LUTHER
2 out of 5 stars

“i cannot and i will not recant. here i stand!” – martin luther



and…i promise that this will be the last religiously themed movie i review in a while… ;) (the subject matter is quite interesting, but this was obviously done/produced in the style of a TV movie… it almost felt like I was in a HS history class again!)


the history of catholicism has come a LONG way, but it seems like some things still remain the same. the catholic church currently is dealing with the pedophile priests who can’t seem to keep their vows of celibacy nor their hands to themselves, but back in luther’s time, the church was dealing with a different problem: materialism. relics and indulgences became an obsession with the catholic church, and princes/clergymen alike wanted to acquire, acquire, acquire… it’s great stuff that’ll someday be displayed in a vitrine in the future, but does it really absolve sin? that’s what martin luther’s main gripe with the church was…


martin luther is played by joseph fiennes (with a ridiculous monk haircut), and he nails his famous 95 theses to the doors of a church, criticizing the sale of indulgences, the obsession with holy relics, and bringing the corruption within the catholic church to light. little does he know that the corruption actually goes all the way to the pope himself… on the other side of the spectrum, john tetzel (alfred molina in a minor yet significant role) is the cause for luther to write his grievances with the church. we learn that it’s not so much that he’s angry with church doctrine, but he’s angry with the way the church is using church doctrine for their own benefit. (i.e. fundraising for the building of st. peter’s basilica) what’s actually interesting is how prince frederick of saxony protects luther because he knows luther is right… (sir peter usinov shines as frederick the wise)


I have to say…one of my favorite scenes was when the v.1 printing press was printing luther’s books plus later on…the bible in german! (GASP! hey, it was a big deal back then!) god, i’m such a history nerd… ;)