Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Kundun by Martin Scorcese



















Inaccuracies
Several minor events in the film do not match the events as described in the Dalai Lama's 1990 autobiography[10], or as described by Diki Tsering, the Dalai Lama's mother, in her 2000 book Dalai Lama, My Son: a Mother's Story.[11]
Early in the film, a monk is sent in disguise as part of an entourage to look for the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. The two-year-old Dalai Lama first meets him when the monk enters the house dressed as a servant. There are differing accounts of their first meeting. In the Dalai Lama's memoirs, Freedom in Exile, he says he came outside to greet the disguised lama.[10] His mother says two monks came and set canes (one belonging to the 13th Dalai Lama) against the side of the house, and her son picked the correct cane up and asked the monk (not in disguise) why it was taken from him.[11] Either way, the first encounter was not in the house.
In 1941, the Regent Reting Rinpoche was deposed and second Regent, Taktra Rinpoche, was selected by the Dalai Lama. In his autobiography, the Dalai Lama recalls that he was approached and asked to make a decision about who would replace Reting and chose Taktra, the main candidate. In the movie, the decision is spontaneous and to Taktra's surprise.
In September 1954, the Dalai Lama goes to Beijing and meets Mao Zedong. In the film they meet alone, but according to the Dalai Lama's memoirs, his mother's memoirs, and photographic evidence, the 10th Panchen Lama was also present.[10][11]
















Reception
Even before the film was released China's leaders "hotly objected to Disney's plans to distribute" the film, even to the point of "making threatening noises about Disney's future access to China as a market."[7] Disney's steadfastness stood in stark contrast to Universal Pictures, which had earlier "turned down the chance to distribute Kundun for fear of upsetting the Chinese."[7] Scorsese, Mathison, and several other members of the production were banned by the Chinese government from ever entering China as a result of making the film.[citation needed]
The film did poorly at the box office, taking in less than $6 million in a limited U.S. distribution.
[1]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film "emotionally remote" but praises its look and its score:[3]
The movie is a triumph for the cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has given it the look of an illuminated manuscript. As its imagery becomes more surreal and mystically abstract, Mr. Glass's ethereal electronic score, which suggests a Himalyan music of the spheres, gathers force and energy and the music and pictures achieve a sublime synergy.
Richard Corliss praised the cinematography and score as well:[7]
Aided by Roger Deakins' pristine camera work and the euphoric drone of Philip Glass's score, Scorsese devises a poem of textures and silences. Visions, nightmares and history blend in a tapestry as subtle as the Tibetans' gorgeous mandalas of sand.
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying:[2]
There is rarely the sense that a living, breathing and (dare I say?) fallible human inhabits the body of the Dalai Lama. Unlike Scorsese's portrait of Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ, this is not a man striving for perfection, but perfection in the shape of a man. ... Once we understand that "Kundun" will not be a drama involving a plausible human character, we are freed to see the film as it is: an act of devotion, an act even of spiritual desperation, flung into the eyes of 20th century materialism. The film's visuals and music are rich and inspiring, and like a mass by Bach or a Renaissance church painting, it exists as an aid to worship: It wants to enhance, not question.
David Edelstein called the movie a hagiography whose "music ties together all the pretty pictures, gives the narrative some momentum, and helps to induce a kind of alert detachment, so that you're neither especially interested nor especially bored."[8]
Kundun was nominated for four Academy Awards: for Art Direction (Dante Ferretti, art direction and Francesca Lo Schiavo, set decoration), Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Costume Design, and Original Score (Philip Glass).








Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Kundun by Martin Scorcese


Plot Summary for
Kundun (1997) More at IMDbPro »

