Born of Passion

WAS 2 YEARS OLD WHEN THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST WAS released, so I was only superficially aware of the controversy. Still, when I first fell in thrall to Martin Scorsese’s astounding body of work (a stranglehold that has only tightened), this was the film that stood most clearly apart from the others in its reputation—either as an outrage, a disappointment, a bold curiosity, a noble attempt, a career peak, or an unfortunate valley. Its hysterical reception prevented anyone from watching it without bias, and so the event was deeply muddled, and one’s attitude toward the film hinged on one’s “position” and whether they felt it really was as “truly horrible and completely deranged” as Franco Zeffirelli claimed. Here’s a movie that was branded as unconscionably blasphemous (and immediately with fresh eyes, its haunting power and vivid clarity of purpose might come as a revelation.