Luther
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Movie Reviews of Luther
Movie Review: Confronting the Spirit of Religion
Summary: 5 Stars
Just finished watching Luther, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, as a two hour movie about a complex historical character such as Luther, it is hard to cover the subject exhaustively. A lot of things were left out, including some darker elements of Luther's persona. Even so, a lot was conveyed by the nuance of film that was not actually explained by dialogue. We get a sense of what was going on-the movement of events, even though we might not understand all the religious/political/cultural distinctions that actually existed.
It is a wonderfully-filmed piece with great cinematography, a lot of fine acting and some very moving moments. Joseph Fiennes turns in a solid piece of work. Peter Ustinov gives us a marvelous, though perhaps a bit too charming, portrayal of Prince Frederick of Saxony.
What makes this movie particularly interesting for me at this time is the context of a book I finished reading yesterday. The book is called Freedom from the Religious Spirit: Understanding How Deceptive Religious Forces Try to Destroy God's Plan and Purpose for His Church, edited by C. Peter Wagner. It deals with how the tradition-bound, performance-based, legalistic mindsets that pervade much of the Church actually oppose the workings of the mercy and grace God desires to bring forth in us. It is the leaven of the Pharisees, the form of godliness but without the power. It is the scorecard of rules and regulations instead of the relationship and the life-giving presence of God.
That is what I keyed in on in the movie as I saw Luther confronting the deadening spirit of religion that focuses on human behavior (and contrivances such as the system of indulgences propagated by the medieval Church), instead of on the grace of God. At key moments in the film, he cast himself in total dependence upon God and the Scriptures, particularly as he stood before the Diet of Worms and declared, "Unless you can show me by Scripture and clear reasoning, I will not recant. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me."
The spirit of religion comes as an angel of light, but it is actually tares sown among the wheat. It is insidious, looking so much like the righteousness and holiness of God, just as tares look very much like wheat (up until harvest time), but it totally lacks the life-giving, life-changing grace of God. It must always be confronted wherever it is detected.
Jeff Doles, Bible Teacher and author of
Praying With Fire: Learning to Pray With Apostolic Power and
Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the History of the Church
Movie Review: Breaking the Status Quo
Summary: 5 Stars
Introduction:
A light, in the person of Martin Luther, brings the Dark Ages to an end. Protestants across the globe, who hold the Holy Scriptures in the Bible as their first and highest authority must thank the Lord for using Martin Luther in such a dramatic way to break the grip of darkness that held so many in ignorance with false doctrines and teachings such as purgatory and indulgences.
No longer were the Scriptures just reserved for a chosen few, but by his work, the Scriptures were made available for the common man to read in Germany. His work would change the course of the world, forever.
The Life of Martin Luther:
Martin Luther (10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) was a German priest and professor of theology. His father, Hans, wanted him to become a lawyer and he attended Latin school from 1497. Between 1501 and 1505 he attended the University of Erfurt where he obtained a Master's Degree.
At about that time, he was caught in a lightning storm, and while fearing for his life, he prayed and made a vow to become a monk. At that point he left his ambitions of becoming a lawyer and entered a closed Augustinian friary in Erfurt.
The Film:
This film starts at Erfurt in 1507, where Luther (Joseph Fiennes) is seen running through a very severe lightning storm. He eventually falls to the ground and prays. From there, his devotion to God and study, promotes him to a position of Doctor. However, at this point he begins to poke fun at the numerous (and obviously fake) relics that the common man is made to pay-per-view. On a more serious side he questions the whole idea of paying money to be absolved from sin. He believes, as contained in the scripture, that it is by faith alone (and not of works, lest any man should boast - Ephesians 2:9). In 1517 Luther nails up his Ninety-Five Theses. This document severely affects the efforts of indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel (Alfred Molina). His sales line is, "When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."
An amazing set of religious and state politics then unfolds, the demand is for him to be sent to Rome, where he would have been most certainly slain. However, he stands trial instead in Worms in 1521. The dramatization of the trial is an eye opener.
In my opinion this film has been well executed, the sets, the costumes and the music all relay, Germany of the 16th century.
Conclusion:
If you are interested in how the whole Protestant reformation was initiated, this film represents a fairly accurate depiction. I recommend that even today, that everyone read the Holy Bible (KJV) and accept it at face value. It can mean the eternal salvation of your soul.
Movie Review: Luther was anti-Semetic, yet had a burning passion for God
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't feel "Luther" got enough public attention. I never had the chance to see it in the theater. I finally rented it, and got the opportunity to view it.
I liked it. For what it was, it was a great movie, showing Martin Luther's passion for Christ, and his relentless quest for sharing the Truth with the people.
However, I wrote to my church pastor, with concerns about the historical accuracy of this film; I will let his own words speak for him;
"The film has some minor issues. In one scene while he is preaching, his students are all seated as we would be today in our churches. The historical problem is that people would always stand in honor of the Word when anyone was preaching. As for the story of his life it is accurate as far as it goes. There is much that they had to leave out. Unfortunately, one of Luther's blind spots was a fairly severe anti-Semitism that the film does not address. It does, however, capture his passion for God and what it does report of his life is true of him. There is just too much about Luther to fit into a 2 hour film. It is well filmed and acted. I took our Youth Group to see it and felt they left with a good snapshot of what Luther was really all about."
