To me, the Reformation is one of the most, if not THE most, unsettling of historical periods. Division in Christ's church pains me to no end as does any abuse of her power. Luther narrates the rise of Brother Martin Luther into prominence and his disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church which led to the Protestant Reformation.
Luther, fearing death in a storm, promises that if God will spare him he will become a monk. He struggles in his monastic life with the problem of God being a vengeful and angry God, asking why God would make us tainted with sin and expect us to be perfect or be thrown to hell. Joseph Fiennes portrays Luther as a man tortured by the Devil, being thrown around his monastic cell and screaming at Satan to leave him alone. I know that Martin Luther was continuously distressed by his own Sin and spent hours in confession confessing to the most minute sin, but I don't know about his being tortured by the devil. Luther is sent to Rome to get out of the monastery and there he sees more clearly the abuses of Church power. Eric Till gives shot after shot of what was wrong with the Church: indulgences, brothels for Clergy, artificial relics. It's interesting that one of the main supporters of this film is a Lutheran society, and it shows. With the exception perhaps of Luther's father Abbot, there is not a single positive thing to be found in the Catholic church in this film.
The film's strongest moments are mostly those that involve Frederick the Wise, played excellently by Sir Peter Ustinov, who is the most reasonable character in the film. A well know collector of relics, Frederick is convicted by Luther's arguments against them and defends him as an intellectual force, using his influence to grant Luther a fair trial after he is convicted for heresy following the publishing of his 95 Theses. Luther's defense is well known:
Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason
- I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other
- my conscience is captive to the Word of God.
I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.
Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.
God help me. Amen.
One of the film's strengths is how well it shows Luther's distress at being called an enemy of the church. He constantly uphold's the Pope and says that he is writing against those who are corrupting the name of the Pope by actively abusing his authority for their own ends. When asked to recant he continually asks to be able to debate using scripture as to why his views are wrong or against the Pope and the result is the quote above.
Unfortunately there are a few points in the film which do not explain themselves and can be confusing as to what is taking place if one is not aware of the history.
Over all a decent film but I felt that the one sidedness of it and a few plot gaps left it wanting.
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