Martin Luther, Heretic

Movie
Original title	Martin Luther, Heretic
Country of production	United Kingdom , USA
original language	English
Publishing year	1983
length	70 minutes
Rod
Director	Norman Stone
script	William Nicholson
production	David M. Thompson
music	Roger Limb
camera	Keith Hopper
cut	Pauline Dykes
occupation
Jonathan Pryce : Martin Luther Jon Croft : Berlepsch Maurice Denham : Staupitz Hugh Dickson : Spalatin John Nettleton : Karlstadt Eric Francis : Keeper of the Relics Timothy Ackroyd : Student 1. Neal Swettenham : Student 2. Clive Swift : Johann Tetzel Phillip Stone : Eck Pip Miller : Captain John Bryon : Papal Nuncio David de Keyser : Elector Friedrich Valentine Dyall : Chancellor James Kirby : Emperor Charles V Graham Christopher , Carl Forgione , Mike Gallant , Carl Heap , Mark Heap , Suzanne von Koenigstaedter , Mark Saban , Bridget Thornborrow , Roy Weskin : Medieval actors

Martin Luther, Heretic , 1983 with Jonathan Pryce in the leading and title role, is a fictional film that was shot for the 500th birthday of Martin Luther in 1983.

The film was a BBC TV production in collaboration with American Lutherans and their Concordia Film Society. It was broadcast on television in England on November 8, 1983 , two days before the actual November 10 anniversary. The film was not translated into German or shown on German television. In addition to Jonathan Pryce as Martin Luther, Maurice Denham could be seen, who again played the role of Johann von Staupitz , which he had already played in the 1974 American film theater film Luther .

action

The time frame of the film is made up of the years between 1506 and 1522: the first years of Luther's monastic life until his return from the Wartburg in 1522. A medieval theater troupe, made up of actors from mystery plays , supports the film by depicting events that are happening in parallel . The film begins with a preview, Luther is brought from the Wartburg to Wittenberg in a carriage . One of the actors of the theater troupe is sitting on the roadside. He wears a devil mask . The scene is repeated towards the end of the film, but this time the actor pulls the mask off his face.

Historical inaccuracy

In the spring of 1522, when Martin Luther returned to Wittenberg , he was portrayed as someone who approved of the radical changes that had been instigated by Andreas Karlstadt the previous year. It is historically correct that Luther rejected some of the changes and their rapid implementation and did not approve of them. With his eight invocavit sermons , he convinced the citizens of Wittenberg within a week of more moderate reforms. Some of the changes were then withdrawn.

Similarities and major differences to other Luther films

• In the film, in contrast to other Luther films, Luther throws an inkwell at the Wartburg, only in the GDR Luther film from 1983 he does it.
• Jonathan Pryce and Joseph Fiennes (the Luther actor from the Luther film from 2003) have a very similar stature and optics compared to other Luther actors from earlier films, especially the 1983 film by Rainer Wolffhardt .
• The Luther film from 2003 ends very similarly, so that it becomes clear that this film adaptation from 1983 was a template for the one from 2003.

See also

• Martin Luther
• Luther films

References and comments

1. ↑ The German title should therefore be "Martin Luther, Häretiker" or "Martin Luther, Ketzer".
2. ↑ Internet Movie Database - Martin Luther, Heretic (1983) (TV)
3. ↑ In North America , according to the English Wikipedia, the film was probably only shown on Luther's birthday on November 10, 1983.

Web links

• Martin Luther, Heretic in the Internet Movie Database (English)