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The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since. Written by
Deki
In 1937, in a remote area of Tibet close to the Chinese border, a two year old child is identified as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, the compassionate Buddha.
Two years later, the child is brought to Lhasa where he is schooled as a monk and as head of state amidst the color and pageantry of Tibetan culture. The film follows him into adulthood: when he is 14, the Chinese invade Tibet and he is forced into a shaky coalition government; he travels to China to meet with a cynical Mao; and, finally, in 1959, ill and under siege, he flees to India. Throughout, he has visions of his people's slaughter under Chinese rule. Written by
{jhailey@hotmail.com}
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/tibet/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119485/"Compassion in Exile" is moving in many ways. First, it shows the endearing humaneness of the Dalai Lama and his infectious laughter. Secondly, it shows genuine historical footage of China's violent repression of the 1959's uprising in Tibet. It also shows the policy of relentless demolition of almost 6,000 Tibetan monasteries. But what moves one to tears are the recollections by Tibetans who made to Dharamsala in India. It was not possible for me to watch children, nuns, monks, and many other Tibetans describing what they went through without been left with a lump in throat. One emotional climax comes when the Dalai Lama's younger sister speaks. It really breaks one's heart to hear her saying: "When I remember how Tibet was (before the invasion) ... It was so beautiful." China's economic might may rule the day and make cowards of the powerful nations of the world. But the conscience of the world cannot forget Tibet and its people. If we allow this profoundly ancient and wise culture to be wiped out from the face of the earth, we would have lost an essential part of our own selves. Compassion is not an ideology; it is what keeps humanity together. Speak for Tibet and help to save the world from the nightmare of power-seeking and war mongering.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420541/
Trivia forCe qu'il reste de nous (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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This documentary was shot secretly inside Tibet between 1996 and 2004, without the knowledge of Chinese authorities.
For humanitarian reasons and to help protect the Tibetans who courageously participated in the film, the Directors insisted that security measures be part of the distribution plan. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB), international distributor of the film, initially agreed with this plan.
Worldwide, each moviegoer attending a screening was to be searched by security guards before entering the theater, in order to prevent anyone with any type of camera to take pictures of the faces appearing in the film. The release of such portraits could endanger the life of the Tibetans because the Chinese government might consider the participants as political troublemakers, and eventually put them in jail, torture or even kill them.
In August 2008, at the urging of some of the film's participants and members of the Tibetan Diaspora, the filmmakers have decided to make the film available to the widest possible audience, on the eve of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Two days before its DVD release, it has been shown on the Canadian French language CBC television network as a world TV premiere.



Plot Summary forFate of the Lhapa (2007) More at IMDbPro »

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Fate of the Lhapa is a feature-length documentary about the last three Tibetan shamans living in a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal. Each lhapa requested that their story be filmed. Their fear was that the next heir might not appear until after their own deaths. Subsequently, with no lhapa alive to mentor the children, the documentary would be used to transmit the knowledge to the next generation. Their tales of nomadic childhoods, shamanic callings and apprenticeships, cosmologies of disease and treatments, and of their flight from Tibet during the Chinese occupation in the late 1950s is be juxtaposed with images of present-day life in the camp, current healing practices and shared concerns of the future and the fate of their tradition. Written by Sarah C. Sifers
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1042883/
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/dalai-lama/
Kundun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Kundun
________________________________________________________________
Directed by
Martin Scorsese
Produced by
Barbara De Fina
Written by
Melissa Mathison
Music by
Philip Glass
Cinematography
Roger Deakins
Distributed by
Touchstone Pictures (USA)
Release date(s)
1997
Running time
134 min
Language
English, Tibetan, Mandarin
Budget
$28,000,000[1]
Gross revenue
$5.68 million (U.S.)[1]
Kundun is a 1997 film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of the Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, a grand nephew of the Dalai Lama, stars as the adult Dalai Lama.
"Kundun" (སྐུ་མདུན་
Wylie: Sku-mdun in Tibetan), meaning "presence", is a title by which the Dalai Lama is addressed. Kundun was released only a few months after Seven Years in Tibet, sharing the latter's location and its depiction of the Dalai Lama at several stages of his youth, though Kundun covers a period three times longer. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundun)


