Luther

The world was really rotten in the early 1500's.
There was this fellow who was just a teacher and scholar
who saw all this and said, I have to say something,
this is just too dirty and rotten.
If there had been no Luther , one doubts that there would be a western European culture as the Turks were knocking hard at Germany and the lower part of Europe.
So Turkish Islam may have taken over Europe except for Luther's reformation.
People don't fight well for the corruption that was Rome at this time.
The picture points out that Luther was in no way a democratic or people's person: peasants were slaughtered when they revolted and he stood by the people who did that.
Empires of church and state rise and fail, but men continue.

Well acted and entertaining, this movie would be a good watch if it were total fiction. However very much of it is fact. A great look at a man who refused to follow the status quo of the established church and turned to the teachings of Christ and the bible to base his faith and life on. Both entertaining and thought provoking.

A well presented (and acted) view of the issues at hand at the time of Luther with his discovery and stand for faith for justification versus indulgences and works of the law

This is a great movie. As a World History teacher I use parts of this movie on our study of the Protestant Reformation. I recommend this movie to students of religion, and World History teachers, and anyone interested in religious studies. Martin Luther was a giant in the history of mankind. You might want to do a little background study before viewing the movie so as not to be confused by the sequence of events. Few movies made about historical figures are as accurate as this. The acting by Fiennes as Luther is superb as well as the supporting cast. If you are in need of courage, see this movie.

A friend loaned us this DVD and my husband I watched it last night. We both enjoyed this portrait of a sensitive man who made a huge impact on the world. The accuracy was remarkable to me, as I have read a lot on Luther, and have been disappointed with the accuracy of movies in general. I recognized much as verbatim Luther or Tetzel. Also the movie seemed to capture the fear, sensitivity, wit, boldness and faith that characterized Luther. I did feel let down over the way Katherina was portrayed. Although it is true that she was the one to propose marriage, it was in a far different manner and situation. Historically she was direct, but without the boldness shown in the movie.

While I did enjoy the movie, I would definitely not recommend it for family viewing. There were a few "language" incidents, some using coarse terms that could have been left out, and some using strong language that was entirely appropriate. When Luther went to Rome he saw much that disgusted him, and the viewer is given at least a hint of it all. And even I turned away at some of the images of violence. Over 100,000 people were killed in the peasants' revolt, and the bloody bodies were not a pretty sight. I turned away from the boy who hung himself and could not watch the burning of Luther's friend. These horrific things happened and it was terrible. But I could not watch, and I would not put these images before children. So with those caveats, I would cautiously recommend this movie to mature audiences.