Good Film About Martin Luther

I tend to quote Martin Luther a lot on this blog because I find his central insights on the Gospel to be so profound. Several years ago (2003), my wife and I saw the movie Luther in a theatre. We liked it so much we bought a copy of the DVD for our home library. This week Carl Gobelman at New Creation Person wrote a review on the film - Martin Luther: Father of the Reformation « New Creation Person . I can agree with the following comments.

"... the cast is outstanding. Joseph Fiennes as Martin Luther is about as good as it gets. I loved him in Shakespeare in Love, and I love him in Luther. Fiennes does a superb job of capturing the emotional struggle in Luther between his strong stance of faith and the doubts that surged in his heart. Luther was a man who loved the church, but hated the abuses of its ministers. I firmly believe that Luther did not want to break ranks with the Catholic Church. Rather he wanted to bring it back to the true gospel. Fiennes brilliantly captures the sense of betrayal Luther must have felt when he realized that the Holy Father did not agree with his diagnosis.

The rest of the ensemble was brilliant too. Alfred Molina as John Tetzel, Jonathan Firth as Girolamo Aleander, Claire Cox as Katharina Von Bora, and Sir Peter Ustinov as Prince Frederick the Wise all play their roles with clarity and conviction.....

....As for the film’s shortcomings, they are few but should be noted. As previously mentioned, the film only touches on the high points in the life of Martin Luther. It does not go into depth concerning his spiritual and theological convictions — convictions that helped shape the landscape of Protestant theology. Second, the film has a few historical inaccuracies, but they are minor (e.g., referring to Bible passages by chapter and verse when chapter and verse divisions weren’t instituted yet; stating that Luther and Spalatin met on law school when they didn’t meet until later; etc.). Third, the movie tends to simplify the heros and villains a bit. Luther is clearly the good guy and Pope Leo X, Aleander and Tetzel are clearly the bad guys. We all know in real life, things just aren’t that simple. Lutherans and Protestants will probably shout a hearty “AMEN” to this while Romans Catholics will match that with a resounding chorus of “BOO.” That’s probably to be expected."

The other shortcoming I would add is that the major characters don't age much when the film covers over 30 years of time!

All in all, it is a very good flick, especially if you are interested in church history (as I am). I recommend it for an interesting evening's viewing.