Martin Luther (Reformation of the Protestant Religion)

Luther : The Man Behind the Reformation

The name Martin Luther is synonymous with the Protestant Reformation To understand the Reformation , one has to understand the man . This simple German monk became the founder of the largest religious group the Protestants . The 2003 movie , Luther has one objective and that is to inform the audience about the man who was responsible for changing religion forever and the time in which he lived that was instrumental in allowing this change to occur

The movie begins in 1507 when Luther was twenty-four . He promises God

br to give his life to him if he will deliver him safely from a storm Luther then begins his ministry

In the year 1507 , Luther was ordained a priest , and in the following year he moved to Wittenberg , destined to derive its chief celebrity from his name . He became a teacher in the new university , founded there by the Elector Frederick of Saxony (Biography of Martin Luther

Luther 's father , Hans Luther , is depicted as a cold harsh man who is truly disappointed in his son 's choice of vocation . He wanted his son to be a lawyer and now he was a monk . The movie also explores the stability of Luther . There is no argument that he was brilliant and courageous , but considering the dangers he faced , the actions he took lead one to believe that he was unstable

Luther is played by Joseph Fiennes , who usually plays the male ladies man , however he does a brilliant and passionate portrayal of Martin Luther . He lends a huge amount of energy to the character which was believable considering what Luther actually accomplished . He accurately tackled the demons that haunted Luther when he thought that he was on the brink of failure . The only problem with the choice of Fiennes is his swarthy good looks . Martin Luther was a stout , plain looking monk . The movie Luther covers a span of over twenty years and the youthful Fiennes as well as the other characters never age . HYPERLINK "http /www .imdb .com /character /ch0024017 " Johann von Staupitz , played by Bruno Ganz , is the perfect father figure to Fiennes ' Luther . Without his character , it would not have been believable that Luther would have mustered the courage to question the Pope

The movie , Luther depicts an early visit that Luther made to Rome which was significant because it is where he lost faith in the behavior of the clerics and the selling of indulgences . It was the selling of indulgences that would lead to the nailing of the ninety-five theses on the door of the church in 1517 . Even though this is one of the most famous events in Luther 's life , it is not stressed in the film . At first , it seems anticlimactic , but it is probably the way that it really was . The day that he marched up the steps and nailed the document to the door , he had know idea that it would be remembered for centuries

The scenery used...