Release Date: August 12, 1988

In the mid-1980s, Scorsese directed a pair of films that got him back in the mainstream?s good graces (The Color of Money, a sequel to The Hustler starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman who won a Best Actor Oscar; and the long-form music video for Michael Jackson?s ?Bad?). Next, he turned to a project of intense personal significance: an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis? novel The Last Temptation of Christ.

It was Scorsese?s most controversial film to date; a scene in which Jesus (Willem Defoe), in a dream, forsakes the cross to marry Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey) drew thunderous protests from religious groups (unfortunately for Scorsese, the brouhaha did little for the film?s commercial prospects, as it bombed at the box office). However, The Last Temptation of Christ was hardly an empty provocation; while the film deviates from Scripture, it?s a sincere, deeply-felt attempt by Scorsese, a dedicated Catholic, to explore the mysteries inherent in Jesus? tale ? most notably, the grey area between his divinity and his humanity.

The Last Temptation of Christ touches on many of the greatest hits from the Gospels, from Jesus? Sermon on the Mount to his Crucifixion. However, in drawing from the novel, Scorsese depicts Christ?s complex relationship with Judas (Harvey Keitel) and provides him with an inner monologue laced with uncertainty and distress over his supernatural visions. Each of the actors speak in their own accents, which lends an immediacy to the proceedings, and the on-location shoot in Morocco makes for a vibrant, mysterious stand-in for ancient Israel. The Last Temptation of Christ is austere, serious moviemaking, and though it isn?t always easy to watch, it?s a brilliant example of Scorsese?s ability make transcendent cinema out of inner tumult.