The film — "made of episodes, not a plot"[2] has a straightforward chronology with events spanning from 1937 to 1959.[3]; the setting is Tibet, except for brief sequences in China and India. It begins with the search for the 14th mindstream emanation of the Dalai Lama. Following a vision by Reting Rinpoche (the regent of Tibet) several lamas disguised as servants discover the location of a promising candidate: a child born to a poor farming family in the province of Amdo, near the Chinese border.
These and other lamas administer a test to the child in which he must select from various objects the ones that belonged to the previous Dalai Lama. The child passes the test; he and his family are brought to Potala Palace in Lhasa, where he will be installed as Dalai Lama when he comes of age.
During the journey, the child becomes homesick and frightened, but he is comforted by Reting, who tells him the story of the first Dalai Lama — whom the lamas referred to as "Kundun". As the film progresses, the boy matures both in age and learning. Following a brief power struggle in which Reting is imprisoned and dies, the Dalai Lama begins taking a more active role in governance and religious leadership.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Communists, recently victorious in their revolution, are proclaiming Tibet to be a traditional part of Imperial China and express their desire to re-incorporate it with the newly formed People's Republic of China. Eventually, despite Tibet's pleas to the United Nations and the United States for intervention, Chinese Communist forces invade Tibet. The Chinese are initially helpful, but when the Tibetans resist Communism reorganization and re-education of their society, the Chinese become oppressive in the eyes of many.
Following a series of atrocities suffered by his people, the Dalai Lama resolves to meet with
Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing. During their face-to-face meeting on the final day of the Dalai Lama's visit, Mao makes clear his view that "religion is poison" and that the Tibetans are "poisoned and inferior" because of it. Upon his return to Tibet, the Dalai Lama learns of more horrors perpetrated against his people, who have by now repudiated their treaty with China and begun guerrilla action against the Chinese. After the Chinese make clear their intention to kill him, the Dalai Lama is convinced by his family and his Lord Chamberlain to flee to India.
After consulting the
oracle about the proper escape route, the Dalai Lama and his staff put on disguises and slip out of Lhasa under cover of darkness. During an arduous journey, throughout which they are pursued by the Chinese, the Dalai Lama becomes very ill and experiences several visions of the past and future. The group eventually makes it to a small mountain pass on the Indian border. As the Dalai Lama walks to the guard post, an Indian guard approaches him, salutes, and inquires: "May I ask, are you
the Lord Buddha?" The Dalai Lama replies with the film's final line: "I think that I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, you see yourself."
____________________________________________________________________

Sunday, February 21, 2010

NY Stories Martin Scorcese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Storieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stories
  • March 89 anthology film-theme NY C ity 3 shorts:Life Lessons, Life Without Zoe, Oedipus Wrecks

New York Stories In Life Lessons, written by Richard Price, and very loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel The Gambler, Nick Nolte plays Lionel Dobie, an acclaimed abstract painter who is unable to paint before a major gallery exhibition of his new work, and Rosanna Arquette is Paulette, his apprentice/assistant and former lover. Lionel is still infatuated with her, but Paulette wants only his tutelage, which makes things difficult since they live in the same studio-loft. While Lionel procrastinates, unable to complete the paintings that are scheduled for an upcoming solo exhibition of his, Paulette dates other people, including a performance artist (Steve Buscemi) and a painter (Jesse Borrego). These deliberate provocations on Paulette's part make Lionel insanely jealous — and fuel his creativity. Both Lionel and Paulette, it becomes clear, have been using each other: Lionel using her sexually, Paulette using him as a means of entry to the higher spheres of the New York social and art scene. But now that their relationship is no longer sexual, Paulette wants to leave the mess that has become her life and move back in with her parents. Lionel, however, persuades her to stay because New York is where a painter needs to be, even though it is unclear whether Paulette is even a particularly good painter. Throughout this turmoil in their relationship, Lionel pours his anxiety and repressed passion into his work. Paintings around the studio show visual metaphors from relations past: stormy skies, burning bridges, and tormented clowns. There are several Pagliacci references if one looks closely. Lionel, although a lion in the art world, becomes a clown in the eyes of the women in his life. Eventually, Paulette leaves when she has had enough, but not before Lionel is on his way to completing all the paintings he needs for his exhibit. As he is completing the final piece, Lionel suddenly realizes that he needs the emotional turmoil of his destructive relationships in order to fuel his art; without the one, he can't produce the other. In the last scene, while at the art exhibit, Lionel meets another attractive young woman, who is a struggling painter. By the end of the gallery opening, he has persuaded her to become his assistant, and potentially his lover, beginning the cycle anew.

