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© DSFC |
LUTHER
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| POPE ON THE ROPES | ||||||||||||
| by
jim There's nothing like a limited release film about religion to get me out of my cave and into a movie theater. There is something I've always thought about Martin Luther, the Theologian and Catholic clergyman who dared to revolt against The Church. That thought? The man had to have balls of solid steel that had to have weighed a metric ton. Each. Imagine if you, nearly alone, decided to take on the most powerful, richest, and most far-reaching institution in the world. You can't, can you? That's because there is nothing in the modern day that compares to the scope that was the Catholic Church in Europe. Not big business, not government, nothing. The Church went unchecked and virtually unchallenged as it picked the pocket of the faithful. Scare tactics, such as the threat of damnation and the selling of indulgences to get loved ones out of Purgatory, were commonplace at the time. You don't really need to know much about religious history to enjoy this film. The crafters of the film do a great job of setting up the institutions of the time for you, without ever making you feel as though you are watching a history lesson. Director Eric Till, who is almost old enough to have known Luther himself, yet has toiled almost exclusively in television, is able to bring a sense of urgency and importance to a subject that is almost entirely void of action. I mean, there isn't a whole lot of traditional action that can take place in a film about centuries old religious politics. However, the film holds your attention in part due to some beautiful images, but largely due to yet another intense performance by Joseph Fiennes. Fiennes captures the spirit and determination of Martin Luther in such an accessible and human way, that you wonder why he isn't cast to play every larger-than-life figure from history. He even manages to bring believability to the weaker scenes of the film. Specifically, I'm referring to scenes that seem to infer that Luther was crazy. Do you know how tired I am of screenwriters using this cliché? It seems that every time we get a film about figures of religious import anymore, the writers always feel this need to make them at least a little insane. Why? Are they afraid of being accused of sentimentality? It's not like Luther is a saint or claimed to be any more than a servant of God who wasn't afraid to stand up against a thoroughly misguided church. Luther never even seemed to realize that he was going to piss off so many people. He believed that the Pope was a good man and that it was his servants who were poisoning the world. This is the only major flaw in the film. Fortunately, it doesn't ever take on too much screen time and never really seems to come into play in any sort of meaningful manner. So, it's just annoying. There is also the small irritation of some needlessly over-dubbed lines from extras commenting on the action. If you want to show the attitude of the populous, show it. Don't have them tell me about it. The real center of this movie is in the acting. Besides Fiennes, there are two stand out performances from Bruno Ganz, as Luther's "spiritual father" and mentor and the great Sir Peter Ustinov as a German prince and devout supporter of Luther's. A little more screen time would have elevated Marco Hofschneider to this list, as it is he stands as a solid compliment to the excellent work being done around him. Sadly, the same things cannot be said about the films antagonists. Most of those who oppose Luther are reduced to the kind of slick and smarmy characters that we've all seen to many times. Especially grating is Alfred Molina, who despite all evidence to the contrary somehow keeps being considered a "good" actor. The focus stays far enough away from these types to truly take away from the film's effect. Some lapses in script, a few been-there-done-that performances, and a too quick ending prevent LUTHER from being a soundly breathtaking film. As it stands though, it's still a well told, captivating story, that's well worth it's two hour running time. |
 I'LL GET YOU DOOOOORIGHT!!!!!  SERIOUSLY, TWENTY BUCKS TO ANYONE WHO CAN FIND THE WORD "POPE" IN HERE  HOTTEST GIRL IN THE MOVIE: CLAIRE COX  MARTIN LUTHER IN LOVE |
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