop master
Steve Clarke	....	painter (as Steven Clark)
Dave Coldham	....	plasterer (as David Coldham Sr.)
Dean Coldham	....	plasterer (as Dean Coldham Sr.)
Bernard Collins	....	carpenter
Bob Devine	....	construction foreman (as Robert Devine)
John Frankish	....	assistant art director
Geoff Kingsley	....	construction coordinator (as Geoffrey Kingsley)
Hadj Lahcen Kahia	....	assistant construction coordinator (as Lahcen Kahia)
Peter Mann	....	carpenter
Goffredo Massetti	....	propman
Alberto Tosto	....	assistant set decorator
Marcello Turco	....	stand-by painter
Mauro Vitturini	....	set dressing propman
Derek Whorlow	....	stagehand
Miki Zachar	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ron Bochar	....	foley artist
Ron Bochar	....	foley supervisor
Najib Chlieh	....	cable person
Aldo De Martino	....	boom operator (as Aldo De Martini)
Michael DiCosimo	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as Mike DiCosimo)
Tom Fleischman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter Gabriel	....	additional sound recordist
Thomas A. Gulino	....	sound editor
Don Hunerberg	....	foley recording engineer
Brian Johnson	....	apprentice sound editor
Frank Kern	....	assistant sound editor
Lisa J. Levine	....	adr editor (as Lisa Levine)
Skip Lievsay	....	supervising sound editor
Marissa Littlefield	....	assistant sound editor
Douglas Murray	....	sound recordist (as Douglas L. Murray)
Eliza Paley	....	foley editor
Bruce Pross	....	first assistant sound editor
Nic Ratner	....	assistant sound editor
Marc S. Shaw	....	adr editor (as Marc Shaw)
Gail Showalter	....	foley editor
Jeffrey Stern	....	sound editor
Philip Stockton	....	dialogue supervisor
Amelio Verona	....	sound mixer
Steven Visscher	....	foley editor
Shari Schwartz	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Mel Zelniker	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Luigi Buldrini	....	special effects driver
Iginio Fiorentini	....	special effects technician
Dino Galiano	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Janos Pilenyi	....	opticals (as Janos O. Pilenyi)
Craig Barron	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
Michael Pangrazio	....	matte artist supervisor (uncredited)
Thomas Rosseter	....	optical supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Omero Capanna	....	stunts
Domenico Cianfriglia	....	stunts
Giovanni Cianfriglia	....	stunts
Enzo Maggio	....	stunts (as Vincenzo Maggio)
Stefano Maria Mioni	....	stunts (as Stefano Mioni)
Orlando Ragusa	....	stunts
Franco Maria Salamon	....	stunt coordinator (as Franco Salamon)
Marco Stefanelli	....	stunts
Massimilano Ubaldi	....	stunts
Massimiliano Ubaldi	....	stunts
Franco Ukmar	....	stunts
Giovanni Ukmar	....	stunts
Claudio Zucchet	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Adil Abdelwahab	....	third assistant camera
Florian Ballhaus	....	first assistant camera
Najib Ben Fares	....	electrician (as Najib Benfares)
Abida Boubker	....	generator operator
Bruno Brenna	....	electrician
David M. Dunlap	....	second camera operator (as David Dunlap)
Ahmed El Hmaini	....	grip
Sergio Fabbriani	....	grip
Antonio Fortunati	....	electrician
Harald Hauschildt	....	generator operator
Pamela Katz	....	second assistant camera
Giacomo Moroni	....	grip
Silvio Natali	....	grip
Maria Schiavone	....	gaffer
Giuseppe Sciusco	....	electrician
Matteo Sciusco	....	electrician
Sergio Serantoni	....	key grip
David Slama	....	second camera operator
Mustapha Stitou	....	electrician
Franco Tocci	....	key rigging grip
Mario Tursi	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Julie Alter	....	additional casting
Francesco Cinieri	....	casting: Rome
Abdessamad Dinia	....	extras casting
Rose Tobias Shaw	....	casting: London

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Abdelkrim Akallach	....	wardrobe: men
Sergio Ballo	....	wardrobe: men
Naïma Bouanani	....	assistant wardrobe supervisor
Orielle Del Re	....	seamstress
Anna Foresi	....	seamstress
Bona Nasalli-Rocca	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Bona Nasalli Rocca)
Angela Silighini	....	seamstress
Zhor Slimani	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Marcus Chun	....	apprentice editor
David Leonard	....	second assistant editor
Geraldine Peroni	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan	....	musician: Qawwali voice
Antranik Askarian	....	musician: Armenian doudouk
Abdul Aziz	....	musician: Egyptian kanun
David Bottrill	....	music track engineer
Bill Cobham	....	musician: drums
Djalma Correa	....	musician: Brazilian percussion
Lucy Duran	....	folk music researcher
Nathan East	....	musician: bass guitar
Manny Elias	....	musician: drums
Kudsi Ergüner	....	musician: Turkish Ney flute (as Kudsi Erguner)
Richard Evans	....	musician: penny whistle
Fatala	....	musician: African percussion
Peter Gabriel	....	musician: drums, voice and keyboards
Jon Hassell	....	musician: trumpet
Vatche Housepian	....	musician: Armenian doudouk
Todd Kasow	....	music supervisor
Manu Katché	....	musician: additional percussion
Baaba Mall	....	musician: Senegalese voices (as Baaba Maal)
Barbara Minor	....	assistant music editor
Youssou N'Dour	....	musician: Senegalese voices
Robert Nichols	....	associate music editor (as Bob Nichols)
Hossam Ramzy	....	musician: Egyptian percusion
David Rhodes	....	musician: guitars
David Sancious	....	musician: hammond organ, keyboards and additional voice
Shenkar	....	musician: violin ) (as Shankar (I)
Mahmoud Tabrizi-Zadeh	....	musician: Persian kamanche
Julian Wilkins	....	English choir boy
Brian Eddolls	....	sound: percussion and orchestration (uncredited)
Todd Kasow	....	music editor (uncredited)
Shenkar	....	composer: additional music (uncredited))

