Luther (2003 film)

Luther
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Eric Till
Produced by	Brigitte Rochow Christian P. Stehr Alexander Thies
Written by	Camille Thomasson Bart Gavigan
Starring	Joseph Fiennes Alfred Molina Jonathan Firth Claire Cox Peter Ustinov
Music by	Richard Harvey
Cinematography	Robert Fraisse
Distributed by	R.S.
Release dates	October 30, 2003 (2003-10-30)
Running time	124 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000
Box office	$29,413,900

Luther is a 2003 biopic about the life of Martin Luther (1483–1546) starring Joseph Fiennes. It was an independent film partially funded by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The film covers Luther's life from his becoming a monk in 1505 to the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.

Plot

The film begins during a thunderstorm in 1505 as Luther is returning to his home. For fear of losing his life in the storm, Luther commits his life to God and becomes a monk.

In the next scene it is 1507 and Luther is a monk in Erfurt. During his time at the monastery, he is constantly troubled by viewing God as a God of hate and vengeance. Martin is encouraged by Johann von Staupitz, an older monk who is his supervisor and mentor. Staupitz tells Luther to look to Christ instead of himself.

Later Luther delivers a letter for Staupitz to Rome where he becomes troubled by the wicked lifestyles of those in the city. He also views the skull believed to be that of John the Baptist and purchases an indulgence. It is during this time that Luther begins to question the veracity of indulgences.

Returning to Germany, Luther is sent to Wittenberg, where he begins to teach his congregation that God is not a God of hate, but a God of love. Luther begins to emphasize the love of God instead of his judgment.

John Tetzel then comes close to Luther's town where he scares the people into buying indulgences. (The proceeds would be used to build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and to recover the Hohenzollern bribes to the Holy See, advanced by Fugger, for the investiture of Albert of Mainz). In his church, Luther denounces the indulgences, calling them "just a piece of paper." He then posts his 95 theses on the door of the church, calling for an open debate regarding the indulgences. For this act, Luther is called to Augsburg where he is questioned by the church officials.

After his excommunication, Pope Leo X orders Luther to be delivered to Rome, but Frederick the Wise of Saxony protects him. Frederick and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor decide that Luther will be tried at Worms.

After his trial at Worms, Luther is forced into hiding by Frederick the Wise, while his former professor, Andreas Karlstadt, encourages the Great Peasants' Revolt against the oppressive nobles. Luther, shocked by the revolts, encourages the princes to put them down. Meanwhile, Luther translates the Bible into German.

After Luther marries Katharina von Bora, Charles V summons the electors of the Holy Roman Empire to Augsburg so he can force them to outlaw Protestantism and the German Bible. The nobles refuse and Charles is forced to allow the nobles to read their Augsburg Confession.

The film ends with the following words:

What happened at Augsburg pushed open the door of religious freedom. Martin Luther lived for another 16 years, preaching and teaching the Word. He and Katharina von Bora enjoyed a happy marriage and six children. Luther's influence extended into economics, politics, education and music, and his translation of the Bible became a foundation stone of the German language. Today over 540 million people worship in churches inspired by his Reformation.

Film inaccuracies

• In the film, Luther refers to Bible passages by the book, chapter, and verse. However, the Bible was not divided into verses until 1551, and even then the divisions were not ubiquitous until the Geneva Bible. (It can be assumed that this was done in order that discerning viewers might easily locate the text to which Luther refers.)^[1]
• Albert of Mainz is described as being archbishop of two German territories before acquiring Mainz. In real life, he was Prince-Archbishop of Magdeburg and Prince-Bishop of Halberstadt prior to gaining Mainz.
• Luther is shown hammering his 95 Theses to the doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, which are immediately read by-standers, taken and printed. In reality, the common people would not have been able to read the theses, which were originally written in Latin, but were translated into German and spread throughout Europe within two months.^[2]
• During the Augsburg Confession scene, all of the nobles, including the elector princes, stood up to Charles V. In real life, most of the princes were still Catholic. Only one (or maybe two) of the seven electors should have made a stand, the Duke of Saxony and the somewhat conciliant Louis V, Elector Palatine. Three other electors were Catholic archbishops, e.g. Albert of Mainz, and two more secular electors sided with the Catholics, the King of Bohemia, Charles' brother Ferdinand, and Joachim Nestor of Brandenburg, Albert's brother.
• The film stated that Luther and Spalatin went to law school together. In reality, they did not meet until much later.
• The film implies that Frederick of Saxony is given the Golden Rose as a bribe: to coerce him into delivering Luther to Rome. In real life, he was awarded the rose before, most likely to make him run for emperorship against Charles.
• Aleander addresses Cajetan as cardinal in his first appearance, which apparently takes place shortly after the papal conclave that elected Leo X in 1513. In reality, Cajetan did not become a cardinal until four years later.
• The film regularly portrays congregants seated in pews. In reality, pews were not a common church fixture until after the Reformation.^[3]
• Andreas Karlstadt is herein depicted as radically distorting Luther's views while Luther is in seclusion at Wartburg, insisting on being addressed as "Brother Andreas." Though the reforms which were actually orchestrated by Karlstadt were more peaceful, they were too radical for Luther (including vernacularization of the Mass), and Luther began to undo or slow them. Karlstadt also did not renounce his title of professor until after Luther's return.
• In the film, Luther returns to visit Wittenberg incognito (at the urging of George Spalatin) with a modest growth of beard and under the title "Knight George." Luther actually had grown a beard "sufficient to deceive his mother" and under the name "Junker George," which means "Knight George" [Roland H. Bainton, "Here I Stand", pp. 194, 205]
• Shortly before Prince Frederick convinces Charles to give Luther a hearing at the Diet of Worms, the Emperor introduces Aleander to him as a "new cardinal" and Aleander's dress supports this. Aleander would in fact not become a cardinal for another 15 years.
• Pope Alexander VI is said to have had five children. In real life he had more than that.

Cast and crew

External links

• Luther at the Internet Movie Database
• Luther (2003 film) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Luther (2003 film) at Metacritic
• Luther (2003 film) at Box Office Mojo

References