Life Without Zoë is about Zoë (Heather McComb), a young heiress who helps return to an Arab princess a valuable piece of jewelry that she had given to Zoë's father (Giancarlo Giannini) and had been subsequently stolen and recovered. At the same time she tries to reunite her divorced mother, a photographer (Talia Shire), and father, a flute soloist. The short also includes Adrien Brody in his first film role.


edit] Oedipus Wrecks Oedipus Wrecks is about New York lawyer Sheldon (Allen), who has problems with his overly critical Jewish mother (Mae Questel). Sheldon complains constantly to his therapist about her, eventually concluding he wished she would just disappear. He takes his fiancé, Lisa (Mia Farrow), to meet his mother and she disapproves. The three of them, as well as Lisa's children from a previous marriage, try to get to know each other better by going to a magic show. At the magic show, his mother is invited to be a part of the act. She is put in a box that has swords stuck through it and she disappears like she is supposed to, but then she never reappears. This turns out to be great for Sheldon because, with her out of his life, he can finally relax. But soon his mother reappears in the sky over New York City. She annoys Sheldon and Lisa by constantly talking to strangers about embarrassing moments. This puts a strain on his relationship with Lisa and she separates from him. Sheldon is persuaded by his psychiatrist to see a psychic, Treva (Julie Kavner), to try to get his mother back to reality. Treva's experiments don't work, but Sheldon falls for her because she is very similar to his mother (see Oedipus complex). When he introduces Treva to his mother, she finally approves of his girlfriend and decides to come back to Earth. Oedipus Wrecks is the debut of Kirsten Dunst in a bit part, and features Larry David as the club owner who explains to Allen that his mother is missing. It also features both Mae Questel and Julie Kavner.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
New York Stories
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Woody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaMartin Scorsese
Produced by
Barbara De FinaFred FuchsRobert GreenhutCharles H. JoffeJack RollinsFred Roos
Written by
Woody AllenFrancis Ford CoppolaSofia CoppolaRichard Price
Starring
Woody AllenMae QuestelMia FarrowHeather McCombTalia ShireGiancarlo GianniniDon NovelloJulie KavnerNick NolteRosanna ArquetteSteve BuscemiJesse Borrego
Music by
Kid CreoleCarmine Coppola
Cinematography
Sven NykvistVittorio StoraroNéstor Almendros
Editing by
Susan E. MorseBarry MalkinThelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by
Touchstone PicturesAmerican Zoetrope (Life without Zoe segment)
Release date(s)
March 10, 1989
Running time
124 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$15,000,000
New York Stories is an anthology film which was released in the United States in March of 1989. The film consists of three shorts with the central theme being New York City. The first short is Life Lessons, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Richard Price. The second is Life Without Zoe, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by Coppola and his daughter, Sofia. The last segment is Oedipus Wrecks, directed and written by Woody Allen. One actor, Paul Herman, has a bit part in each segment.
The reviews were generally positive for Life Lessons and Oedipus Wrecks, but generally negative for Life Without Zoe. [1] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote that Coppola's segment was "by far the director's worst work yet." [2]
The film was screened out of competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.[3] This was the film debut of actress Kirsten Dunst.
Contents[hide]
1 Plot
1.1 Life Lessons
1.2 Life Without Zoë
1.3 Oedipus Wrecks
2 References
3 External links
//
[edit] Plot
[edit] Life Lessons
In Life Lessons, written by Richard Price, and very loosely based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short novel The Gambler, Nick Nolte plays Lionel Dobie, an acclaimed abstract painter who is unable to paint before a major gallery exhibition of his new work, and Rosanna Arquette is Paulette, his apprentice/assistant and former lover. Lionel is still infatuated with her, but Paulette wants only his tutelage, which makes things difficult since they live in the same studio-loft. While Lionel procrastinates, unable to complete the paintings that are scheduled for an upcoming solo exhibition of his, Paulette dates other people, including a performance artist (Steve Buscemi) and a painter (Jesse Borrego).
