June 27 - Luther

Today’s film is a biographical drama with a scene that happens on June 27. I hope you will watch this movie tonight and enjoy it.

LUTHER                   

       

Martin Luther, caught in a terrible thunderstorm vows to become a monk if God spares him. God does so he does. However after two years, Luther has doubts. He is sent to Rome to deliver a brief from his monastery. Luther is disgusted by what he sees. He thinks Rome has a circus atmosphere of greed and corruption. Luther is sent to Wittenberg as a parish priest. He begins to see God as merciful, defying the church to do so, including personally burying a suicide in holy ground. He is made a teacher at a seminary and begins to attack the doctrines of relics and indulgences. Luther is warned off of this since this could reduce revenue from Frederick of Saxony’s relic collection.  Leo X is elected pope. He authorizes an indulgence to be sold by John Tetzel to help pay for St. Peters basilica. Luther nails the 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg condemning indulgences.  These create a firestorm and Luther is summoned to appear before Cardinal Cajetan. He is told he must recant, but he refuses. He is ordered excommunicated. The pope sends a golden rose to Frederick to try and get him to hand over Luther. The church burns Luther’s writings. Frederick convinces Emperor Charles to preside at a hearing for Luther at Worms. Luther refuses to recant. On the way back from Worms Luther is “kidnapped” by supporters of Frederick and hidden away where Luther works on translating the Bible into German. The Great Peasant Revolt begins.  After seeing its violence, Luther comes out against the revolt. On June 27, 1525 Luther marries Katharina von Bora, a former nun. [1:45:14 to 1:46:08]. At Augsburg in 1530 Charles V summons the princes to outlaw Protestantism, but they refuse and he is forced to allow rulers to opt to be Protestant.

                       

An interesting biopic of this controversial figure. The film does contain numerous, though minor historical inaccuracies. It also glosses over Luther’s opposition to the Great Peasant’s Revolt and does not mention his alleged anti-Semitic writings. Still, all in all a good effort that is well worth watching. 

Out of the Storm: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther by Derek Wilson (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2009) at page 233 gives the date of his marriage.

Producer – Brigette Rochow, Christian P. Stehr and Alexander Theis

Screenplay - Camille Thomasson and Bart Gavigan

Director - Eric Till                                     

Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes                                     

Released – October 30, 2003                                     

Starring –

Joseph Fiennes as Martin Luther

Alfred Molina as John Tetzel

Jonathan Firth as Girolamo Aleandro

Claire Cox as Katharina von Bora

Peter Ustinov as Frederick the Wise

Bruno Ganz as Johann von Staupitz

Uwe Ochsenknecht as Pope Leo X

Mathieu Carrière as Cardinal Cajetan

Benjamin Sadler as George Spalatin

Jochen Horst as Andreas Karlstadt

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.