Movie Time!
I saw Luther in Lubbock on the way back from a regional library meeting in the town of Lamesa. (Just one of many apt toponyms in the area, along with Levelland, Plainview, South Plains, Shallowater, Brownfield, Bovina, Earth, Cotton Center, etc.) There are some true stories which I find so interesting that I can easily overlook even major flaws in their cinematic presentation. For instance, I liked The Messenger even though Besson distorted Joan of Arc's character and story pretty significantly. Luther is a better movie, though it has its share of weaknesses. The portrayal of Luther misses the mark slightly, highlighting his deep spirituality, scrupulosity, and compassion, but underemphasizing his anger, sarcasm, and earthiness. Fienne's Luther, with his delicate features and puppy-dog eyes, comes across more like St. Francis than like a miner's son who called a theological opponent a "vile cloaca" and loved his beer and bowling. There are some icky sentimental fictions designed to add a human interest angle to the theological controversy: in one, Luther rebels against the religious teaching of the day to have a suicide given a Christian burial; in another, he befriends a young grimy peasant woman and her crippled daughter. Still, the basic outline of the plot is accurate, and hats off to Eric Till for ignoring a distributor's demand that he remove "all the Jesus stuff." (Imagine a movie about Abraham Lincoln without "all the slavery stuff.") Watching the movie reminded me that despite the things I find attractive in Catholicism, I still agree with the basic agenda of the Reformation.
I was planning to see Kill Bill and Intolerable Cruelty at the local movie house, because matinee showings are only $2, but after only a week they're both gone, replaced with a useless Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and a Cuba Gooding Jr. movie which looks disgustingly Heart Warming. So I'll have to drive down to the big city and plunk down the $7.
