Review of Luther

Introduction

Way, way back in the mists of cinematic history, well thirty odd years ago, the American Film Theatre thought it would be a good idea to have a crack at filming some well-known plays for the silver screen. Utilising some well-known directors and sometimes astounding casts, a whole series of films was made that included this one, Luther.

Luther was an Augustinian monk who had a pivotal role in the revolt against the medieval Catholic Church. Sickened by what he saw as a Church who allowed people to buy forgiveness as `indulgences` and plagued by his own conscience, Luther provided the symbolic act that triggered the Reformation. Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, which effectively attacked what he saw as papal abuses and the sale of `indulgence` that swelled the churches coffers.

Stacy Keach plays Luther, with a supporting cast that includes Leonard Rossiter, Malcolm Stoddard and Judi Dench.

Video

The picture looks to have been cleaned up, but the palette is a little dark. It looks perfectly presentable for a film over thirty years old.

Audio

As an adaptation of a play, this film is very much a dialogue driven piece. Dialogue is clear, if a little heavy at times.

Features

Interview with Richard Pena - 20-minute interview covering all of the AFT releases.

AFT 2nd Season Message - trailer type thing with producer Ely Landau from 1974

AFT Trailer Gallery - trailers for 10 films in the AFT series

AFT Cinebill - text interviews with Guy Green (Staging the film), Kenneth Tynan (Rebel writer on a rebel priest) and Stacy Keach. Also included is a quite detailed biography of Luther.

Stills Gallery - 6(!) images from the film

Poster - exactly what it says

Article - biography covering the life and works of author John Osborne.

Conclusion

Well, I have to say it was a bit of a shock to see Stacy Keach sans suit, trilby and moustache that I was used to when he played Mike Hammer in the 80`s. That said, this film proves the boy really can act. Keach is the obvious centrepiece of this film and gets to the heart of the role. His supporting cast is pretty impressive as well.

This film is effectively in two parts, and an intermission is handily placed to allow you to wander off and get an ice cream or make a coffee. The first part deals with Luther`s first few years in the church and his internal struggle, the latter with the Reformation and its human cost. Handily providing narration at set points throughout is Julian Glover as The Knight, a man who is involved in the fighting and believes Luther betrayed those who believed in him.

In line with theatrical productions, this is a dialogue heavy piece with few set changes and paced slower than your average film. I don`t know how much of the stage script has been adapted for the film, but I`m guessing that it`s a reasonably seamless transition from stage to screen. Luther definitely feels more like a play than a film, and this was a relatively new experience for me.

As a historical piece I also found this quite educational, as I didn`t know much about the Reformation although I`d heard of Martin Luther. I`m led to believe that this is also a pretty accurate attempt at recreating the events (well, as much as you could hope for something that happened in Medieval times…) with the need for dramatic licence.

Worth watching at least once.