Blair Loveday
It’s not exactly a surprise that Martin Scorses is a damn incredible filmmaker.
What was a surprise, well to me at least, was his interest in spirituality. This collection puts this into perspective the three fascinating faith based movies released over 30 years.
The first movie in the collection is The Last Temptation of Christ which was released back in 1988.
This movie stars Willem Dafoe as our main man Jesus. It starts with him being an innocent carpenter, well kinda innocent, he’s carving crosses for crucifixions. Only a little bit awkward. The movie then follows him as he discovers he’s the son of god, does some miracles, builds up a gang of disciples, and then follows through to his crucifixion.
It’s a shockingly good tale that shows Jesus as a man, dealing with the issues of being a man while discovering who he is. The biggest issue with the movie is it can really drag at times.
There were plenty of scenes that seemed to take ages and add sod all value.
The flip side there were moments that were really interesting that they seemed to skim past real fast. On the whole the three hour movie could have been cut down by nearly an hour and achieved the same. One area I am glad they gave real time to was the Mary Magdalene line where Jesus really had to struggle with his desires. But it doesn’t just focus on Jesus, and Mary really pops as a strong character who is dealing with all kinds of crap in her life, but stays an awesome badass.
The next movie in the collection is Kundun.
This one was made in 1997 and tells the story of the 14th, and current, Dali Lama. It shows a young Tibetan child who is a crazy curious and quirky kid. He is discovered to be the new reborn Dali Lama and as such is brought into the education of being the holiest man in Tibet.
The story follows his life with some solid jumps in years to then show the life he has to deal with as China decides to do what China does. Invade Tibet that is.
The movie follows this, through to his interactions with Mao, and then follows through to his exile. It’s a fascinating story, especially if you don’t know a lot about how the idea of the Dali Lama works. Best of all a couple of actors are relations of the actual Dali Lama. This fact alone gives the movie an air of authenticity. It’s a cracking and fascinating tale that is well worth anyone watching. Like The Last Temptation of Christ, it can drag at moments, but not as much.
Then there is Silence.
This one is only 8 years old and stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as Portuguese missionaries who have traveled to Japan. The challenge is this is the Edo period where christianity is brutally outlawed.
They went to find an older missionary played by Liam Neeson. What they find is a small group of Japanese christians who have found clever ways to honour their faith in hiding. Because of this they hide the two missionaries, but when they are found the brutal leaders start getting their executions on.
They find their own faith challenged as they watch their fellow christians who are expected to either disrespect their faith or die.
It is an incredible movie that thanks to some excellent sets and filming, paired up with some incredible acting really makes for some ruthless moments. The creative ways of killing christians, paired with the impacts it has on the other christians faith make this a rough ride. A rough ride it may be, but it is an incredible film.
Like the other Imprint box sets, this one comes in a nice hard cover box.
Inside it are the three Bluray cases and a hardcover book. Previous collections had included a softcover book, so the upgrade to hardcover is a really nice touch. The book itself has a couple of short essays about Martin Scorsese’s religious works that are great reads. They are supplemented with stills from the movies, making it a fantastic addition.
Then there are all the special features added to each movie. They are loaded with older and newer special features that are fantastic for anyone wanting to know more.
Martin Scorsese: Films of Faith is a fantastic box set that is well worth collecting. It collects three interesting movies, and then slots them into a nice box with a great book. Fans of Martin Scorsese or just fans of great films should add this to their collection.
