Martin Scorsese directs Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel and Barbara Hershey in this cinematic life of Jesus.

Very controversial in its days and you can see why. It is a film that both the Pope and Patrick Bateman would find much to mull over. And for Scorsese fans it is often has the same forward propulsion and (slightly misplaced) machismo of a Raging Bull or Goodfellas. Harvey as Judas via Brooklyn? Love it! Dafoe is excellent. And when Christ comes down from the cross and things get apocryphal… I really dug it. Jesus fantasising about deliberate sin. Yeah… it’s a hot potato. But I’m now mature enough and agnostic enough to appreciate the mastery of the form. So seductively spare and with such bold colours. When it comes to the gospels, this is the greatest story ever told.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Kundun (1997)

My wife and I do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/