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Martin Luther (1953)
Film Review: Martin Luther 1953
Martin Luther was a man of great belief in God and Jesus. He dedicated his whole life for the service to the church and the Holy Scripture. He was the one who established the belief of Protestant Christianity, going against the prevailing Roman Catholicism. His bright personality has a special place in the history of Christianity. And that is why there were written and made a lot of works about him and his life. There are even several movies about Martin Luther and his path of life. One of them was premiered in 1953, a black-white film with a duration of almost two hours that narrates the most important for the religion of Christianity part of his life. Many people think that this piece of art is the most accurate and best work about Martin Luther. Even though it was uneasy to watch and understand every single word and the meaning behind the dialogs throughout the film, it still provides us with all the necessary information on the times of Luther's life as a priest in a Catholic church and accurately shows the significance of his character for the Christians of XVI century.
The movie starts with introducing Martin Luther as a gifted student of law faculty, who decided to quit the study due to his feelings that he does not suit to that way of living. We meet at the bar, where he announces to his friends the news about him going to the service at the church. At this scene, we also meet Luther's best friend, Duke Frederick, who will be one of the most important characters in the history of Protestantism along with Martin himself. We can notice from the dialogs between Luther and his friends, that he was indeed a talented and popular student at their learning place. Despite his talent for law and philosophy, Luther still decides to dedicate himself for the service to God, and in the further episodes, we see how hard and fair he works, without refusing to do any kind of work. One of the most important scenes in the movie reveals the truth about Luther. There he tells the priest Father about his unforgivable sins and his inability to love God in the way as it was said by Catholicism. The Father believed that Martin Luther would be a great enlightener and tried his best to direct him to the "right" way. Little he knew that he indeed would be a great enlightener but in the quite opposite direction.
The most important events in the movie are the scenes, where Martin Luther begins to preach his own beliefs and view of the true faith. His release of 95 theses of true believers spread all over Europe, and his open refuse on Pope's authority made him an even more intriguing figure for the community of Christians. Surprisingly, Martin Luther found a big number of supporters and followers, and his popularity rises with each new work he wrote and throughout the countries of Germany, France, Italy, and other parts of Europe. Pope and the sovereignty had no other choice than calling Luther a heretic, but it did not affect him a lot. People were tired of the sacred sovereignty that taxed the locals and made infinite fees. They also understood that it is impossible to "buy" God's forgiveness and wash away sins with money. At every level, Pope's preaches started to seem less making sense than that of Luther's. Martin Luther gave a great speech in the court, defending himself with words, that he prefers to believe in a holy Scripture (a Bible), which is the only source of God's willing and words, that came to the Earth with Jesus, rather than to believe to people, who make things against Jesus's prescriptions. He made a great work of translating the Bible to other languages, trying to reach as many Christians as possible. That is why he is a historically significant and change-making character.
To sum up, it is significant to highlight that the movie made a great impact in illustrating and explaining the history of early Protestant Christianity. It showed us the most important years of Martin Luther's life, showing the way how he achieved success and gained authority among certain groups of believers. His influence on the Christianity of the XVI century is enormous and continues even today. The fact the Protestant Christianity still exists and flourishes, prove that Martin Luther's work of life gave so much blessing to people of many nations, believes, ages, and even centuries. Martin Luther of 1953 is a good movie, about a great person, that is needed to watch not only for Protestants but all other people independent of the religion or belief. For sure Martin Luther's personality will be known for many years or even centuries ahead, and this movie gives excellent explanation and illustration of the events that lead Martin Luther to the Protestant belief.