#thelasttemptationofchristedit

[thetudorslovers]

Do you believe in dreams, Uncle Simeon? I do; I believe in nothing else. One night I dreamed that invisible enemies had me tied to a dead cypress. Long red arrows were sticking into me from my head to my feet, and the blood was flowing. On my head they had placed a crown of thorns, and intertwined with the thorns were fiery letters which said: "Saint Blasphemer." I am Saint Blasphemer, Rabbi Simeon. So you'd better not ask me anything else, or I'll start my blasphemies. - Nikos Kazantzakis, Ch. 10 - The Last Temptation of Christ (1951)

[alchemisedsenlinyu]

harvey keitel as judas iscariot & willem dafoe as jesus christ in THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) dir. martin scorsese

[thetudorslovers]

He raised his head. Judas's whole body was bent over him.

“Judas, my brother,” he said, “lie down next to me. The Lord will come in the form of sleep and carry us away. Tomorrow, God willing, we'll start off bright and early to find the prophet of Judea, and whatever God desires, that is what will take place. I am ready.”

“I am ready too,” said Judas, and they lay down, one next to the other.

They both must have been extremely tired, for they slept instantaneously, and the next morning at dawn, Andrew, who was the first to awake, found them fast asleep in each other's arms.

[thetudorslovers]

"If we offer him sacrificial lambs, he shouts, "I don't want them, I don't want flesh; my hunger is satisfied only with psalms." If we open our mouths and begin to sing the psalms, he shouts "I don't want words. Nothing but the flesh of the lamb, of the son, of the only son, will satisfy my hunger!"

[alchemisedsenlinyu]

harvey keitel as judas iscariot & willem dafoe as jesus christ in THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) dir. martin scorsese

[thetudorslovers]

But as he made this decision, his lips parted and he spoke. His voice was full of grievance. “Why do you draw my blood? Why are you angry? How long are you going to pursue me?” He stopped. Bent over, his mouth open, the hairs of his head standing on end and his eyes full of fear, he listened. ... At first there was nothing; the air was motionless, silent. But then, suddenly, someone above was speaking to him. He cocked his ear and heard—heard, and shook his head violently, continually, as though saying, No! No! No! Finally he too opened his mouth. His voice no longer trembled. “I can't! I'm illiterate, an idler, afraid of everything. I love good food, wine, laughter. I want to marry, to have children. ... Leave me alone!”“What do you say? I can't hear?”

Suddenly he had to put his hands over his ears to soften the savage voice above him. With his whole face squeezed together, holding his breath, he heard now, and answered: “Yes, yes, I'm afraid. ... You want me to stand up and speak, do you? What can I say, how can I say it? I can't, I tell you! I'm illiterate! ... What did you say? ... The kingdom of heaven? ... I don't care about the kingdom of heaven. I like the earth. I want to marry, I tell you; I want Magdalene, even if she's a prostitute. It's my fault she became one, my fault, and I shall save her. Her! Not the earth, not the kingdom of this world—it's Magdalene I want to save. That's enough for me! ... Speak lower, I can't understand you.

[alchemisedsenlinyu]

willem dafoe as jesus christ in THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) dir. martin scorsese

[thetudorslovers]

“Someone came last night in my sleep,” he murmured under his breath, as though he feared the visitor were still there and might overhear him. “Someone came. Surely it was God, God ... or was it the devil? Who can tell them apart. They exchange faces; God sometimes becomes all darkness, the devil all light, and the mind of man is left in a muddle.” He shuddered. There were two paths. Which way should he go, which path should he choose?"