11 Brilliantly Controversial Martin Scorsese Moments

4. The Last Temptation Of Christ - Jesus As A Human Being

When telling the story of Jesus, a filmmaker invites hordes of the zealous to incite violent criticism of the portrayal. For radical Christians, there is no figure from history, fiction, or fantasy more off limits. Such is the difficulty facing Scorsese when he embarked upon the production of The Last Temptation of Christ, an account of Jesus based upon the fictional work by Nikos Kazantzakis. The films offers a perspective of Jesus as a human being, capable of sin, folly, anger, and confusion. It shows his redemptive purpose as the Son of God not through infallibility, but through Jesus' struggle with his own suffering. The film rocked many boats. Despite a disclaimer that nothing in the film represented any interpretation of the Gospels, fundamentalists were outraged. In Paris, the Saint Michel Theatre was burned by protestors with Molotov Cocktails, severely injuring several patrons. The film was banned for several years in places like Turkey and Mexico (and continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore). Regardless of the attacks, critics and even religious leaders applauded the film. Roger Ebert wrote that Scorsese, "paid Christ the compliment of taking him and his message seriously, and ... made a film that does not turn him into a garish, emasculated image from a religious postcard." While the image of Christ is sacred to billions of people, Scorsese was able to offer a view of Jesus that spoke volumes about the anguish of his martyrdom, making his struggle relatable to those who approached the film with openness. Though it did not gross incredibly well in theaters, The Last Temptation of Christ put Martin Scorsese back in the spotlight, giving him an opportunity to work on a new feature, a film called Goodfellas.