I myself am not anti-Semetic. I did however love how Luther's burning passion for God and the Word was portrayed. I admired how one man stood up to the church for what he strongly believed in. I was born and raised Catholic. But, the Catholic Church throughout history, even today, was corrupt in some form or another. Nothing against the Holy Church; certain people in a position of power have a bad habit of perverting God's Word, and giving the church a bad name. And this film shows one man's courage to defy the perversions and corrptness of the church, and bring the truth back to the people.
I hardly feel it to be right to compare this movie with "The Passion of the Christ". To set the record straight, Mel Gibson is not anti-Semetic. "The Passion" had raised controversial issues of anti-Semetism, all of which are not true. "The Passion" is the most powerful, and the most accurate portrayal of the final hours in the life of Jesus Christ. I felt Gibson followed the four Gospels in creating an accurate portrayal. I, myself, left the theater feeling that He had died for my sins; it was my sins that nailed Him to the cross, not the Jews or the Romans.
You cannot compare "Luther" to "The Passion". There really is no comparison.
As a film, "Luther" was very good, and I hope that the quote I used from my own church pastor has helped shed a little light on the hisorical background not shown in the movie.
God bless
Movie Review: Luther is a Beautiful and Inspirational Film
Summary: 5 Stars
After my pastor mentioning this movie in church a few weeks ago, I made a note to myself to watch Luther. My pastor has a doctorate in theology and says one of his minors is in Martin Luther history. He really likes Luther and the stand he took against the Catholic church. Although he's not a Luthern preacher, he stated that this movie is about 80% correct. In Hollywood, I feel this is a great score for historical accuracy.
I'm a staunch Christian and teach seventh grade history to middle school students. While watching this movie, I immediately wanted to show this superb show to my students. It was awesome. I could feel the schism between the reformers and the Catholic church as I listened to the musical score. There are chanting voices that are at war with eerieness. The costumes were rich with beauty and authenticity. The acting was full of emotion and each character served a purpose in furthering the plot and gaining the audience's heart.
I really couldn't find fault in this movie. If anything, I wanted to see more film footage on the DVD extras. I now believe I'll buy the movie soundtrack and have students use the score for their Power Point presentations. Christians need to buy this movie and show it to their children and families. We live in a country that forgets about how hard it was to gain our Christian freedoms and Luther was the first to protest tyranny. God has used this historical figure to change the world and make it a better place.
The scenerary, camera angles, story, and dialogue were powerful and moving to my heart. I've always been fond of the movie Braveheart, and after seeing Luther, I found even more emotion for this world-changer. It's hard to capture the life of one giant in two hours, but this movie excels in bringing Martin Luther to the hearts and minds of the twenty-first century. I know people should study more of their heritage, but most won't do it. Yet this movie might make them more aware of the impact Luther had on the world and dig deeper into their history books.
The sound mixers did a wonderful job of pounding the hammer noise into my ears as Luther posted his list of grievances against the Catholic church.
My major disappointment is not against this DVD, but I now wish I had known about Luther when it came out in theaters. Luther is the type of film that deserves to be heralded as a fantastic film based soundly on history.
Watch this film if you're a Christian. Watch this film if you like great historical films. Watch this film if you like good movies period.
Movie Review: An excellent movie for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
Some folks are trying to start a debate about this movie by saying that Luther is anti-catholic.
Luther was a catholic monk who had a few things that troubled him. Throughout the 95 Theses, if you have the chance to read an english transalation of them, you will see Luther griping that the concept of forgiveness doesn't belong to the pope or the clergy and that it cannot be bought, rather it belongs to God.
When Luther raised his points for discussion (95 Theses) by nailing them to the church door, he unknowing opened up the beginning of the great reformation. Anyone familiar with the history would know that this was common practice for members of the clery to open up discussion on different topics.
Fortunately or unfortunately, (depending on your point of view) the list was taken to that wonderful new-fangled item called the printing press, was mass produced and everyone got in on the debate. This led to the Diet of Worms, Luther's protection by German princes and the transalation of the Bible to German so that the layman might read it (if they could read) and finally the small catechism where Luther defined to the German ruler what came to be known as "protestantism". For my part, while Luther was a flawed human being (and which of us isn't flawed...), the most beautiful idea that came from all of this upheaval was the focus on Grace. In short, the idea that good works don't get you into heaven or closer to God, rather Jesus Christ already did that for the Christian by virtue of his death on the cross.
Anyone with even a minimum understanding of the history of the times would enjoy this movie. Anyone who likes a good production will enjoy this movie.
There are fine performances all over this film but the one I enjoyed the most was Peter Ustinov -- he almost stole the show with his performance of a well-to-do gentleman (Prince Frederik the Wise) who finally figures out that the "relics" that he has been collecting will not guarantee his place in heaven and how he has been manipulated by some members of the church.
Alfred Molina gives a powerful performance of his selling of the indulgences.
Ralph Fiennes does a lovely job of depicting Luther's naive point of view and how that matures during the film.
As for the folks trying to turn this movie into a debate about it being "anti-catholic" -- see the movie, check your historical facts and make your own decision. But do see this movie.