Movie : Luther

[isabelladangelo]

Have any of the 16th c German enthusiasts seen the movie Luther (2003)? I watched it the other day and thought, for the most part, the costuming was drool worthy. Then again, I'm not knowledgeable enough on the German side of the 16th c house to say much about it. The movie was pretty good overall and did a nice job of showing the problems with the Catholic Church, problems that were known inside the Catholic Church, during the early 16th c. (I'm Catholic if anyone is curious about that.) It showed the abuse of relics, indulgences, and the focus on the afterlife rather than the focus being on helping those who need help in this life. It also showed how some of the reformation movement wanted to go a lot further than Luther did. Overall, a pretty good movie with pretty outfits.

The Catholic Movie Review. It's pretty helpful since it points out the historical inaccuracies as well as admitting to some of the problems pointed out in the film during the early 16th c.

This page is pretty interesting in regards to translations of the Bible into common languages. Basically, the movie makes a big deal about the Bible being published into German. According to both this and the Catholic Movie review, copies of the Bible were readily available in German...the difference was that the translations were based on the Vulgate and not the original Greek texts. (Having read both, I can say that the original Greek texts to offer a different light on what was probably actually said and what happened during the time of Jesus. Overall, I found the Greek NT interesting in comparison to the Vulgate and English translations.)

Comments

[florentinescot.livejournal.com]

Do you know the Castle Garden Creations sisters? (They're Lutheran, for what it's worth) -- they thought it as a wonderful movie

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

It was pretty good. I just loved the costuming of it (::drool::) and found it to be an interesting look into the Reformation time period. It does have several inaccuracies (some of which I found out later as I went and read a couple of my books on the period as well as various webpages) but, for costuming and a "feel" for the period, it's pretty good.

[florentinescot.livejournal.com]

nods. IIRC, that was their assessment as well.

[bluedoran.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the review! *files away in brain under "will netflix"*

Yeah, Martin Luther had a number of his own personal issues, but at least he tried to reform the church when it became corrupt in certain ways. Problem really is, some of the Protestant churches are in no way free of similar corruption *now.* If Martin Luther saw the big "mega-churches" with their commercialism and large tv screens, and some of their teachings, he might burst a blood vessel. But then again, Jesus likely has a similar reaction.

At least most protestants aren't *literally* whipping themselves nowadays. Lol.

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

I had some problems with some of the costuming. The women's gowns were created with back lacing - there isn't any evidence of that. That gets me going like metal eyelets!

The other really, really big mistake was the lack of headcovering of women, especially in the church scenes. I don't know if the movie was trying to highlight differences between Catholic head covering and a more modern stance (Lutherans don't cover their heads, right?), a creative decision, or just plain bad research, but it should have struck a discordant note with anyone who has spent time looking a 16th century German art.

[isabelladangelo.livejournal.com]

I honestly wasn't paying attention to the lack of head coverings in church. I probably should have noticed and just didn't. I was more focused on the "oh rags! poor people! That looks just like that sketch of the German Peasants!"

As for back-lacing, I have seen evidence of it in England as early as the 1490's so that didn't phase me at all. Also, I figured the green dress in the movie was after this one (http://www.wga.hu/art/c/cranach/lucas_e/5/12woman.jpg) although, loosely. Given the lack of front lacing, and many other examples of gowns (http://www.wga.hu/art/h/holbein/hans_y/1518/2barbara.jpg) without front or side lacing (http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cranach/cranach5.html) apparent, it seems logical to assume that some sort of back lacing was used, at least from a theatrical point of view. Now, I could be very wrong, but, like I said, it was used early on (http://www.kimiko1.com/research-16th/TudorWomen/1500/H8June.html) in England. There's also evidence of side back, at least, lacing in Italy.

For metal grommets, just to be evil (because I'm good at that!), this painting looks to show a lady with decorative (http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/florentine/images/floren4.jpg) metal grommets.