These deliberate provocations on Paulette's part make Lionel insanely jealous — and fuel his creativity. Both Lionel and Paulette, it becomes clear, have been using each other: Lionel using her sexually, Paulette using him as a means of entry to the higher spheres of the New York social and art scene. But now that their relationship is no longer sexual, Paulette wants to leave the mess that has become her life and move back in with her parents. Lionel, however, persuades her to stay because New York is where a painter needs to be, even though it is unclear whether Paulette is even a particularly good painter. Throughout this turmoil in their relationship, Lionel pours his anxiety and repressed passion into his work. Paintings around the studio show visual metaphors from relations past: stormy skies, burning bridges, and tormented clowns. There are several Pagliacci references if one looks closely. Lionel, although a lion in the art world, becomes a clown in the eyes of the women in his life. Eventually, Paulette leaves when she has had enough, but not before Lionel is on his way to completing all the paintings he needs for his exhibit.
As he is completing the final piece, Lionel suddenly realizes that he needs the emotional turmoil of his destructive relationships in order to fuel his art; without the one, he can't produce the other. In the last scene, while at the art exhibit, Lionel meets another attractive young woman, who is a struggling painter. By the end of the gallery opening, he has persuaded her to become his assistant, and potentially his lover, beginning the cycle anew.
[edit] Life Without Zoë
Life Without Zoë is about Zoë (Heather McComb), a young heiress who helps return to an Arab princess a valuable piece of jewelry that she had given to Zoë's father (Giancarlo Giannini) and had been subsequently stolen and recovered. At the same time she tries to reunite her divorced mother, a photographer (Talia Shire), and father, a flute soloist. The short also includes Adrien Brody in his first film role.
[edit] Oedipus Wrecks
Oedipus Wrecks is about New York lawyer Sheldon (Allen), who has problems with his overly critical Jewish mother (Mae Questel). Sheldon complains constantly to his therapist about her, eventually concluding he wished she would just disappear. He takes his fiancé, Lisa (Mia Farrow), to meet his mother and she disapproves. The three of them, as well as Lisa's children from a previous marriage, try to get to know each other better by going to a magic show. At the magic show, his mother is invited to be a part of the act. She is put in a box that has swords stuck through it and she disappears like she is supposed to, but then she never reappears. This turns out to be great for Sheldon because, with her out of his life, he can finally relax. But soon his mother reappears in the sky over New York City.
She annoys Sheldon and Lisa by constantly talking to strangers about embarrassing moments. This puts a strain on his relationship with Lisa and she separates from him. Sheldon is persuaded by his psychiatrist to see a psychic, Treva (Julie Kavner), to try to get his mother back to reality. Treva's experiments don't work, but Sheldon falls for her because she is very similar to his mother (see Oedipus complex). When he introduces Treva to his mother, she finally approves of his girlfriend and decides to come back to Earth.
Oedipus Wrecks is the debut of Kirsten Dunst in a bit part, and features Larry David as the club owner who explains to Allen that his mother is missing. It also features both Mae Questel and Julie Kavner.
[edit] References
^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_york_stories/
^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/newyorkstoriespghinson_a0a8de.htm
^ "Festival de Cannes: New York Stories". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/215/year/1989.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
[edit] External links
New York Stories at the Internet Movie Database
Vincent Canby review
[show]
vdeFilms directed by Woody Allen
1960s
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) · Take the Money and Run (1969)
1970s
Bananas (1971) · Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) · Sleeper (1973) · Love and Death (1975) · Annie Hall (1977) · Interiors (1978) · Manhattan (1979)
1980s
Stardust Memories (1980) · A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) · Zelig (1983) · Broadway Danny Rose (1984) · The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) · Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) · Radio Days (1987) · September (1987) · Another Woman (1988) · Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
