Movie Review: Luther

Financially supported by the Lutheran foundation based in the USA Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, this movie is both an official view on Luther as well as creates and enforces a founding German national myth.

It is directed by the Canadian film director Eric Till, which one year before this movie directed a production about the German resistance hero Bonhoeffer and admirably played by a selected list of actors, among which the impersonation of Luther, Joseph Fiennes, stands out as excellent. The movie was produced in 2003, more than 10 years before the 500 years of Reformation celebrated in Germany the last year. 

As a historical and religious character, Luther is both fascinating and controversial. He dared to fight against the powerful and deeply corrupt at the time Catholic Church, as well as created a German language-centered tradition and encouraged the spread of books and writings through the printing press. But he was as well highly controversial due to his strong anti-Semitism which was rarely brought into discussion during the 500 Years Reformation and it lacks as a critical approach of his life and works at his museum in Lutherstadt Wittenberg that I visited a couple of years ago. The movie do not tackle upon this issue at all, but at a certain moment it shows a Luther devastated that his writings created civil unrest leading to at least 100,000 deaths. However, the anti-Semitic tone of his writings is genuine and not the result of academic/theological interpretations. 

The Luther from the movie is going through pschotic episodes, of long solitude fights against the temptations of Evil, followed by serene moments of clarity. He looks like the tormented Romantic soul which cannot stand the corrupt system of the Catholic church and suffers deaply for the corruption of faith. Without the benefit of the strong support of a world institution, he dares to go on and defies the big power although at least at the beginning he was fighting mostly alone, if not the solidarity of the academic fellows from the theological university in Wittenberg.

The widespread use of the printing press and his courageous decision to translate the 'New Testament' in German, increased his credentials among the German nobles who will end up supporting him against the intrusions of Rome - particularly in the Catholic strongholds of Augsburg or Worms. 

Luther the movie has many strong images and a relatively simple, dichotomic structure - He versus Them. It is rich in symbols and meanings though that make it relevant for the student of the history of mentalities and with an interest in critical analysis of national and religious myths.