Transportation Department
Vincenzo Corcioni	....	driver: makeup
Enrico Pini	....	unit manager transportation
Walter Santalmasi	....	driver: wardrobe truck

Other crew
Jan Sebastian Ballhaus	....	production assistant (as Sebastian Ballhaus)
Brahim Bayadat	....	cashier
Aicha Benhaddou	....	production assistant
Marion Billings	....	publicist
Sabrina Canale	....	office secretary
Joe Caroff	....	title designer
Ahmed Darif	....	location manager
Valter De Filippis	....	honey wagon attendant (as Walter De Filippis)
Brahim Derhem	....	assistant location manager (as Brahim Derham)
Aicha Dimna	....	production secretary
Antonio Gabrielli	....	location manager
Rachel Griffiths	....	script supervisor
Julia Judge	....	assistant: Mr. Scorsese
Lon Kirschner	....	title designer
Betsy Marino	....	assistant: Ms. De Fina
Doudou N'Diaye Rose	....	percussion loop
Anne Parsons	....	assistant: Peter Gabriel
Roberto Penna	....	accountant
Paolo Piria	....	production accountant
Claudio Sabatilli	....	cashier
Gabriella Toro	....	production coordinator
Joe Violante	....	dailies advisor
Lahcen Zinoun	....	choreographer (as Lahcen Zinoune)
Nadine F. Wilson	....	post-production accountant (uncredited)

Thanks
Nass-El Ghiwane	....	special thanks for inspiration (as Nass El Ghiwane)
Boris Leven	....	special thanks
Leo Marks	....	special thanks
Pierre Toureille	....	special thanks: Ocora-Radio-France

Production Companies

• Cineplex-Odeon Films
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

Other Companies

• ARRI Rental  camera equipment provided by
• Adzido Dance Company  African percussion
• Berman's and Nathan's  costumes by
• Biblical Archaeology Review Magazine  special thanks
• Dawliz S.A., Casablanca  Moroccan representative
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• L.C.P.  shoes
• Les Musiciens du Nil  Egyptian percussion
• Ocora-Radio-France  special thanks
• Royal Air Maroc  travel services
• Sound One Corporation  post-production facilities
• T.A.B. Inc.  negative cutting
• The Archive of Contemporary Music  special thanks
• The National Sound Archives, London  special thanks

Also Known As:

Passion (USA) (working title)
A Última Tentação de Cristo (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Dernière tentation du Christ, La (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Última tentación de Cristo, La (Spain) [es]
Kristi sista frestelse (Sweden) [sv]
Kristuksen viimeinen kiusaus (Finland) [fi]
Krisztus utolsó megkísértése (Hungary) [hu]
Letzte Versuchung Christi, Die (West Germany) [de]
Ostatnie kuszenie Chrystusa (Poland) [pl]
Peetoi Ha-Aharon Shel Yeshu, Ha- (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Ultima tentazione di Cristo, L' (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

164 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #29344) | Philippines:(Banned) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Australia:R (original rating) | Chile:(Banned) (1989-2002) | Chile:18 (re-rating) (2003) | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Mexico:C | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Africa:(Banned) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2000) | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:18 (original rating) | West Germany:16 | Singapore:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Company:

Cineplex-Odeon Films

Trivia:

The script for this film sat in the office of Martin Scorsese's lawyer for at least 5 years prior to being made. Although Scorsese thought the film could be brilliant, he was concerned how the public might respond to the finished film. His lawyer agreed the script was brilliant and very "brave" but advised against making the movie because he did not think movie-goers were ready for such a story.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the market when Saul pulls Judas aside and asks "what are you doing with this magician?", the shadow of the boom mic is visible on the stone above Saul's head.

Quotes:

Jesus: [stares at the heavens] Father, will you listen to me? Are you still there? Will you listen to a selfish, unfaithful son? I fought you when you called, I resisted! I thought of no more. I didn't want to be your son! Can you forgive me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Strangers with Candy: The Last Temptation of Blank (#3.10)" (2000)

This film is superb.

Most cinematic depictions of Christ show a perfect being, a one-dimensional person who is overly self confident and almost egotistical. I can never relate to those films, so they aren't believable. The Last Temptation of Christ is totally different. It was banned by intolerant Christians who didn't even see it because they have conflicting viewpoints, which is one hell of a paradox. I use to say that Christ was described as a demi-god in the Bible because He is half-man and half-god, but I was told that He is really all-man and all-god. If the latter thesis is correct, than he most have all the perfections of god as well as all the faults of man. In the movie, Jesus is not perfect. He sins, or at least, He confesses sins. He is haunted by visions and sounds almost to where He goes on the brink of insanity. He is tempted by Satan over and over again into thinking that he is just a man. When He cures a person of blindness, He does not smile, he frowns in pain because for every man he cures, he knows it brings him closer to the cross. The characterization in this movie is excellent. This script is Schrader's best, although it was rewritten. The music is the best I've ever heard in any films. Scorsese's direction was absolutely superb. Willem Dafoe and Harvey Keitel were excellent as well. And the movie leads you to the most haunting portayal of the crucifixion in cinematic history.

It is a must for any person to see, especially if you were outraged by the fact that Jesus is displayed as imperfect. You cannot do the film justice if you don't watch the whole film. You may be offended throughout the entire film, but it all comes together in the end and all is well. Seriously, I give the film five stars.