1990s
Alice (1990) · Shadows and Fog (1992) · Husbands and Wives (1992) · Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) · Bullets Over Broadway (1994) · Don't Drink the Water (1994) · Mighty Aphrodite (1995) · Everyone Says I Love You (1996) · Deconstructing Harry (1997) · Celebrity (1998) · Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
2000s
Small Time Crooks (2000) · The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) · Hollywood Ending (2002) · Anything Else (2003) · Melinda and Melinda (2005) · Match Point (2005) · Scoop (2006) · Cassandra's Dream (2007) · Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) · Whatever Works (2009)
2010s
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
Shorts
Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971) · Oedipus Wrecks (1989) · Sounds from a Town I Love (2001)
[show]
vdeFrancis Ford Coppola
1960s
Dementia 13 (1963) · You're a Big Boy Now (1966) · Finian's Rainbow (1968) · The Rain People (1969)
1970s
The Godfather (1972) · The Conversation (1974) · The Godfather Part II (1974) · Apocalypse Now (1979)
1980s
One from the Heart (1982) · The Outsiders (1983) · Rumble Fish (1983) · The Cotton Club (1984) · Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) · Gardens of Stone (1987) · Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
1990s
The Godfather Part III (1990) · Dracula (1992) · Jack (1996) · The Rainmaker (1997)
2000s
Youth Without Youth (2007) · Tetro (2009)
Shorts
Captain EO (1986) · Life Without Zoe (1989)
Credits
Patton (writer, 1970) · THX 1138 (executive producer, 1971) · American Graffiti (producer, 1973) · The Great Gatsby (writer, 1974) · The Black Stallion (executive producer, 1979) · Kagemusha (executive producer for the international version, 1980) · Hammett (producer, 1982) · Koyaanisqatsi (producer, 1982) · The Black Stallion Returns (executive producer, 1983) · Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (producer, 1985) · Tough Guys Don't Dance (executive producer, 1987) · Lionheart (1987, executive producer) · Powaqqatsi (executive producer, 1989) · Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (appearance, 1991) · The Junky's Christmas (producer, 1993) · Frankenstein (producer, 1994) · Don Juan DeMarco (producer, 1995) · Lani Loa - The Passage (producer, 1998) · The Florentine (producer, 1999) · The Virgin Suicides (producer, 1999) · Sleepy Hollow (producer, 1999) · Jeepers Creepers (executive producer, 2001) · Lost in Translation (2003, executive producer) · Jeepers Creepers II (executive producer, 2003) · Kinsey (executive producer, 2004) · The Good Shepherd (executive producer, 2006) · Marie Antoinette (executive producer, 2006) · Somewhere (executive producer, 2010)
Enterprises
American Zoetrope · Zoetrope: All-Story · Rubicon Estate Winery · Francis Ford Coppola Presents
Family
Eleanor Coppola · Anton Coppola · Carmine Coppola · Italia Coppola · Gian-Carlo Coppola · Sofia Coppola · Thomas Mars · Roman Coppola · Talia Shire · David Shire · Jack Schwartzman · Robert Schwartzman · Jason Schwartzman · John Schwartzman · Marc Coppola · Christopher Coppola · Nicolas Cage
[show]
vdeFilms by Martin Scorsese
1960s
Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)
1970s
Boxcar Bertha (1972) • Mean Streets (1973) • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) • Taxi Driver (1976) • New York, New York (1977)
1980s
Raging Bull (1980) • The King of Comedy (1983) • After Hours (1985) • The Color of Money (1986) • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
1990s
Goodfellas (1990) • Cape Fear (1991) • The Age of Innocence (1993) • Casino (1995) • Kundun (1997) • Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
2000s
Gangs of New York (2002) • The Aviator (2004) • The Departed (2006)
2010s
Shutter Island (2010) • The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2011)
Shorts
What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1963) • It's Not Just You, Murray! (1964) • The Big Shave (1967) • Bad (1987) • Life Lessons (1989) • The Key to Reserva (2007)
Documentaries
Street Scenes (1970) • Italianamerican (1974) • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) • The Last Waltz (1978) • A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) • My Voyage to Italy (1999) • The Blues (2003) • No Direction Home (2005) • Shine a Light (2008)
Produced
You Can Count on Me (2000) • Nyfes (2004) • The Young Victoria (2009)



