Luther

As you know, rarely do I review something I see on video, but "Luther" gives good reason for an exception. Jess and I watched this film on Halloween night, or Reformation Day night, depending on who your dad is... I had heard good things about this 2003 version, but for whatever reason, I had not yet seen it. The film is directed by Eric Till, who has mostly directed television (like Fraggle Rock) and it stars Joseph Fiennes, probably best known for "Shakespeare In Love". I know that I have talked to some brothers about my special ability to spot bad movies, cheesy movies, and poorly produced Christian movies from a mile away. "End of the Spear" falls into the latter category unfortunately, and I would have assumed that "Luther" could have as well, but happily I was wrong. "Luther" isn't a glitzy, Hollywoodized account of Luther's life, rather the filming techniques, the casting, the locations and the story all work together to convey a gripping account of Luther's actions and motivations. In retrospect, my favorite part of the movie was the posting of the 95 theses. After seeing, and struggling with differnces he had with the Catholic Church, Luther writes down his concerns, walks over to the church door, quickly nails up the paper (with all the other postings) and walks away. The point of the scene is that he is genuinely distraught, and feels it important to publicly express his concern. Of course Martin Luther believed what he wrote, and when faced with a choice of sticking with his convictions, or retracting his statements, he had to do what is right. He was not a revolutionary because he wanted to change the world, he was one man who stuck to God's Word and just would not back down. I think the film did an excellent job of portraying this, God's working through a man who wasn't self-confident, and recognized his many weaknesses. In a world that lifts up the popular, the strong, and the vain, isn't it nice to know that God doesn't comply to our standards.