Sure, but they still were shown. Also LTC was released in 1988, that is 34 years ago and into a very different world.
Like the novel it was based on, the film generated controversy at the time of its release from Christian religious groups, who took issue with its departures from the gospel narratives. It received positive reviews from critics and some religious leaders, and Scorsese received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Director. Hershey's performance as Mary Magdalene earned her a nomination for the
Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Peter Gabriel's music score also received acclaim, including a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Dafoe's performance was praised, with some thinking he should have been nominated for
Best Actor. However, Keitel's performance was not well received and he was nominated for
Worst Supporting Actor at the
Golden Raspberry Awards.
Controversy[edit]
Terrorist attack[edit]
Main article:
1988 attack on Saint-Michel cinema in Paris
On October 22, 1988, an
Integralist Catholic group set fire to the Saint Michel cinema in
Paris while it was showing the film. Shortly after midnight, an incendiary device ignited under a seat in the less supervised underground room, where a different film was being shown. The incendiary device consisted of a charge of
potassium chlorate, triggered by a vial containing
sulphuric acid.
[22] The attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned, and severely damaged the cinema.
Death threats[edit]
In
Roger Ebert's book
Scorsese by Ebert, the critic wrote of the reaction to
The Last Temptation of Christ, "...Scorsese was targeted by death threats and the
jeremiads of TV evangelists".
[23] The threats were significant enough that Scorsese had to use bodyguards during public appearances for a few years.[
citation needed]
Protests[edit]
Because of the film's departures from the gospel narratives—and especially a brief scene wherein Jesus and Mary Magdalene consummate their marriage—several
Christian groups organized vocal protests and boycotts of the film prior to and upon its release. One protest, organized by a religious Californian radio station, gathered 600 protesters to
picket the headquarters of Universal Studios' then parent company
MCA.
[24] One of the protestors dressed up as MCA's
Chairman Lew Wasserman and pretended to drive nails through Jesus' hands into a wooden cross.
[8] Evangelist
Bill Bright offered to buy the film's negative from Universal in order to destroy it.
[24][25] The protests were effective in convincing several theater chains not to screen the film.
[24] One of those chains,
General Cinemas, later apologized to Scorsese for doing so.
[8]
Censorship and bans[edit]
Mother Angelica, a Catholic nun and founder of
Eternal Word Television Network, described
Last Temptation as "the most blasphemous ridicule of the Eucharist that's ever been perpetrated in this world" and "a holocaust movie that has the power to destroy souls eternally."
[26] In some countries, including
Greece,
Turkey,
Mexico,
Chile, and
Argentina, the film was banned or censored for several years. As of July 2010, the film continues to be banned in the
Philippines and Singapore.
[27] In February 2020,
Netflix revealed the film to be one of the five titles that have been removed from the
Singapore version of Netflix at the demand of the Singapore government's
Infocomm Media Development Authority.
[28][29]
) in that pitiful Trojan war bbc series?
