Product: Luther [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Germany ]
Rating: 4.0
a pleasant surprise
I heard nothing about this movie before I saw it and wasn't expecting much, given a lot of bad historical movies recently. But this is a really first rate telling of the historical events that sparked the Reformation. Not only that, it is a beautifully filmed and well-acted movie. The sets were magnificent and captured the period perfectly. I thought Joseph Fiennes too slight and reserved to play the stocky, robust Luther, and I suppose the one thing I missed was a sense of Luther's earthiness. But his acting in other respects was superb. He was, however, outshone by Peter Ustinov's Frederick the Wise, who was, well, wise. The movie succeeds in portraying a complex relationship between Luther and Frederick. I am not sure how historically accurate this is, but it is very believable. As for representing the complex issues that led Luther to do what he did, the movie succeeded in that as well. While the Peasant's Revolt was covered a little superficially I suppose that is inevitable given the time restrictions of a two hour movie. The producers would have needed a mini-series to do that.