Friday, February 19, 2010

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST SCORSESE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Temptation_of_Christ_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus







Plot
Jesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in the Roman-occupied Judea. He is torn between himself as a man and his knowledge that God has a plan for him. His conflict results in self loathing, and he collaborates to construct crosses Romans used to crucify Jewish revolutionaries, an act that brands him a traitor in the eyes of his fellow Israelites.
Judas Iscariot belongs to a nationalistic splinter faction which wishes to revolt against Roman rule (see Sicarii or Zealotry). He is sent with orders to kill Jesus for being a collaborator. Judas suspects Jesus is the Messiah, and asks Jesus to lead a revolution against the Romans. Jesus tries to tell Judas that his message is love, that love of mankind is the highest virtue that God wants. Judas joins Jesus in his ministry, but Judas tells Jesus that he will kill him if he strays from revolution.
Jesus also has an undisclosed history with Mary Magdalene, a Jewish prostitute. Mary asks Jesus to stay with her, which Jesus seriously considers before leaving for a monastic community. Jesus later saves Mary from an angry mob which has come to stone her for her prostitution and working on the sabbath. Jesus persuades the crowd to spare her life—instructing "he who is without sin [to] cast the first stone"—and instead preaches to them using many of the parables from the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus develops a following of disciples, but throughout this time he is still uncertain of his role and his status as Messiah. He travels with his disciples to see John the Baptist, who has heard of Jesus' reputation. John baptizes Jesus, and that night the two discuss their differing theologies. John believes that one must first gain freedom from the Romans before the world of God is declared, while Jesus believes that love is more important. Jesus then goes off into the desert to see if God really speaks to him.
While in the desert Jesus is tempted three times by Satan. Jesus resists all these temptations and instead has a vision of himself with an ax chopping down an apple tree. He appears as a vision to his waiting disciples where he rips out his heart and tells them to follow him. With newfound courage as the Messiah he proceeds to perform many signs and wonders: giving vision to a blind man, turning water into wine, and raising Lazarus from the dead.
Eventually his ministry reaches Jerusalem where he is enraged by the money changers in the temple and throws them out. The angry Jesus even leads a small army to try and take the temple by force, but instead halts on the steps and begins bleeding from the hands. He realizes that violence is not the right path, and that he must die in order to bring salvation to mankind. Confiding in Judas he asks his best friend and strongest apostle to turn him in to the palace guards, something that Judas does not want to do. Nevertheless, Jesus implores that this is the only way and a crying Judas acquiesces.
Jesus joins his disciples for the Passover seder—the Last Supper. After the meal, while in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas leads the palace guards to take Jesus away. Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus and Jesus performs the miracle of reattaching it. Pontius Pilate tells Jesus that he must be put to death because he represents a threat against the status quo, the Roman Empire. Jesus is flogged and a crown of thorns is placed on his head. He is led to Golgotha, where he is crucified.
While on the cross, Jesus sees and talks to a young girl who appears to be an angel. She tells him that he is not the son of God, not the Messiah, but that God loves him, is pleased with him, and wants him to be happy. She brings him down off the cross and leads him away.
She takes him to be with Mary Magdalane, and the newly married couple make love. The couple has a child and lives an idyllic life. Mary unexpectedly dies, and the sobbing Jesus is told by his angel that all women are "Mary", and thus he is betrothed to Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus. He starts a family with them and lives his life in peace. When he encounters the apostle Paul preaching about the Messiah—that is, about Jesus—he tries to tell Paul that he is the man that Paul has been preaching about. Paul (who in this film has slain the resurrected Lazarus in his earlier life as Saul) rejects him, saying that even if Jesus hadn't died in the cross, his message was the truth, and nothing would stop him from proclaiming that.
Near the end of his life, Jesus' former disciples visit him on his deathbed with Jerusalem (representing the world) in ruins in the background. Judas comes last and calls Jesus a traitor. It is revealed that the angel who released him from the crucifixion is in fact Satan, who has been tempting him into this life of comfort as a mortal man. Jesus realizes that he must die to bring salvation to mankind. Crawling back through the burning city of Jerusalem during the Jewish Rebellion, he reaches the site of his crucifixion and begs God to let him fulfill his purpose and to "let [him] be [God's] son."
Jesus is instantly back on the cross -- the "fantasy" of escaping death on the cross, of being married, of having a family, and of the disaster that would have encompassed mankind was not real. It is the dream of what would have happened had Jesus truly left the cross behind.[original research?]
Jesus cries out as he dies, "It is accomplished! It is accomplished."